My Goals, Dreams and Resolutions for 2019!

Goodbye, 2018… Hello, 2019! 2018 was a jam packed year with some great memorable moments, but it was also a challenging year personally and professionally. I looked back at my resolutions from last year and, yeah, we won’t talk about it… I didn’t do as well I had hoped. This year I’m going to look at my goals, dreams and resolutions a little differently. Instead of being upset with myself if I don’t reach some of the goals I’ve set, I’m going to look at the growth I experienced throughout the year as I continued to push forward. I mean, If we never allow ourselves to reach for dreams and push our limits, we’ll continue to live a comfortable, boring, and possibly unfulfilled life. And that is just not what I have in mind! I was way too narrow minded this last year and I’ve allowed my dreaming nature to be placed in the backseat to reason and fear. I’ve allowed fear to keep me from reaching for more and instead of letting God remind me of all that He has and praying for more opportunities, I’ve allowed fear to strip me of my dreams, or even the act of dreaming. Now you might ask, what are some of your dreams, Erin? And if I were being honest, I haven’t allowed myself to really think about them in such a long time. I was brainstorming what I wanted to add to my list this year and I was a little nervous to begin, but as I put pen to paper, there were so many things that started to gush out. Maybe I just needed a quiet moment with my thoughts… maybe I just needed to realize that I am capable… maybe I just needed to allow myself to dream again… whatever it was, I was able to write down some things that I would like to work on and try to accomplish in the next 365 days. So here are some of my New Year’s goals, dreams and resolutions.

Personal Goals

1. I want to make my quiet time with God more of a priority. This will forever be one of the top most important things on my list, as well as the one I will try to get better at year after year.
2. I want to make more time for the people in my lives that matter! I will call my family more, reach out to new and old friends more, and find ways to be more intentional with my time with Dave.
3. I want to try and cook a couple dinners every month. This is huge! I don’t like to cook and Dave has taken on this role, but I know that I can work a little harder on this area of my life.
4. I want to practice my instrument every day and I will document my practice time daily on my violin instagram. I will not place an amount of time on my practice, but instead I will look at the amount of time I have and try to make it valuable.
5. I want to work on getting back into painting. I wanted to be an art teacher when I was growing up and painting used to always be a joy of mine.
6. I want to read more.

Marriage Goals

1. I want to pray for Dave everyday and our marriage. I have been pinning a ton of different posts on how to pray more effectively for your husband and I plan on trying some.
2. I am going to work on cleaning up the house for 15-30 minutes every evening. This will help mine and Dave’s sanity and when planning a party or having friends over I won’t have to take as long to get the house back in order.
3. I want to be more intentional on our date nights/ evenings and allow myself to be more intimate with Dave. Yes, we have been married for almost 6 years in August, but I hold myself back from being intimate a lot. I may write a post about this later.
4. I want to be better at communicating with Dave about my schedule or events or things I may have going on. I also want to be better at discussing those things with Dave before committing.
5. I (We) want to pay off some of our debt the Dave Ramsey way. This will only happen if we are really intentional with saving and spending. I have to get better about not spending money on excess things.

Teaching/ Performing

1. I want to continue to push and inspire my students to work their hardest and remind them often that I believe in them.
2. I want to keep learning fun and not get so wrapped up in the performances/ contest aspect of it. When they look back on my class, what will they remember? They won’t remember all our concerts or contests, they will remember the fun times.
3. I want to learn some new methods and take chances again, trying out new things.
4. I want to plan and execute an incredible Large Ensemble Festival.
5. I want to plan ahead more efficiently each week looking at what I want my students to learn and what the end result will be. I want to stay a couple days ahead in my planning to have ideas and more of a detailed plan for the rehearsal or class.
6. I want to remind myself to try and stay positive even when there are frustrating circumstances. Look for things that I can change and forget about the things I can’t change.
7. I want to get more gigs lined up for my quartet and possibly record some pieces to help promote us.

Fitness

1. I want to eat healthier meals with more fruits and vegetables. I want to make sure that I am listening to my body for what I may need. I also want to drink more water daily. I am challenging myself to at least drink 1 of my 40 oz bottles at school every day.
2. I want to try and walk around our neighborhood at least 3 times every week. So far Dave and I have been able to go on a couple walks around the neighborhood together and its been such a fun time to reconnect with each other. It gets us away from our phones and talking about our days, while working on our fitness.
3. I want to try and do yoga at least 2 times a week in the evenings. My goal is to do a 30 min program, but at the beginning I will allow myself some grace and just do what I feel. Last week I did an hour program and man, did I feel it… I was so sore and it was challenging to keep going, but I did!

Blogging

1. I want to create a media kit.
2. I want to collaborate with a couple more brands this year.
3. I want to continue to write encouraging, inspiring posts that will help you all and continue to uplift you as you go on your journey. I want to be engaging with others and their blogs -reading more blog posts and commenting on others work more.
4. I want to attend a couple blogger events or retreats.
5. I want to increase my blog traffic each month by utilizing pinterest, twitter and facebook.
6. I want to try and pin more consistently.
7. I want to start a newsletter and create some free printables for my followers
8. Try to work on the blog at least two times per week and continue to get a blog post published each week.
9. Get a couple photoshoots planned and booked for the blog.
10. I want to reach out to more bloggers for ideas and collaborations. I want to grow this community more and get to know others on a more personal level.
11. I want to plan my content with you, the reader in mind and try to plan a couple weeks ahead. Ultimately I’d like to try and plan almost a month out, but that’s a lot to tackle right now.

Thank you all for reading, commenting, supporting, and following along on mine and Dave’s journey… It truly means so much! What are some things you would like to see more of on the blog this next year? And, what are some of your dreams, goals, or resolutions you are making for 2019? Can’t wait to hear from ya’ll! Happy 2019! – Erin Ruscel