January is here and with it comes the opportunity to reflect on the year that’s been, celebrate achievements and set new goals for the year ahead. Before drawing up my resolutions for 2025, I took a moment to review my 2024 list by annotating each point to highlight my successes.
Moving onto my 2025 resolutions, I have decided to keep this year’s list simple with a handful of important intentions as opposed to specific goals to reach. It can be daunting to look at the year ahead and know exactly what you would like to achieve, so instead I have chosen to focus on more significant habits and intentions to guide me through the next twelve months.
I have also made my 2025 mood board to gain a visual resource of inspiration for 2025. This year’s board includes more travel, health, fitness, reading, love, happiness and plenty of positive affirmations.
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So that’s my reflection on 2024 and new goals set for 2025; I can’t wait to see what the new year has in store for me in my 30th year ❤
And so we find ourselves in that strange time between Christmas and New Years when you don’t know what day of the week it is and we hurtle towards the end of the year. During this time I like to take a moment to reflect on the year that has passed and celebrate my achievements, before setting my goals for the next 12 months ahead.
Looking back over the year I’ve achieved a lot; from getting laser eye surgery and investing more in my health, to reading books again and visiting lots of amazing corners of the world I’ve never been before.
It’s not all about specific goals though, I like to include general resolutions on my list for the year ahead like nurturing relationships and remaining grateful.
I also use Pinterest to create a visual mood board for my aspirations and goals. Here I find inspiring and motivational quotes to refer back to over the year too, such as ‘we are creators of our own luck.’
Whilst I didn’t quite tick off every single goal for 2023, sometimes the universe might have alternative plans for you, so I always just trust the timing of my life.
A lot changes in a year too, so never be hard on yourself if resolutions from the year past no longer align with your overall goals in life.
I’ve also found journalling this year a really helpful tool for getting my thoughts in order and accepting everyday is not perfect, but there is always something to be grateful for.
So upon sitting down this afternoon and writing up my resolutions and goals for 2024, I wanted to make my list ambitious yet achievable and not overwhelming.
The majority of these resolutions are things I already do, I just want to continue the growth and progression I’ve made in 2023 and thrive even more in 2024.
I have a feeling 2024 is going to be my happiest year yet living life on my terms with a loving heart and grateful soul; see you in the New Year ❤
Happy New Year! It’s the first day of 2023 and I’m ready for a reset following a few weeks of fabulous festivities and celebrations this Christmas. Whilst I’ve enjoyed a wonderful holiday season spending lots of cherished time with friends and family, I always crave routine and look forward to getting back into the flow of daily life.
So having seen in the New Year last night with close friends and my boyfriend, I took a quiet few moments on this first day of January to write my resolutions for the year ahead. I always try to make goals on my resolutions list realistic and attainable to avoid feeling disappointed in myself if I don’t achieve them by the end of the year, but equally I want to hold myself accountable for those things I say I am going to do but may have pushed aside in the past.
My list also contains a mixture of specific goals such as starting my PT course and getting a second tattoo, as well as more general actions I would like to take forward into the new year like nurturing relationships and simply just staying sane!
A few days before NYE I also put together my yearly Pinterest vision board for 2023. I love using photos of art, fashion, food, travel and quotes to envision my aspirations and goals as well as gaining inspiration for the kind of aesthetic I picture my life embodying.
Cheers to another year ahead full of achieving more great goals, travelling exciting new places, being grateful for the everyday small things and being present whilst living in the moment with loved ones ❤
And just like that, we find ourselves in 2022! The last year has flown by and I’m so lucky to have had some amazing things happen over the past 12 months including moving into our wonderful new house, buying my Mini Cooper and changing jobs too.
Looking back on my goals for 2021, I’m proud to say I’ve achieved most of these or at least made a big step towards them. I managed to squeeze in my tattoo at the end of the year and we are very excited to be jetting off to Dubai next week. Many of these are still a working progress and so I will take them with me into the new year, especially my goal of finding balance in life and reading more books which I’m really enjoying.
