Looking Back at 2018: The good, The bad and The ugly

How was Twenty Eighteen for you? It sounds so weird saying that because literally last week we were all celebrating Christmas and now we are halfway through the first week of 2019. Two days into the new year I'm still sitting on the couch binge-watching my favourite Netflix series with my hair tied up in a top knot and my phone in my hand scrolling through my Instagram newsfeed wishing I was on a luxury island holiday.

2018 was a year about finding myself and growth over the last 356 days I learnt a lot and experience a shit tone of heartbreaks (friendship breakups are the worse), I realise that not everyone you are close with has your best interest at heart and will do anything in their power to destroy you physically and mentally.

While experiencing a lot of downs I also experience a lot of ups (mainly professionally) but my blog kept me sane and occupied while everything else wasn't going so great. I've learnt a lot about what I was passionate about and also found new passions.

2018 was a year where I became even more independent, 2018 was a year where I grew up and learnt to remove myself from anything that didn't have my best interested and instead of moping around the house I gave myself one day to let it all out and then packed it away and moved forward. 2018 was about not letting things get myself down and lastly, 2018 was the year where I became mentally and physically stronger, I stopped caring what people thought about me and start doing things I wanted to do and if they played no important part in my life they didn't matter, If they didn't put any money in my bank account they didn't matter, if they weren't living in my household they didn't matter. I stopped caring and started living again. 2018 was the year I overcome my fears of trust and love, even though I was still struggling to come to terms with the idea of letting love into my heart  I was more open to the idea of it. I learnt that no matter how bad one toxic relationship was I wouldn't let that defined me. 2018 was the year where I grew up. 

MY YEAR IN HIGHLIGHTS:

01. I relaunched my blog/website If you didn't know I've actually had my blog for about 2 years and never really posted on it. I've decided that I wanted to get back into blogging and really take it seriously and I'm honestly so glad that I made that choice. 4 months into blogging I've already had the chance to work with some major brands.

02. My Personal life improved a lot, By this I mean I was going out more and socializing more and trying different things. I notice while I was going out more is that I really enjoy hanging out with peoples company, I realise when I spent a lot of time alone that's when I overthink and make things worse for no reason.

03. Removing people from my life and that's for the better. I've had a lot of toxic people in my life over the last couple of years and I've been realising that it was affecting my mental health and I needed to do something about it which means cutting people out. I felt amazing after and even though some of these people I've been friends with for 6+ years It needed to be done.

04. I went to Bali for the first time in 4 years. Isn't it crazy that I haven't been to Bali since 2014? I had to change that and booked a flight for a mini holiday and had the best time. I confronted a couple of fears (flying and hights) and felt like I could conquer the world.

05. On a professional note, I achieved so much which I mentioned earlier but one thing that really made me want to work harder was being invited to a launch party with Priceline. Hands down one of the best experience I've ever had and I cannot wait to hopefully be invited to more.

06. One really cool experience I got to have was at the very end of 2018 and it was having a private dinner at my cousin's house (their house is insane) with a Kangaroo and a baby joey watching us, it was literally one meter away. It was so so cute. Pictures at the bottom.

A FEW PERSONAL GOALS: 

01. One of my goals for 2018 was to live in the moment and stop letting my anxiety ruin my life. I feel like I can tick this off my list because I went out almost every weekend and didn't sit at home like I use to, I feel that in 2018 I found myself again and It honestly was fantastic to feel like my old self and not be miserable all the time. 

02.  Learning to cook was something I was never really interested in. When I'm not interested in something it's quite hard for me to pay any type of attention. After A while I realise I've been spending too much money on food (Take away) and needed to learn to cook. I taught myself how to cook Spaghetti, patties and many more. 

03. Letting go of things that happened in the past. Now if you know me personally I'm someone that holds onto things very easily, and won't let go. It can be a good thing but most of the time It's not. I'm someone that won't stop thinking about something until I get a reasonable answer. When I realise that this was really affecting me I had to force myself to stop and by doing this was to remove any memory of the issue and just completely cut it out, It was hard but something that needed to be done.

IN 2018, I DISCOVERED: 
- Liquid highlighter, This was the best thing I've ever added to my routine. 
- A love of trying different cafes and exploring Perth for new foods. 
- That not everyone around you has your best interest at heart.
- Brow Tinting, Late to the party I know but oh my god it makes a difference.
- Finding a new passion, writing. I feel so at peace whenever I sit down and create a blog post.

What to expect in 2019: 

More Beauty, More SkinCare, More Lifestyle, More Fragrance... 

In 2019 I really want to take my blog/website to the next level, I want to take this hobby into a full-time thing. I'm going to work my ass off to create cool content for my readers and new readers to love. I want to be different from the other bloggers and to stand out more. I'm going to put in the blood, the sweat, the tears and the research to make this happen. I want you guys to notice my hard work and long hours I put into my blog. 

YOUTUBE: 

If you are a long time follower of mine you know that during the year I dabbled into doing some youtube content and to be honest at the time it wasn't for me, I was dreading filming and creating content on youtube because I wasn't happy with my set up or how my videos were. I don't want to promise anything because I think that's worse than saying I'm going to be doing youtube and then not uploading anything at all, But It's a possibility that I am going to be dabbling into it again. 

INSTAGRAM: 

Ahh, I have a love/hate relationship with Instagram, Most of the time I love the app but the rest of the time I hate the app. I wish Instagram didn't change the feed but I have recently changed my feed and have been loving how it looks which makes it more enjoyable for me to post things. My goal for 2019 is to be more active on Instagram and create cool content and cool flatlays and try different methods. We all know my account doesn't grow followers anymore, which I'm fine with but I want to make it a place of my own and make something out of it. 

SELF-LOVE:

Self-love is something I struggle with, always have and I think I always will struggle with it. In 2019 I want to be able to deal with it better and face head-on. It's my number one goal to achieve in 2019 because I really think it's affecting my chance at finding love If I can't love myself then who will? 

- Positive thinking only / Block out all negative 

- Stop worrying so much about social media 

- Try and spend less time on my phone 

- Saying yes to more things and actually going through with the plans

- Taking more risks 

- Don't ever regret anything, ever. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog post of mine, Something a little different and more vulnerable. I cannot wait to do this yearly and look back in years to come. What are some of your positives of 2018? and what are some of your goals for 2019 you would like to tick off throughout the year? 

Love Always,