I’m still trying to come to grips with the idea that we are in 2019 and that next year is, get this, 2020! Crazy, right?! Now that the bottomless champagne has worn off from my NYE night out with my girlfriends I am ready to put pen to paper so to speak and list out my nine goals for 2019. Read on for my quick highlight from 2018 and my nine goals for this year.

Highlights from 2018

2018 was an exciting and challenging year for me, personally and professionally. I spent the entire year literally building my businesses through blood, sweat and tears. It was not easy, but I persevered and made it through the year feeling so excited to ring in the new year. My excitement literally started building up around Thanksgiving and I have been so eager to welcome the new year.

One of my personal highlights from 2018 was going full time as a blogger and creative entrepreneur, adopting a new pup, celebrating first year of marriage to my ridiculously amazing husband, and my Little A started First Grade. My career highlights were getting to:

• Travel for work: NYC, Las Vegas and Mexico—these trips were unexpected and unplanned. I didn’t even plan to visit these places, in fact the only destination I had on my travel list when I started 2018 were Florida and Paris.
• Blog rebrand—you might have noticed a subtle but major change here on the blog. I spend over a year searching for the perfect logo design and came so close to picking one, but none of them seem to be exactly what I needed to represent my brand. More on that coming up later.
• Attended DC Fashion Week—another major accomplishment for 2018. I was so excited to attend DC Fashion Week for the first time and it was just so much fun! I am excited and looking forward to attending again.
• Featured on David Bridal, The Knot, Virginia Bride & Groom Magazine, Zola, and more – this was full of all sorts of publication and feature all over social media and blogs. My wedding was literally all over, at least it felt like it, and I am so incredibly humble and honored that everyone loved my wedding as much as I did because it was truly a magical day.
• Brand partnerships—2018 was one of my busiest years for brand partnerships (32 to be exact). I cannot tell you just how grateful I am to have been trusted by these brands to support their products and to be able to share them through my social media and blog is something that I will always be grateful for. I cannot wait to see what 2019 has in store for me.
• I became a Speaker for the first time ever and launched a social media marketing company, Always Creating DIGITAL, more on this later. This is such a major dream come true for me. I have spent my entire professional career building communities, developing social media, branding, and marketing strategies and plans in the corporate world so being able to use my 18 years of experience to help small business owners to build and grow their social media, brand, and marketing brings me such joy. Which means, officially, I am running three very distinct businesses that are closely related. I am excited to continue to grow and nurture these businesses in 2019, especially my event planning company: Always Creating Studio Weddings & Events.

My Nine Goals for 2019

1. Live a healthier, well-balanced lifestyle

I have noticed that in the past two years my stress levels have increased. I am for the most part a very happy person. I don’t really have one thing that keeps me up at night and/or negatively impact my daily, functional life. This past year though, I have to be honest, I have just felt my stress levels increased dramatically. There are two things that I can attribute to my increase in stress levels: being an entrepreneur and my weight. Oddly enough these stressors have been something I have ignored for a long time now. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks before Christmas that I had to literally stop and take personal ownership of why I was in such a stressful place and worst, allowed myself to be in for such a long time. So, one of my goals for 2019 is to be intentional about my health, fitness, and overall well-being so I can live a balanced lifestyle.

2. Get organize, like seriously organized.

When you are a mom and have a busy work life …and you work from home there is always clutter like literally every.where. And let me tell you it is a constant struggle to get the house organized. But I am taking it a step further and trying to create a minimalism home. Yes, I know a huge undertaking considering we have accumulated so much crap over the past years, but I think we can do it, starting with the garage so I have a few months to come up with an action plan.

3. Build An Adult Closet.

This might sound like a weird goal because I’m in the business of sharing what I’m wearing. But I have so many clothes, shoes and accessories in my closets (at both houses) that I feel it is time to finally, truly curate my closet. Over the years my style has changed and my body has changed as well but for some reason I have my old and new clothes all mixed in. Some clothes I haven’t worn in so long, some I am so sentimental with which to be honest, I don’t know why. I feel that we are always at the mercy of those few pounds we wish to lose so we can fit back into our favorite clothes from years past. So in 2019 I am going to work so hard at purging my closet so I can have + enjoy the adult closet of my dreams.

4. Create 25 YouTube Videos.

Being a content creator is incredibly fun and I absolutely LOVE what I do, but I think there is a lot of misconception that being a content creator/blogger/vlogger is all fun and no work. The process is not easy, but you know the rewards are so amazing. Last year I made a goal to create my YouTube channel, which I did; however, I posted sporadically and couldn’t consistently create + post videos. But this year, I have a goal to create 25 videos and it makes me feel as though it will be more achievable.

5. Take Guitar Lessons.

Years ago, I took an interest in learning a musical instrument and being the rock music lover that I am I wanted to take guitar lessons. This is a big goal and it’s more on the fun side so I’m hoping it will help me take some time to have fun and do something for me. But first I have to get a guitar.

6. Learn a New Language.

For many years now learning a new language has been one of my personal goals. I already speak four languages, so what’s another one, right?! I have gone back and forth between Spanish and French, and still haven’t decided, but it is most likely going to be Spanish. Many years ago, when I lived in South Florida I was doing very well with my Spanish and because I have a unique connection to this language, I want to make it my next language to learn.

7. Travel.

This list is in no particular order, but if it was then travel will be #1 so just imagine that it’s at the very top of the list. In 2018, I unexpectedly traveled to Las Vegas and Mexico for the first time and both were incredibly. I also went to NYC, which is a special place for me—it’s literally my favorite city! This year though on my travel list are Toronto, Vancouver, London, and Paris. Also, I loved Mexico so much that I definitely think I will be back in South America this year, which is so incredibly exciting. Can’t wait! Follow my travel gram on Insta.

8. Hit 100K on Instagram.

This number has been such an elusive one to achieve for me. My Instagram growth is one of my most asked questions—how I got so many followers—that is a different blog post all together. Hitting a 100K would be a huge accomplishment for me and I want to do it organically, which is the reason why I want to churn out content that is useful, relatable, genuine, and not to say I am not doing that now, it’s just that I want to do more of this so I can slowly build my following. So if you follow me on IG and like what I share, please consider sharing my page with your friends whom you think might enjoy my content. Let’s hit 100K, #AlwaysCreatingTribe!

9. Launch Product + Develop a Publishing Vertical

This has been a dream and in the works for a couple of years now. I am a planner, so I want to methodologically plan out the process to ensure that I understand what I am doing. I just don’t want to jump into something just for the sake of it. I want to do my research, learn as much as I can about the process so I can create a successful product.

Back in the summer of 2016, I came up with this idea to create a publishing platform based on a series of blog post series titled, “Behind the Lens™“. After working on a styled shoot project, this series + idea came to me organically and was in my wheelhouse, after all, I have been a blogger since 2008 and I’d already had another semi-successful blogger magazine that I had created and featured several bloggers. So it was a natural and organic idea and I think after all these years after much thought and crowdsourcing my creative friends, there is a need for this platform. I’m hoping to make this happen in 2019 so stay tuned.

All of this could not have been possible without all of your support + love, my readers, followers, and supporters. Thank you for your support and love in 2018. I’m looking forward to creating more inspiring, fun content for you in 2019.

I would like to know what your goal(s) is for 2019.