This year, I set goals in 5 broad categories. I’m also trying something new with my annual process, and I’ll be setting fluid biweekly/weekly goals throughout the year.
2014 review
While I love planning, I usually take a more organic and intuitive approach on a day to day basis. I found that having biweekly/weekly goals was a bit too much structure, and I couldn’t seem to integrate this new habit into my routine. Going forward, I’ll be sticking with annual goals and trying to be more fluid during the year, by reviewing the goal, seeing how it’s going for me, and adjusting where it doesn’t feel right.
Beauty — be more thoughtful about purchases
Goal #1: reduce spend on beauty and skincare products by 50% in 2014 (vs 2013)
I totally fell off the wagon with this in 2013 so I took more time this year to think about what I wanted to achieve with in the beauty category. I focused in on two main areas of improvement: I want to curb my spending and I also want to stop the influx of goods into my home. I completely blew my budget in 2013 so I’d like to concentrate my efforts on my spending in the beauty and skincare categories in 2014.
2014 review
I did sooooo well with this and I’m very proud of myself! In 2014, I only spent 22% of what I spent in 2013. Hooray!
Goal #2: purchase only cruelty-free beauty, skincare, and household products
This is a big decision for me. I like doing reviews on beauty products, and going cruelty-free significantly limits the market of beauty products I can buy. However, after giving this a lot of thought, I decided that this would be a good way for me to help curb my frivolous purchases. I’m not going to be throwing out my non-cruelty-free products but I’m going to stop purchasing new ones. One personal choice associated with this overall decision is that I’m still going to make purchases from cruelty-free subsidiaries of non-cruelty-free parent companies.
2014 review
I did well with this until I went to Japan — I got excited and overwhelmed by the HUGE number of fun beauty products! I didn’t research a lot of the things I bought, so some turned out to be cruelty-free and some were not.
Goal #3: set Biweekly/weekly goals
I’ll be setting biweekly/weekly goals throughout the year. Right now, I’m envisioning these goals to be in the areas of learning about ingredients, trying to shop my stash, categorizing my nail polish, etc. I’m not sure exactly what this will entail or the frequency, but each goal will follow the SMART criteria.
2014 review
I don’t think I set any biweekly/weekly goals in this category.
Home — continue to organize and declutter
In order to focus more attention on organization, I am increasing my budget for home spend this year. I plan to use the additional budget room for organization, whether it be buying more storage solutions, switching out our furniture, or making other such improvements to how our home is organized.
Goal #4: set Biweekly/weekly goals
To be set throughout the year.
2014 review
I tried setting biweekly/weekly goals at the beginning of the year, but it wasn’t really working out for me. In August (during Vlogust), I caught up somewhat by embarking on something that I dubbed Decluttering 101, which involved decluttering for at least 10 minutes per day and letting go of at least one item per day. This worked out great during Vlogust and I continued with the practice for the rest of the year. I still have a hard time letting go of stuff, but I feel like my mindset started to shift this year. It started feeling good to let go, and it started becoming easier and easier.
Financial — continue to save money
Goal #5: meet my annual savings goal
Similar to previous years, I’ll be setting an annual savings goal in 2014. I’m scrapping the reward component because that hasn’t really worked for me in previous years — as I’d end up buying my rewards even if I didn’t reach my thresholds.
2014 review
I ended up at approximately 86% of my savings goal by the end of the year, but again, I set a rather aggressive goal and I also didn’t factor in any paper gains from my investments. Overall, I still saved quite a bit of money this year, so I’m happy with how I did this year.
petite pear style — create more synergy
I am really good at keeping up with my YouTube channel, but I often neglect my blog and other social media channels. I'd like to work on creating more of a brand and synergy around PPS. I love YouTube so I want to continue with that, but I also want to better integrate my social media and my blog. I want to better communicate on social media — likely not on Twitter, but perhaps on Instagram or Facebook.
Goal #6: set Biweekly/weekly goals
To be set throughout the year.
2014 review
I didn’t do much with this with this goal, and I think it’s because creating synergy for my “brand” isn’t something I truly wanted to accomplish. I did focus on YouTube this year, but I’m not as invested in social media and blogging. I thought this was a great idea when I initially set the goal, but I’m not sure it’s sustainable in the long term for me. In any event, not meeting this goal gave me an opportunity to reflect on the reasons why.
Photography — focus on personal projects
Goal #7: photo-a-day project of hubby and me
I decided to return to my photo-a-day of hubby and me after trying something different last year. I loved this project when I first completed it in 2012 — it was wonderful to have a collection of photos to serve as a mini time capsule for the year. I missed doing this in 2013 and I was feeling a bit wistful that I had decided to try something different, which I later abandoned early that same year. Lesson learned!
2014 review
I did well with this. It looks like I missed 28 days, but it was fun and I love our little 2014 time capsule.
Goal #8: take annual family portraits
I have a small portrait photography side business. I only do a handful of family photo shoots each year, but I love how beautiful and meaningful the images are — and I feel like it would be wonderful to have these keepsakes for my family as well. This year, I’d like to take some nice family portraits for (1) Hubs and me with our pets, (2) my side of the family, and (3) Hubs' side of the family. I’m going to try to keep these low key and casual but I’ll use my DSLR (on a tripod).
2014 review
I started off the year strong! I took a family portrait of Hubby, Truffle, Lulu, and me in the wee hours on New Year’s Day. However, I didn’t take the other family portraits on my list. I didn’t let my immediate family or my in-laws know about my plan so I was worried it might be a bit of an inconvenience for them. I decided at some point not to do this just yet. Perhaps I’ll pre-sell this goal next year so it won’t come as a surprise.