2018 Reflection & 2019 Goals

Long time no speak! I hope you are all doing well and you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I say this every year but I can't believe how fast the festive season just flew by and how we are starting a brand new year! I'm a little late with this post than usual but better late than never, right? Since starting my blog I think this is the longest time I've been absent. My last post went live in July and so much has happened since then. Honestly, there have been some highs and some lows but I am a firm believe in how everything happens for a reason. I won't go in to too much detail as we may be here until 2020 haha but I guess we all come to a point in our lives where we need to start focusing our energy in to other things and being a little more selfish with our time.

I adore my blog and it's a huge part of my life but I lacked motivation and inspiration over the last few months. I was also going through a tonne of different things, but the time away to focus on self care, self love, self development and self reflection was just what I needed.

With that being said, I wanted to start the year as I mean to go on. Every year I post my annual reflection and goals post with the full intention to jump back to blogging. That's the plan for 2019! I just wanted to write a little post reflecting on some of my high and low milestones this past year and of course, set myself a few personal and blogging related goals moving into 2019. If you would like to read any of my previous reflection and goal posts you can do so here - 2015, 2016 and 2017. This may be quite a lengthy post so I suggest you grab yourself a cup of tea, sit back, relax and enjoy!

Wow! What can I say, 2018 has been a whirlwind of crazy adventures. Looking back everything feels like a complete blur - how fast did the year just fly by?! Like last year I want to focus around some of my favourite photos over the past year. Like any millennial, blogger or digital enthusiast I pretty much documented my year online through Instagram, so if you would like to take a peak through some other photos feel free.

Travel Destinations

Last year I wanted to make sure I travelled as much as possible. Being in a full time job makes it a little tricky but none-the-less I was so thrilled with all of the beautiful destinations I got to see. I flew overseas starting with Dublin in February, travelled to Devon for a wonderful collaboration with Borringdon Hall, flew to the Dominican Republic in June for a family holiday, saw some beautiful sights in London, experienced New York for the 3rd time, celebrated Mamma Meola's Birthday in Dubai and caught up with the beautiful Stacey! Celebrated my Birthday in Mauritius, saw the Christmassy Markets in Birmingham with my besties and saw more Christmassy sights in London. More of this in 2019 please!

London Holds My Heart

London definitely holds my heart and there is nothing I love more than going out in London whether it's for Afternoon Tea, Dinner, shopping or a night out with the girls. From the top, I visited Buddha Bar London, Elan Cafe, Tonight Josephine, The South Place Hotel, Annabel's in Mayfair, The Sanderson Hotel, Hakkasan and more. This year I would love to work on some more food and travel related content. Visit lots of new places in London or even around the UK. There are so many treasures on our doorstep!

Family & Friends

Family and friends mean the world to me. If you know me personally then you will know that I will literally do anything for anyone and in most case put them before even thinking about myself. It's just the way I've always been. Here are some wonderful memories with some special people in my life and here's to many more in 2019!

Memories

I finally got to see my favourite Kpop group BTS perform live in London. BTS have become a huge part of my life - their songs are just so meaningful and their music is great for workouts too! Don't knock it until you've listened to a few of their songs, honestly, it will shake up your world in the best way possible. I also got the chance to see another Kpop group called Monsta X - I feel so lucky to be able to say I've seen them both. They don't visit the UK very often so I'm so glad we managed to get tickets. I also purchased my brand new car in March, my lil man will be turning 1 next month which seems crazy! I've grown up with beautiful cars around me and it's made me appreciate and want to work had to owning my own. I know materialistic things are not everything but every now and again it's nice to be able to treat ourselves. I also made some beautiful memories with my parents and grandparents celebrating Christmas and the New Year together.

What else happened? 

1. I started my new job in October and I have loved every second of it. Don't get me wrong, I hate change as I get so anxious but this has been one of my biggest highlights of 2018 for me. I've only been there a few months now and I have grown and learnt so much already in that short space of time. It's only the start of this exciting new adventure. 

2. I was named PCR's 30 under 30 for another year which was an absolute honour. You can read the article here.

3. My cousin Carmela got ENGAGED! My cousins are like my sisters so this was such wonderful news and I am so incredibly happy for them both. 

4. I've been organising my best friends Hen Party! Kirsty get's married in 2019 and I'm lucky enough to be one of her bridesmaid. She deserves to have the most magical wedding and I feel so blessed to be part of her special day. 

5. I have been working hard with my freelance business and I hope to see it grow even more in 2019.

A Few of My 2019 Goals

Goal #1: Fitness. Fitness. Fitness. I want to continue with my fitness journey and achieve more personal goals this year. It's funny because this past year is probably the longest I've ever stuck to a fitness routine without loosing track and fluctuating. I am feeling and looking the best I have ever felt. That's so hard for me to even admit as it's such a sensitive topic for me, however, as cheesy as it sounds, hard work does pay off. 

