Happy New Year everyone! Until last year, I had never previously believed in, or made any resolutions, instead doing my best to take small positive steps throughout the year to improve myself and my way of life. However, I often fell short of what I hoped to achieve and didn't have any way to get back on track. So at the beginning of 2016 I decided to write a set list of goals I wanted to meet throughout the year and therefore I would be able to keep myself right and make gradual, positive changes to my life. So now its time of a bit of self reflection, and I'm going to share with you all whether (or not!) I managed to meet my 2016 goals!

1. Develop a morning routine; eat breakfast and read the news.
 Well, this is one I definitely did not manage to keep, but I sure did try my best! In the summer, I work out a lot so eating breakfast was an essential thing I had to do every single day to help see me through. Whenever I had to get up for university and travel to and fro on the train, I always brought food with me to eat when I was on the go, and now I've moved out I still wake up every morning and eat. But recently, with the holiday season and laziness settling in, I don't often actually get up until lunch time so I only end up having two meals a day. As for the second half of this goal, I still read the news every morning and I check up on it throughout the day, just to keep up to date with everything that's going on in the world. 

2. Establish regular routines; skincare / general hygiene 
2015 was one of my lowest points, when I let my self worth plummet, and I could barely function to look after myself. Anyone who's experienced these depressive periods will understand just how difficult it is to bring yourself to shower, eat and even brush your teeth. But this year I've managed to establish regular routines to keep me on track; shower or bathe every other day, brush my teeth twice a day and I've developed a regular skincare routine with lots of products to experiment with. And as I managed to continue with these routines, I began to feel and look a lot better. 

3. Meatless Mondays
At the end of 2015 I watched a documentary called Racing Extinction, which enlightened me and showed me different ways I could help to lessen my environmental impact. At that point I decided to educate myself on the agricultural impact of the meat industry and decided to make a slow transition into a more plant friendly diet. This is something I'm still steadily working fully towards, but I've opened my eyes to a different world of food and I'm excited to continue to explore it in 2017 and hopefully become veggie by the summer. 

4. Compliment those around you
There's nothing I enjoy more than making someone's day and doing my best to build others up to feel good. So this is a goal I definitely achieved, thanks to working for a company that pride themselves on positive interactions with the general public. And as I began to think positively about those around me, in turn I started to think positively about myself too, something I had struggled to achieve for so long. A compliment a day keeps the bad thoughts away.

5. Don't sweat the small stuff
The worst thing about anxiety is that it worries you over the slightest thing, and I cannot count how many nights I've spent awake worrying about something I said that day and what I should have done instead. I decided in 2016 to stop thinking, "Oh I should HAVE" but instead saying, "Well I DID that so now I have to deal with it." This approach has been helpful in allowing me to get over petty things that really won't matter in the wider scope of my life, but that doesn't mean I still don't spare a couple of thoughts to those little embarrassments and awkward moments, however, I don't let them plague my brain with negativity.

6. Don't be bored
Procrastination is one tough s.o.b to avoid, especially at this time of the year when exams are looming and the thought of beginning to study again makes me want to hurl. This is a resolution I definitely did not succeed with, no matter how much I tried to keep up with my hobbies, or how much I tried to bring myself to study, (and even when I DID study) I just couldn't help but get distracted. Something I hope to achieve this year is to get back into doing the things I love and dedicate my spare time to them, so I'm never really procrastinating.

7. Write more
This is one I will continue to struggle with. Of course through blogging and university, I do manage to write a lot, but I'm only able to write on a personal level whenever I feel particularly inspired. I've accumulated a lot of journals and notebooks over the last year so in 2017 I'm determined to fill them all with words, thoughts, dreams and anything else that springs to mind.

8. Accept criticism and adapt to it
Hearing negative things about my work, myself or otherwise has always been something that I struggled to cope with. However, I realised that not everything was negative for the sake of being negative, but it was there to improve on and instead of dwelling on what I did "wrong," I learned how to make these things "right." Now I understand that whenever someone is giving me criticism it's usually constructive, and unnecessary negativity is something completely different. I feel like by doing this I've been able to improve on a lot of areas of myself and the things that I love, so this is an approach I want to carry with me into this year.

9. Read more
Admittedly I am the worst English student ever, and only read what I have to in order to pass my assignments and exams. I don't often read for pleasure anymore and I can count the number of books I've read this year on one hand. This year I hope to fill a new, empty box with books I've read and read every single night before bed.

10. Persevere; pass my first year of uni, get a job and educate myself
This is one goal I definitely achieved and excelled at in 2016. I passed my first year of university with grades I definitely didn't expect to achieve, and that I hope to improve on. I got a job, lost it, remained unemployed and broke for most of the year until I found another job at a place I love. Who knows what will happen with the respect this year, but right now I'm happy with that aspect of my life. I've had a lot to educate myself on this year, politically, socially and educationally and I hope to continue with that this year. 

I am very pleased to say that I managed to meet this goals and subsequently, 2016 was a great year for me personally. I feel better on the inside and outside than I ever have before, thanks to positive influences around me and a positivity that radiates from inside. This year my goals are a big more practical, rather than personal and I hope I have just as much success with them. 
I hope 2017 is a wonderful year for all of you, thank you for sticking with me and I hope to have your continued support this year as well. 

Rachel