Day 9 of 2019!

How are you going with your 'New Year, New You' resolutions? Still going strong or haven't started yet? Either way, it doesn't matter as long as you all had an amazing end to 2018 and an even better start to 2019! I'm excited to get into this new year, even though last year was unbelievable and will be hard to top. I travelled a lot, both alone and with my family and I learnt so much about myself, life and about the life I want to live. And I got married!! Which was absolutely the highlight.

This year isn't about doing bigger and better things though. It's about taking things slowly, reflecting more and appreciating all the small things. Last year was huge for me on a personal level and in 2019 I want to put all that I learnt into action. I want to continue growing and learning and I'm feeling inspired about what's in store for me this year. There are so many unknowns for me to face, but I'm taking all the courage I gained last year and putting one foot in front of the other. To help me stay on track I've set some intentions for the year to help me be the better person I want to be.

How I Set My Intentions for This Year

To set my intentions for 2019 I took a little time for reflection. It was a great way to make the most of the winter darkness. As soon as the sun went down (about 3 pm at the moment!) I lit some candles, made tea and got cosy. Listening to my favourite Spotify playlist I thought about what the best and worst parts of 2018 were. I wrote it all down which helped me get clear on what I wanted to work on this year. Then I thought about what I'll need to do to make my intentions happen. Over the next few weeks, I'll dig further into my list to get even more clear on what I need to work on this year. I see my list as a work in progress. It's not fixed, I'm happy for it to change as I do over the year as well.

What I'm Working on This Year

• Read more, with no attachment to a goal.

• Drink more water, I've been really terrible at doing this recently.

• Going without sugar or alcohol for January (so far so good!) I'm following along with the Pinch Of Yum community to help with this. They have a great balanced outlook and the yummiest recipes.

• No more fast fashion. I'm going to pay more attention to the clothes I buy and where they come from. I'd like to be more minimalist and only buy things that spark joy in me. (Yes I have been watching 'Tidying up with Marie Kondo'. It's amazing and I'm obsessed.

• Be more mindful about my impact on the environment.

Plus I'm still working on a few from last year, in fact most of them from last year!

• Going easier on myself and being ok with making mistakes. This on leads to learning to love myself just the way I am. Which ties into stop comparing myself to others!!

• Trying new things. With the courage I'm taking into this year I'm hoping this will happen.

• Finally learning Swedish. I was listening to a podcast the other day that said you shouldn't put outcomes on your goal/resolution/intentions list. You should put action items instead. So for this one, I'm going to do more Duolingo and have the courage to speak more Swedish whenever I can.

Do you have goals/intentions/resolutions for this year? I'd love to hear what you're working towards for 2019, let me know in the comments or get in contact with me over on Instagram.

Cheers, Jess :)

PS: As part of my 'Listen to more music' I've made a cosy new playlist on Spotify that I've had on repeat for days now. You can have a listen here!