2020 Goals Check-In!

Can you believe we're almost halfway through the year already? Despite being in lockdown for what feels like most of the year, it sure has gone by fast. And it's now time for a long overdue look at my 2020 goals and whether I've achieved any yet. 

1. Eat out no more than two times a week. Thank you lockdown for fixing our bad eating habits! We have cut right down to one takeaway a week (on occasion two, if I'm feeling lazy!) And I fully intend to continue this habit once lockdown is released.

2. Reduce my debt considerably. This one needs some work. But with lockdown, and the ability to spend limited, I'm hoping I can clear off some more of my debt with money I would have spent on food/events/hauls. I'm revising this goal to be more realistic given the time-frame. Reduce my debt by, at least, £1000. Considering how much I pay off a month and the remaining time-frame I should easily be able to achieve this, and possibly more.

3. Read, at least, 100 books. Well this isn't going very well at all. I've spent the last almost six months reading exclusively magazines as I'd somehow accrued quite the collection. And I'm still going. I'm still hopeful I can reach this goal though!

4. Stick to a monthly budget. I haven't quite managed to achieve this yet but I'm getting better. I even have money left the day before payday! Which has never happened before. I'm optimistic by the end of the year I'll be sticking to a budget with ease.

6. Lose a further stone, minimum. I don't know exactly where I'm at weight wise, but I know that since lockdown came into effect I've lost weight. My clothes are fitting better, I feel better and my dimple is back (it was hidden by my fat cheeks before now!) I'll check in on my weight at the end of the year, as regular weigh-ins cause me a great deal of anxiety, and hopefully I'll have lost this stone and maybe even more!

Overall, I'm pleased with the progress I'm making on my personal goals for 2020. There's still work to do, but I'm confident that I can achieve the ones I haven't yet and have only had to revise one to be more realistic. 

On to my blogging goals for this year! 

1. Reach 2k followers on Instagram. Why is this so damn hard? It feels like I take one step forward and ten steps back when it comes to Instagram. I need to work harder at promoting this platform. If you're not already, please follow me? I follow back! I'm going to make this goal more realistic, as I doubt very much I can hit 2k in 6 months. So my new goal is: Reach 1.5k followers on Instagram.

2. Hit 200 likes on Facebook. Again, not the easiest of platforms to grow. I'm currently at 184 likes and 191 following. But growth has been pretty non-existent this year so I'm going to have to up my game. I think I can do it though. Again, feel free to 'like me' on Facebook if you don't already!

3. Reach 3k followers on Twitter. This seems achievable, as I currently stand at 2,741 and growth has been strong this year (after I got Twitter to remove my account suspension, that is!) Follow me on Twitter, I follow back! 

4. Hit 300 followers on Bloglovin'. Are you serious?! I very rarely check in on Bloglovin', but get the odd email saying "so and so has followed your blog on Bloglovin'." I just went to check my follower account for this post and I'm at 374! Smashed it, mate. 

5. Get a new blog logo. Contacted Jemma about this earlier this year, but then she asked me what I had in mind and my mind went blank! Will focus on a new design/ideas over the next month then get back in touch with Jemma to design it for me. So this one should get checked off pretty soon. 

6. Celebrate 5 years of blogging. I had planned to do this with a series of giveaways or a big hamper of all sorts of goodies. But with everything currently going on in the UK, that's been impossible. So I'm celebrating my blog's 5th birthday with a Amazon Gift Card giveaway!

7. Use Pinterest more. Yeah, no. I don't know why, but I just cannot get on board with Pinterest. I don't enjoy it, ya know? I'm scrapping this goal for the year because it's just unrealistic. Instead, I'm going to try to Add blog post images to Pinterest once a month. 

8. Host an epic birthday giveaway! It might not be as epic as I'd had in mind, but I wouldn't sniff at a £25 Amazon Gift Card. You can buy a fair few books with that, after all! 

9. Collaborate with another blogger on a blog post/series of blog posts. I haven't got around to this yet but there's still time and I have someone in mind actually. 

10. Host a guest post week. I need four guest posts so if you want to see yours featured on my blog with whatever links back to you you'd like, please email me! As soon as I have all four posts I need I'll host the guest post week and email you the link to yours.

Overall, not too shabby. As with my personal goals, there's still a lot of work to be done. But going back through my goals, reminding myself of them, has reinvigorated and reinspired me and I'm confident I can smash them all. 

Wish me luck! 

What are your goals for this year?