I know it's a bit cliché to make a list of resolutions to start off the New Year but hell, if I can't be cliché on New Year's Eve then when can I? When I started my blog back in August my goal—besides sharing my interest in books and beauty—was to take more chances and put myself out there a bit more. Though to a certain extent that has happened with overcoming my romance reader stigma and just sharing more with readers, I still feel like I'm not pushing myself enough to grow as a person, to take more risks to make myself happier. So let's start off my list of goals for the New Year with a goody...
Take More Risks
I love being a homebody, reading, curling up with some coffee and a Netflix queue but I think I need to push myself a bit further out of my comfort zone. I'm always inherently telling myself things are pointless or can't be done and giving up on myself before I even try. I usually talk myself out of things or condition myself to believe that I don't even want them because I don't think I can get them. Plus Size Supermodel, Candice Huffine, recently posted an Instagram photo in relation to this and it really inspired me. I need to let myself try, and learn to shrug off my failures if that is the outcome.
Work At Enjoying Fitness
Probably the most cliché of the cliché resolutions is to exercise more, eat healthier and get fitter. I've made and forgotten this resolution many, many times but I think what it really needs is an alternative approach. I've always looked at fitness as doing something that I hate because I know I should—like eating your broccoli, The problem with that is I fricken hate broccoli and not even Lucifer himself could willingly make me eat it. I think what I need to make this work is to find a fitness routine and healthier diet that I actually enjoy keeping up.
I know I enjoy working out when I actually force myself to do it. It actually helps me combat depression and limit my often negative thought processes. I just need to find a way to have fun more fun with it so that it becomes a lifestyle change and not just something I do until I start to see results and then drop. I also want to add better things to my diet rather than taking the usual route of deprivation. I'd like to start by incorporating a glass of green tea into my daily routine (even if I have to chug it right before bed) and generally just adding more fruits and vegetables to my diet.
Love My Body
I've always had issues with my body and feeling confident in my own skin. I've always felt a bit awkward and ungainly physically and though I can often look cute, I don't think I've ever really looked or felt sexy. I want to work on becoming more body-positive this year. Nothing looks as good as confidence and I think finding a way to feel better about myself will make me look all the better for it.
Step Up My Dressing
I think that body negativity and the fact that I work in a small, casual, sequestered office have played a role in the decline of my wardrobe. I mean, don't get me wrong, my fashion sense is still good, I just don't flex that muscle as much as I really should. I've become a jeans and blouse junkie and have let my accessory game fall by the wayside. I used to wear dresses several times a week and took more risks with looks—possibly because there was a chance that I could actually meet new people in a college environment. I think becoming a bit more comfortable with myself physically could help spark new life into my dressing and a fresher, happier attitude.
Stay Organized
I'm generally an extremely messy person when it comes to my own things. It's not that I don't like order—hell, I'm a list-maker by nature—but it always just feels like so much work to keep up. Right now my room is probably the most clean and organized it's been all year and I would like to keep it that way. With new storage for my makeup and all my clothes, shoes and handbags neatly stored everything just feels better.
I also want to try and use my planner and notebooks to better plan my posts and blogging time. I don't currently schedule tweets but I'd like to try making time to do so and pre-schedule more posts. I'm an awful procrastinator and don't write posts until just before I post them so this will definitely be quite a shift for me.
Read Differently
Thanks to becoming an Avon Addict, I've been exposed to so many new authors and sub-genres of romance that I just never thought would interest me before. I want to continue to expand my horizons and give the book-loving side of me some more exposure. I tend to read an average of 3 books a week (often more) and I just don't seem to be cranking out reviews as frequently as I should. Writing book reviews is still very much a stressful process for me and I'd like to start writing them as soon as I finish the book, while it's still fresh in my mind, and keep my writing on the fun and frank side.
Write More...And More Like Myself
I'm really still just finding my voice with this whole blogging thing and who I am as a writer seems to shift with every post. I don't know if that's a normal thing but I'd just like to sound more like myself. I feel like I'm often writing posts the way I would a paper and that's not really the feel I want Cris Conquers to have. I want it to read like you're chatting with a girlfriend, not a professor. I still love me some $5 words, but sometimes I'm going to play with grammar and make up words because that's what feels natural to me.
Go
I'm hoping 2015 will finally be the year for some changes in scenery. I'm hoping to travel more as a tourist but I also think it's time to relocate and go after something new. You can only sit around telling yourself it's not the right time for so long. Waiting for signs can be a dangerous business. There's really no such thing as the right time—sometimes you just have to get up and go. This Cris is ready for a whole lot of conquering.
Per usual, an extremely long post, I know, but what goals are you setting for yourself for 2015? Any big changes you're looking to initiate?
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