Goals for 2014

We are finally back in town from the holiday travels and festivities and are finally settling into a new routine.

As I always do when the new year is approaching, I’ve spent a lot of time lately rehashing 2013 and thinking ahead to 2014.  I know that many people make new year’s resolutions and I used to be one of them.  But I quickly realized that resolutions just don’t work for me.  I’m a dreamer; hence, I’m really bad about setting some really unrealistic resolutions and then by the second week of January, I’ve already forgotten them.  I’ll remember them periodically throughout the year, and think, “Oh yeah, I really need to do that.”  But then I don’t think about it again for another three months.

I have determined that this year will be different.

Last year, I had some general goals in mind for the blog and my personal life.  I had no plan in place to achieve them and no idea how to go about it, but I’m surprised to say that what has actually happened this year more than met those resolutions.  It took a lot of hard work, but it happened.

So, this year, I’m building on that and creating some realistic, but still dream-worthy goals and putting a plan in place to achieve them.  I’ll recap some throughout the year and of course, next year, we’ll be able to look back and see what was achieved.  This will also give y’all a little idea of what to expect around here.

Blogging Goals:

1. Double Current Readership –  Yes, I said double.  I’m not going to talk specific numbers because it isn’t really about that.  But, when you are running a business, growth is important.  There are three main ways that I hope to achieve this:

• Give Readers What They Want – I hope to keep figuring out what all of you want and keep giving it to you to the best of my ability.  There will be lots of design and lots of style posts.  Blogger Stylin’ Home Tours will keep on truckin’ since it got such great reactions during the first two installments.
•  Stay True to Myself – You might’ve noticed above that I said “to the best of my ability.”  My goal is to keep doing what I love and keep providing my readers with what they want and what inspires them.  But I have to stay true to myself in the process.  So, I promise to never compromise myself or my content for the mere purpose of growth.  I hope to grow (as we all do in whatever we’re pursuing), but I won’t lose myself in the process.

2. Begin Offering Styling Services – When I started The White Buffalo STYLING CO. (important ending there), I was so excited to offer styling services.  I planned to offer them as soon as the new brand rolled out, but my husband and I had to give my time commitments some serious thought with rolling out a new brand and starting a bunch of new series.  I will not roll out something that I’m not sure I can really devote time to.  So, a goal for this year is to begin offering styling services within the next few months.  I know some of you have e-mailed me with inquiries about this and don’t worry, it’s coming and I would love to work with you!

3. Pursue New Opportunities and Partnerships – I hope to always learn and always improve.  This year, I have some ideas for some new additions/opportunities that I am really excited about.  They entail me learning some new trades, but I really think you guys will be on board.  I also hope to continue partnering with other bloggers for series, but also pursue some new partnerships and opportunities with brands and bloggers.

4. Be Structured, Yet Flexible – I hope to continue following more of a structure for my posts.  Most weeks, there will be design-related posts Monday through Thursday, a Finding Style Fridays and a Soul Pondering Saturdays.  But, there are times and series that will sometimes take the place of one of those for a week.  So, I’m hoping for more structure for myself and you guys, but flexibility in the process.  But, my commitment is to bring you guys the best possible content each and every day.

Personal Goals:

The majority of what I post here is design and style related.  But my favorite part of blogs I read is not only seeing their home and projects, but getting to know them as people.  So, while at least 75% or more of what I post will still be design, there will always be a little personal growth and reflection worked in.  So, here are a few things that I’m striving for this year.

1. Continue Focusing on Health – I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but the holidays got in the way a bit.  You’ll notice this goal is to continue something that I already started this year.  I decided to go gluten and dairy free about three months ago now.  There are many reasons that I started this, but it was basically an experiment to see if some symptoms I was having were related to this.  For example, I was experiencing skin breakouts, bloating, fatigue, to name a few.  After just a month, I can’t even tell you how much better I felt.  I’ll have to do a more extensive post on this soon because many of you have asked.  I’ll share some of my favorite recipes that I’ve found and a little about my journey.  But this year, I hope to continue this lifestyle and have a good workout at least three times per week (not including walks with our Gracie).

2. Study and Pray Consistently – As many of you know, my faith is very important to me.  I fully recognize the importance of reading and studying the Bible, but always struggle with busyness getting in the way of consistently doing this.  My goal for this year is to allow thirty minutes, first thing each morning, to spend some time studying and in prayer.  I’ve found that the days I start off this way are much better, focused days and my perspective on things I may encounter and what God wants is refreshed.

3. Entertain More – I love lingering into the night with loved ones and laughter filling the room.  In fact, these are seriously some of my favorite and most meaningful moments.  But I often let our busy lives or the need for a “perfect party” hinder my entertaining.  I hope to focus this year on simple, heartfelt gatherings.

4. Be a More Thoughtful, Relational Me – You know those people that you talk to who ask you how your grandpa is because they remember a three month old conversation where you said he was sick?  Or those people who never forget to send a birthday card?  I love those people.  In my head, I am one of these people, but it never plays out the way I would hope.  I am a doer.  I’m still teaching full-time and running this blog.  I serve at church.  I write for a women’s ministry blog at church.  I am a wife.  I have a new passion for cooking.  I love walking the dog every night.  Amidst all this doing, my life has become so full and I love it.  But I often don’t leave enough room for those random thoughtful moments and conversations with friends.  I hope to focus more on this in 2014.

Well, that’s some list.  I’m hoping to JUST focus on these things and really accomplish them.  While it’s still a lot, I’m really bad about making a list of 55.2 goals and then not even one gets fully accomplished.  I’m striving for a bit more focus and diligence in this new year.

My first bit of work toward these will begin this coming Monday.

After my Young House Love feature, many of you e-mailed with questions about our renovations.  And it hit me that I never really posted details and tutorials for everything that we did.  We really finished the renovations at the end of summer.  Then, I was busy developing White Buffalo.  Then it was time for fall home tours, which led straight into Christmas…you get the point.

But now, it’s time.

So, since many of you have asked for it (and my new goal is to give you what you want), I will be doing a three week series called “Our Renovation Story.”

I know three weeks is a long time, but I made a list of all of the big things we did paired with questions I’d gotten and there are fifteen posts.  So, for the next three weeks, I will be sharing all of the details in our renovation story.  There will be updated before and afters, products used, some tutorials, and lessons we learned along the way.

Finding Style Fridays will officially kick up for the new year after this series is over and I’m excited about the guest post line-up that’s taking shape for that!  Remember, structured yet flexible.

I hope you’ll read along with Our Renovation Story!