Happy New Year, friends! I hope everyone is having a great start to 2018! I’m done reflecting on my past year (here in case you missed it) and I am all about starting the year out on the right foot. Is anyone else weirdly superstitious about New Years? It was imperative that I completed my long list of to-dos in hopes that it would foreshadow a good year (for example, my bed needed to be made haha).

January’s Bucket list is definitely a reflection of my neurosis. I wanted to try new things that would hopefully incite good habits for the remainder of the year. January will be all about organization, planning, and reflection.

I wouldn’t call these resolutions because my bucket lists are not unique to this time of year. In lieu of resolutions, I prefer to develop annual mottos. In 2017, my word was focus. In 2018, I was inspired by the quote “don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” (Name that movie!) Therefore, I choose fearless as my mantra for 2018. While I feel as though I have come a long way in the last few months, I still let my fear of how I am perceived hold me back from potential opportunities. 2018 will be the year that I consciously make the effort to combat that tendency.

Here is what is on my bucket list for the month of January:

Host a Family Game Night

My family and I decided to do a game night for Christmas Eve this year and it was SO. MUCH. FUN! This month, I wanted to take the opportunity to recreate that bonding experience at my place instead!

Try Meditation

I have been considering practicing meditation in my daily life for a while, but never made the effort to fit it into my routine. There are so many health benefits to meditation that I hope to reap. In addition, I think that it would be a great practice to initiate as I come off my semester break and head back into my hectic lifestyle.

Create an Editorial Calendar

This year, I really want to get better at pre-planning content and sticking to posting deadlines. An editorial calendar is just one of the ways that I plan to tackle that goal. Currently, I do have a loose planning system, but I’m looking forward to having a better strategy for content production. 

2018 Vision Board 

A reader reached out to me about my thoughts on a vision board and I thought that it was a great idea! Ever since, I have been brainstorming and thinking about what I want to accomplish this year. I’ll share my vision board this month along with tips on how you can create your own!

Home Organization   

At the end of 2017, I kind of went into a cleaning frenzy and I have been working on projects around my apartment. For Christmas, I was pretty excited to get a new storage ottoman and a set of suitcases. Now, I am tasked with reorganizing a few areas and getting rid of some of the junk that is taking up space. A large task, but I am excited about the result!

(Slowly) Get back into Exercise 

Many of you know that I experienced something that kind of halted my physical activity (I was doing so well too L). This month I want to get back into exercise so that I can build up to the level of activity that I was getting in October (weights 2x a week, spin 2x a week). I honestly can’t wait to get back into my routine!

Establish a Proactive School Schedule

Online grad school is weird. There is no set class time which is great for flexibility, but terrible if you are a procrastinator. As the new semester (and year) starts, I want to try to create a school schedule that is more proactive. In other words, I want to try to prevent staying up super late completing assignments that have to be turned in by 1 am. This semester looks pretty tough, but hopefully this will help!

Whole 30 Challenge 

My aunt has been trying to get me to do the Whole 30 challenge for most of 2017 and I refused (especially when she suggested it around the holiday season! The audacity!). However, I read up on it a little more and decided to give it a try! I have been sharing my journey and meals to my instastories (@ambitiouslycierra), but I will also be writing a progress update and completion post on here!

How will you find your balance this January? Join me in one of these challenges or tell me about your own challenge!

♥ Cierra