Little Things 2

Sunshine and Setting Goals

Haven’t we been wined and dined with some lovely weather this week? Well, while I try and enjoy the scorching sun, after 10 minutes of being outside I’m reminded of how much this warmer season and I don’t get on. It’s a love-hate relationship. I can’t help but laugh when I read weather-laced anecdotes or comments, it’s just so bloody British.

This week has been a quiet one really, but it also seemed to breeze by. Perhaps it was the weather, but I’ve felt slightly lethargic and sluggish this week. So, aside from work, I’ve spent most of the week lounging around. Therefore, for this digest I’ll be sharing some of my musings of the weeks and goals for the months ahead:

Reflecting

I’m going to say it, how are we over half-way through the year? Now we’re officially over half-way through 2018, many of us are reflecting on the goals we have and haven’t achieved over the past six months. This can be both useful and disheartening, and it can be easy to become discouraged. For instance, how many of us entered 2018 with a  ‘this is going to be my year’ mentality, only to see that nothing has really changed?

One of my goals was to ‘travel more’. Have I travelled? Well, I visited Rome last month. But aside from hopping on the coach from Liverpool to Leeds, I haven’t seen much else of the world. I’ve accepted that travelling the world isn’t realistic at this time in my life. Nevertheless, I am planning on doing a spot of gallivanting after my degree and fulfil my all-consuming wanderlust.

To ensure I can make this possible, I am setting myself a monthly savings goals. Therefore, although I may not be eating sushi in Japan or scuba-diving in Fiji anytime soon, I can still work towards my future goal. There’s no doubt that some of our yearly goals are broad and unrealistic. However, by making a plan and setting intentions, hopefully, I will have saved up enough money to tick off them dream destinations. I guess overall it’s important to take a more realistic approach: step back and think, what do I need to do to achieve this? Setting specific monthly goals becomes easier, and thus less stressful, to work towards.

Furthermore, another (more achievable) goal for 2018 was to read 50 books:

I’m just under my goal so all in all, I’m quite happy. I know I’m a few years late to the party but I’m currently reading Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda and I’ve pretty much been reading it with a smile on my face the entire time. IT IS SO CUTE.

In terms of my health and fitness goals, I’m overall quite content with the routine I’m in. I head to the gym or do a home workout in the morning which sets me up perfectly for the day ahead. I rarely workout in the evening, but do you prefer working out in the AM or PM?

July Goals

So, what are some of my goals for July?

Considering this blog is only a month old, I’m still working towards expanding my audience and improving my content. This month I’m hoping to continue posting a few times a week. So far, I’ve been doing pretty well at posting consistently and have enjoyed every minute of it. However, I have a burning fear of ‘writer’s block’ coming along and shattering my ability to conjure up new post ideas. But for now, I’m hoping to publish 2-3 posts a week and I’d love to hit 50 followers by the end of the month.

Does anyone else get bored with the same gym or workout routine? In my June Goals, I discussed how I was aiming for 2-3 strength training sessions and 2-3 cardio/HIIT sessions a week. While this has been going swimmingly, repeating the same exercises has been somewhat demotivating. So, this month I want to experiment and attend new classes to boost my motivation.

Hard work pays off

This week I received my results from my second year at uni and THIS GIRL GOT A 2:1! One of my intentions for the year was to focus on university and avoid procrastination at all cost. I felt a little discouraged around Spring time after receiving a lower mark than I hoped for. However, this is what motivated me to focus. Last semester was academically exhausting; my days scheduled entirely around revision, with the odd snack break scheduled in here and there. Now, however, I’m over the moon. Roll on 3 more carefree months of summer before embarking on my year abroad.

Hitting 1K

So the other day I hit 1K on Instagram? It’s coming up to three months since I started actively posting and I’m struggling to comprehend how pictures of my breakfast have gained me 1K followers. While I’m by no means a professional chef, it’s pretty food-dedicated right now. For the most part, my feed reflects my oats addiction, so if you’re missing out on this exciting aspect of my life, give me a follow! In October I’m hoping to switch up the food-posts and share some snaps of my time in Madrid.

 

Links I’ve Been Loving

• Does anyone else feel 10x smarter when they listen to a podcast? Well after listening to The Food Medic’s weekly podcasts by Hazel, I’ve been feeling just that. The last episode was a No-Nonsense Guide to Skincare and it highlighted how a lot of us are buying expensive products when, in reality, our skin doesn’t really need it (guilty).
• Bethany Ellen recently shared this post on why ‘Being An Introvert is Ok’ and discusses finding a balance between alone time and socialising. As a fellow introvert, I couldn’t agree more with this post.
• I found this posts by Flipping Through The Pages really useful! She shared ‘10 Things Your Blog Needs If You Are a New Blogger (or not)’ and it definitely came in handy when I was setting up my blog.
• Goodreads! I’ve already babbled on in previous posts about how this site has enhanced my life, but this week I’ve added an array of intriguing reads to my TBR list.

Posts This Week:

June Wrap Up – Books I’ve Read This Month

Book Blogger A-Z Survey

Also, be sure to check out Little Things 1 if you haven’t already!

What are some of your July goals?

Another chatty post over! Thanks for reading and until the next post,

Evie x.