Big Goals for the New Year in 2018!

Happy 2018! I’m super excited for this year, it’s going to be a great one! My business is booming, my house is almost finished, and I’ve been working on deepening my relationship with my husband, family and friends. I love my new worship group and I’m meeting some amazing people when I travel for work!

This year, like always, I set some goals for myself—professionally and personally. I’m a big believer that if you don’t design your life, it will be designed for you. And personally, I want to live MY dream, not someone else’s XD.

Check out my goals for this year, and also see how I did against last year’s goals! Eek 😉

Goals for 2018

• Create a morning routine that includes exercise, creative stimulus and devotional
• Make my own artist family tree and apply it to my work all year (inspired by Steal Like An Artist)
• Do more volunteer work
• Land some clients outside of Cincinnati to broaden my reach
• Have more variety in projects

• Tighten up finances, invest! Invest! I did tighten up my finances, but the only investing I did was in my house. Does that count?
• Foster my spiritual relationships. I joined a small group associated with Missio Dei, and it’s been amazing! Aaron and I look forward to this time every week, they’re such an inspiring (and real) group of people. We love spending time with them while also growing our faith.
• Plan more time off. Check! Aaron and I took a 10-day summer vacation (details here) and I added vacation days to my business travel whenever I could. I also took almost 3 weeks off at the end of the year. I’d love to do even better at this in 2018!
• Create a more focused business plan for MANMAN. Although I was more intentional about growing my business in 2017, I didn’t really create a written “plan.”
• Learn a new creative skill. I’m sure I learned something new at some point, but to be honest, I can’t think of it right now, haha, and it wasn’t on purpose so it probably shouldn’t count.
• Invest in a hands-on hobby. I’ve always loved ceramics, so I took wheel-throwing classes with a good friend!
• Volunteer outside of design and photography (do something physical!). I did some volunteering this year, but not enough so I’m focusing on this for 2018 as well.
• Develop better fitness and healthy eating habits. I definitely eat a lot healthier now (lots of greens, salads and healthy soups) than I did a year ago. I’m super excited to finally have a full kitchen again (woohoo!), so I’m hoping it will soon be even easier to eat healthy. I didn’t really develop better fitness habits, but I’m hoping to make that part of my morning routine in 2018.

What do you think about my 2018 goals? Have you ever made an artist family tree (I’m super stoked to try it!)? I’d love to hear your ideas…and your goals or resolutions for the year too!

Here’s to a great year in 2018!