2019 New Years Resolutions

Happy New Years, everybody! I LOVE New Years. I have the kind of organized, box-ticking soul that really enjoys arbitrary dates of significance, so starting a fresh calendar always feels amazing to me. The year is clean and new and shiny and I am so excited!

The past few years, I’ve been making my resolutions public on this blog, which has been really fun. If you wanna check out my past years, you can find them here: 2016, 2017, 2018.

But for now – join me in shaming myself on last years resolutions!

Read and Review 125 Books (44,000 pages) on Goodreads – A-

So, I almost did this one. I read 136 books (which was only two books shy of my personal record!). I reviewed every single one on my Goodreads and I feel like my passion for reading was really re-kindled this year. I read more non-fiction and discovered some really great graphic novels in addition to my usual fantasy/fairytale fiction. I didn’t quite make the page count (41,000), but I’m not sure if I want to push myself that far on length, since I’ve been really enjoying graphic novels and they tend to be shorter. I am more than content with my progress.
Write 2 Quality Blog Posts Every Month – B

So, I know the spirit of this resolution was to keep up my pace of two blogs a month without relying on short last minute sale announcements or wimpy blog posts to meet my goal. While there were a few months where I definitely slid under the wire, I feel pretty good about this year. I started my Clasp Wars series that I have felt really good about. I like doing those informational-style posts a lot. It makes me feel more like a community member than just a self-promoter, if that makes sense.

These are the ones I’ve done so far – I wanna finish this series in 2019, for sure
Learn Two New Crafts or Beading Techniques – B+

You know, I thought I had tanked this one, but I just ran a quick glance back over this year’s posts and I actually did do quite a bit of new-to-me stuff this year! I learned Peytwist and tried Freeform Peyote for the first time. I also finally figured out why I was ruining all my rivoli bezels and completed a bead embroidery piece for the first time in a few years!

Now, did I already know how to do peyote and bead embroidery? Yes. But I took the time to expand my repertoire of techniques and get better at types of beading that might not necessarily translate into sell-able patterns. I increased my skills and I am happy with that!
Do Business Paperwork Regularly, Instead of Procrastinating – D

The only part of this that I did was that I was very good about keeping my receipts. I still have to log all of them and fill out all my spreadsheets and oh, boy, do I regret not following through on this one. I have so much tax work to do in this next month. Phew boy.
Do an Overhaul of My Beading Room – Declutter and Organize! – F

I legitimately FORGOT that I had made this goal and I didn’t do it at all. Usually, I’m a pretty organized person, but my bead room is shameful. Look upon my shame! I wanna do some stash-busting this year, so maaaaaybe that will help?
Reach My Goal Weight (whatever that ends up being…) – B

So, I started dieting in May of 2017 and I lost about 65 pounds in the next year after that. That left me around 135 and I knew I wanted to lose a little more, but I wasn’t sure how much and if I could do it without restricting my calories any further. I did manage to get down to 131 (my lowest), but I was pretty happy bouncing around 130-135 depending on my cycle and my week-to-week diet. I’m at the point where I’m trying to learn to maintain my new weight while being a little less strict on my calories. I want to eat better instinctively.

But December was full of holidays and family meals, so I am currently at about 140ish. And I’m not crazy worried about it. I think I’m happy with where I am and am looking forward to finishing off the Christmas sweets and then having a damn salad. :)

With that in mind – here are my 2019 goals!

2019 Goals

Read and Review 125 Books on Goodreads
Write Two Blog Posts a Month (and finish Clasp Wars series)
Remake and Evaluate Each of my Original Patterns
Actually Do Your Expense Reports EVERY Month
Engage More in Beading-Related Social Media

I think a lot of these are pretty self-explanatory. I need to do better with my paperwork and I want to maintain my reading and blogging goals. One of the fun ones for this year is that I want to bead up every single one of my patterns this year (including any new ones that I make!) and evaluate them a bit. I think some of the old ones could use either some spruced up photos or maybe even a price drop on some of the simpler ones. My work and skill level has evolved and I want to check in on that!

Also, did you guys know that I started a Wescott Jewelry Instagram? I’ve been having SO MUCH fun posting on there – especially the Story feature. I feel like I can play around with more in-progress shots and little videos. It’s been crazy fun and I want that energy to spill over into my Facebook page and this blog. Keep the momentum going and engage with my beady internet friends even more in the coming year! :D

Tell me about your resolutions! Do you make them? What do you want YOUR 2019 to look like? Let me know in the comments and let’s DO IT! <3