8 Things I Want to Learn in 2018
2017 was an absolute dream for me. It was my most successful year both personally and professionally.
If you want a short 60-second recap of 2017, check out this little Instagram video montage I threw together (and follow me if you're not already!):
The year was filled with once in a lifetime opportunities that I never, ever, ever thought I would have. Naturally with the past year being such a success, I’ve found myself with a ton of pressure and stress for 2018. I was struggling the past few days about if this year is going to be as memorable and successful as last year. To be honest, I haven’t been optimistic about it—which is really rare for me.
To try to perk myself up about the new year, I started creating ideas for a vision board. While brainstorming for what I want to achieve and work towards in the new year, a question settled in my mind:
What do I want to learn in the new year?
I’ve never been someone who thinks of myself as an expert on anything—I think there’s always something new you can learn, no matter how big or small. Some of these things I want to learn about are things I might have some knowledge in, while others I’m completely clueless on. Regardless, I hope this post inspires you to think about what you want to learn in the new year too.
No.1
I want to learn how to better manage money. Money isn’t a topic I typically talk about. I think it’s something private and personal. At the end of the day, it’s just a number in an account or digits on a piece of paper.
However, with freelance jobs and working for myself, keeping track of money and receipts isn’t always easy. In 2018, I want to learn how to organize and manage money more effectively. This means keeping better track of expenses, making sure clients pay on time, recording hours worked, making a stricter budget, etc. I do all of these things right now, but with the assumption and hope that I can keep working for myself and getting more business, I know I need to learn how to improve my organization for financial matters.
No. 2
Working for yourself is not easy. It’s fun, but not always easy. Part of what I do is blogging (duh) and influencing. Blogging and influencing are especially hard because they are such new types of careers. There is no specific how-to on being successful in these new fields. There’s really no specific degree for it required, though a degree and college education do end up helping in the long run. It’s a constant learning process and the outlets for it are always changing. The roles are still being developed and there’s so much of a grey zone that sometimes we don’t even know what our job title actually is (influencer, content creator, social media manager, blogger, freelance writer, contractor…WHAT ARE WE?!).
All and all, I want to learn more about how to really get good at this whole entrepreneur/girl boss thing. Whether that includes growing my social media presence, learning marketing techniques, obtaining more collaborations/sponsorships, etc., I want to learn all about it and give it my all.
No. 3
With being a freelance model as well, it’s really important for me to make sure I’m in good shape and taking care of myself. I tend to go on and off health kicks (I literally had 9 different gym/fitness studio memberships within between 2016-2017), but I really want to learn how to develop a healthier lifestyle that I can keep up with. I love working out and eating healthy, but I also want to find a routine that I can stick with. Meal prepping isn’t my thing and neither are scheduled workouts for specific days of the week, so I’ve got a lot of research and learning to do to figure out what exactly will work for me.
No. 4
Going along with learning how to develop a long-term healthier lifestyle, I want to learn how to become a better cook. I totally nailed it on Christmas when I made roasted butternut squash and Brussels sprouts with bits of apples (I’ll link the recipe I used here!), so now I’m inspired to keep cooking! I’ve created a Pinterest board of things either I want to make or my boyfriend and I want to make. You can have a peek at it here if you’re curious!
No. 5
Something I know I’m terrible at is going to bed early. It’s currently 12:50am as I’m writing this. I want to honestly learn how to become a morning person, which I know starts with kicking my habit of staying up till 2 in the morning. This is something that will be really difficult for me, but if I can learn how to do it 4-5 times a week, I’ll be more than satisfied.
No. 6
This year is going to be the year of content. I’m going to really focus in on making creating visual content a priority—photos and videos are what I’m really wanting to push in 2018. Will my Instagram feed be perfect and aesthetically pleasing in a color scheme? Probably not. But what I will learn how to do is shoot more angles, edit better, and post more often.
No. 7
My boyfriend is Polish and he tries to teach me different words every now and then. However, even though I’m not Polish, I want to learn how to say more sentences and have a small conversation. I think it’s important to get invested in things that are important to your signifiant other and learning something as special as a language not only shows that you care, but it may end up being valuable in the long run.
So the bottom line is, I’m actually going to start using my Polish language app on my phone and hopefully some of it will sink in.
No. 8
Although there are a bunch of other things I want to learn how to do, something that I know is important to improve on is time management. I am certainly someone who will put as much on my plate as possible, and end up being too busy to take care of myself. I’ll always get everything done correctly that I take on, but I feel as though I could be managing my time better.
For example, instead of staying up late to finish something, I’ll focus on making sleep a priority so then I can have a clear head to finish whatever task I am working on in the morning. I feel like a well-rested brain works more efficiently than an overtired one. Maybe that’s not true, but I’ll find out soon!
That’s all I have for you today! I hope that you all find something at least one thing that you want to learn or improve your knowledge on in the new year. Whether it’s something big like getting a Master’s degree, or something small like figuring out how to make the perfect cup of tea, I wish you well on your learning experience.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO LEARN IN 2018?