We kept our NYE celebrations fairly low key this year as we are being cautious of catching Covid before travelling next week. My parents hosted a lovely dinner, so we were able to spend some quality time with my Grandad who I hadn’t seen for a few years, and my American cousins who were over for the holidays. My mum put together a fabulous spread of canapés followed by a prawn linguine for dinner. The bubbles were flowing and at midnight we popped the champagne before the guys let off some fireworks. A fantastic evening with my awesome family!
New Years Day me and my boyfriend were fairly hungover so we indulged in an extra long lie in until noon. That evening we decided to get out of the house and go to the picturesque town of Farnham for a cute date night dinner.
We went to one of our favourite restaurants Cote and enjoyed a lovely meal together. I had the Chicken Paillard Salad served with French beans, hazelnuts, endive, lettuce and croutons in a creamy caper dressing, whilst my boyfriend had the Poulet Breton half a chicken served with frites. As always the food was delicious and the service so friendly and attentive, we’re never disappointed at Cote.
Tummies full and satisfied, we went for a walk around the stunning streets of Farnham still twinkling with the festive season lights. Back home I made us a little cheeseboard for desert and we watched the fabulous film classic, The Great Gatsby.
Upon reflection, it’s been another exciting and blessed year in my life which I am so very grateful for. I hope 2022 brings more fun adventures, laughter, happiness and joy as I aim to let life unfold without too much of a plan at this stage… what will be will be. Cheers to the New Year!
We may have waved farewell to the challenging year that was 2020, but we still have a way to go before the world can find balance once again. That said, the past year has taught us a number of valuable lessons, the most signifiant for me being not to take the little things in life for granted. Whether its simply taking a trip to the shops and grabbing a coffee with a girlfriend, or getting together with family and friends to share all the wonderful festivities of Christmas, I will cherish these times that bit more now that we’ve experienced a life without those moments of joy.
Like most of the rest of the UK, we celebrated our New Years Eve at home and the Nieuwenhuys family know how to party, so we were in for an evening of fun with plenty of booze at the ready! I love any excuse to dress up too, so I spent the day pampering myself and getting glammed up for the night. I wore this cute seventies inspired outfit: ASOS flared jeans, Topshop lace bralet, Stradivarius check blazer, ASOS maroon lace-up heels and my favourite accessory pieces, including a new ring from Cali Tiger.
I know it’s been a tough year for many which makes me even more thankful for my secure family home, supportive friends, amazing boyfriend and of course my job. I may not have been able to progress to where I’d of hoped to in my career by this point, but maintaining my role as Events Assistant at the Four Seasons Hotel with the hope that business will return, is something I’m proud of during such unstable economical times. It’s important we celebrate the little wins like this and focus on the positive knowing that things could always be worse.
Crystal coupes lined up on the gold mirror tray and champagne chilled and ready to pop, I couldn’t wait to get the evening started! We ordered takeout from our favourite local Italian Mama Mia and following our pizza and pasta feast, we got Jools Holland’s Hootenanny show on the TV to get us fully in the party spirit.
The night went in a flash and before we knew it the countdown to 2021 was on. My Dad and boyfriend had an absolute blast setting off the fireworks, it was practically our own private show with all the boxes they had purchased – we certainly saw in 2021 with a bang!
So before we say hello to 2021, let’s take a moment to reflect on the year that’s been and not forget the lessons we have learnt from the most unique and challenging year for the entire world… from this I’m hopeful, we will rise. HNY ❤
It’s that time of year again when we look back over the last twelve months and reflect upon the highs and the lows. Here’s a little round up of what 2020 has taught me:
Looking forward to 2021 now, I’ve listed out a number of intentions and goals for the year ahead…
I find a vision board with images that inspire and spark imagination helps manifest the life you want to lead.
Pinterest is the easiest platform on which to create a vision board as there’s so much creative content including awesome photography, fashion, interiors, food, art and so much more.
Thought provoking quotes and words of wisdom add depth and motivation to your vision board.
The more eclectic and random your board, the better I think. By pulling together all those things which inspire you to one place visually, helps focus our objectives and reminds us of the bigger picture when times get tough.
Dani Aneka 