Goal #2: Attend More Blogging Events & Meet New People. I set this goal every year and I really do try to attend more events, however, I find myself declining more than accepting which honestly makes me so sad. I think it's a combination of things; timing, commitments, confidence, anxiety that kept getting in the way. I am such a shy person and sometimes attending an event alone is quite daunting, especially when there are friendship groups already formed and you feel so intimidated to go up and talk to other bloggers. I really hope this is something I can conquer as I would love to meet so many more bloggers and brands this year!

Goal #3: Increase my Fashion, Lifestyle and Travel Content. During 2017 and 2018 I definitely feel like I managed to switch up my writing style with posts more varies content, for example, 104 Blog Post Ideas To Keep You Inspired, Autumn Fashion Posts, going behind the scenes with Britain's Next Top Model and  much more. I want to work even harder for 2019 and bring you content that you want to read. I know the majority of the time I sway towards beauty...what can I say, I have a beauty addition haha, but never-the-less, I really want to work harder and create more diverse content for you all. I want to start creating more outfit, lifestyle and travel posts. Yet again, if there is anything you would like to see in particular pretty please let me know.

Goal #4: Work on my Instagram. I know numbers are definitely not everything but I think its always nice to set yourself personal goals. I feel like I've been trying to hit 10,000 followers on Instagram for what seems like forever! Send help haha. The Instagram algorithm is causing so many problems for all of us...it sucks! So, I'll be setting my 10,000 goal again this year and fingers crossed we'll be able to achieve it! I'm going to aim to post something every single day and interact with other instagrammers a lot more. Instagram is one of my favourite platforms and I love taking photos!

Goal #5. The Year of Me 2.0. Last year I set myself a goal to really push myself out of my comfort zone and focus on having the year of 'Me'. This was such a big goal for me because I am incredibly shy and an anxious person but I want to move into 2019 wanting to be able to say YES more, push myself outside of my comfort zone in all aspects of my life and love myself more. Even though this is something I definitely felt like I achieved (slowly but surely) last year, It's something I would like to continue working on. We are constantly changing and growing so I feel this applies daily. This is a goal that will be shaped to all areas of my life as the year progresses but lets hope that this time next year when I write my reflection post and 2020 goals I can say we smashed it! Jokingly I keep saying to everyone that they are going to see a completely different Sophia - let's see how that goes :) 

Goal #6: Get More Organised. Admittedly, working full time means I am not always on top form with my blog and it is something that I want and need to work on because blogging is such a huge love in my life. My favourite quote it 'Don't Compare Your Chapter 1 To Someone Else's Chapter 20' and I need to constantly remind myself of this because we are all different! I want to be able to post between 1-3 pieces of contented on my blog per week and of course keep on top of my social media.I don't want to get in a position where I start to stress myself out because of lack of posting as I'd never want to resent my blog so getting into a solid and fun routine will definitely help me here. 

Goal #7: Invest in my Future. Not a blogging goal per say but this is something I have been working on for the past year and something that I will continue to work on in 2019. I won't go in to too much detail here and I don't want to jinx anything but fingers crossed there are some exciting things happening in 2019. 

Goal #8: Learn Something New. This goal can be moulded to so many different things and it is one that really excited me because I love learning new things. Maybe I could learn a new recipe (I do love to bake!), learn how to code a website, learn Yoga, brush up on my Italian or even learn a new language! I've even been contemplating going back to studying a new degree! The possibilities are endless!

I really hope you enjoyed diving into my 2018 reflection and talking about some of my 2019 goals. 2018 has probably been one of the hardest years of my life but also one of the most rewarding. It taught me that struggles are often blessing in disguise, and that you'll always end up on the path you're meant to be on. To trust the process and how everything happens for a reason. I made it through those 12 months and I'm determined to make it again this year and make it one to never forget. I have learnt so much over the last 12 months and I want to start 2019 as I mean to go on. A huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my blog, like a photo on Instagram, retweet something on Twitter and everything else in between. The support is incredible and I couldn't thank you enough! Also, another huge thank you to all of the brands who I have collaborated with this year - it's been a dream come true and I look forward to hopefully working with you all again and more in 2019!

If you have stuck around to the end then thank you so much, I know this was quite a chatty post. Here is to an amazing 2019 for us all! Like always lovelies, if you have any questions, requests or if you just want a chat you can contact me via my social media or leave me a comment below. I love hearing from you all and I make sure to ready every single comment...they really make my day!

Here's to an amazing 2019...let's start page 1 of our 365 book. Or in this case, chapter 2 as it's now February!

What are your 2019 goals?

Lots of Love