In January last year I wrote a post about my hopes, plans and goals for 2017 and as it turns out I managed to do quite well with them. I was going to write a similar post this year, and then Lucy from Mrs H’s Favourite Things invited me to join her and some fellow bloggers in writing an ’18 for 2018′ post – part goals and plans, part bucket list with a focus on putting yourself first.

So after a little thought and deliberation here they are, my 18 goals/ plans/ wishes/ aims for 2018.

This first few are all health related…

Get to goal weight and maintain

If you were reading my blog last year then you might know that I lost 31 lbs in the second half of the year. Some of that has inevitably come back over Christmas, and I wanted to lose a few more pounds anyway so my goal for the next couple of months is to get down to my goal weight… and then stay there. I’m planning on doing this using a combination of intermittent fasting, a low calorie diet, and increasing my activity. I’ll be continuing with my Fit by 40 posts this year so you can read about how I’m getting on.

Use my Fitbit to increase my activity

My lovely husband bought me a Fitbit Charge for Christmas (at my request) and I really want to use it to increase my activity levels this year. Part of my Fit by 40 goal is, as the name suggests, not just to lose weight but to get fit too. We were walking to school a lot at the start of term but I got lazy in December and was using the car a lot so the first step is that we’ll be back to walking next week. I also like how the Fitbit reminds me to do at least 250 steps every hour, even if it’s just moving around the house.

Get back to regular yoga practise

When I started trying to lose weight back in June last year I also started following Yoga with Adrienne videos on YouTube. I really enjoyed doing it and kept it up for about three months but it somehow got forgotten in the latter part of the year. I’ve just started her new 30 day yoga journey, and although I may not do it every day I will see it through to the end, and then I plan to continue following one of the yoga workouts at least three times a week. I feel so much better for doing yoga, both physically and mentally so I really want to stick with it this year.

I’ve been hearing a lot about self-care lately and looking after myself and doing things just for me is definitely something I’ve neglected in the last few years. So these next ones are all for me…

Read 12 books

I’ve seen this one, or some variation of it, on a lot of people’s lists for this year but it really is something I want to achieve. I love reading and I used to read loads before I had children, and I guess before I started blogging. So this year I am going to make more time to read – I have a Kindle, and the Kindle app on my phone so I can read anywhere. And hopefully reading more will mean I waste less time distracted by social media or playing Candy Crush! The first book I’m reading this year is Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult and I’ve got another few books lined up to read next but I’d love to hear your suggestions for your must reads this year.

Try new meals once a month

I meal plan religiously but I have a repertoire of probably about 15 quick and easy meals that I make on rotation. I actually enjoy cooking though so my plan for 2018 is to try and make a new meal once a month. My mum bought be Jamie Oliver’s 5 Ingredients book for Christmas so I think I’m going to start there for inspiration. I also decided that occasionally we might feed the boys early (we usually all eat together) and then after they’re in bed we can sit down just the two of us and have a proper adult meal. Of course this doesn’t have to be something new but it will give us a chance to try out some things that I know the boys won’t like.

Go to the cinema

I love going to the cinema and it used to be one of my favourite things to do before I had children and going out got so much harder. We proved before Christmas that it’s possible for us to go to the cinema together while my mum babysits, but it also occurred to me that there’s no reason why I can’t go to the cinema on my own after the boys are in bed – Barry and I don’t always have the same taste in films so there’s plenty I’d like to see that he’s not interested in. And I’m going to start next week by going to see The Greatest Showman.

Stop feeling guilty

I think this is probably going to be the hardest of all these aims for me to achieve. I’ve been a mother for four and a half years and I don’t think a day has gone by when I haven’t felt guilty about something. I always feel like I could be doing better for my boys, doing more activities, shouting less, watching less TV, putting my phone down more. There’s a great poem on Like Real Life that captures exactly how I feel. But this year I am determined to change how I think and how I feel. I love my boys. I do my best. I am good enough.

And I have this clipped on my noticeboard just to remind me about this one…

Moisturise

This one however, is going to be much easier. I have quite dry skin, and I’m not getting any younger and when I forget to moisturise it shows. So from now on I will be moisturising my face and hands at least every day. And some days the rest of me too.

Go to bed at a sensible time

I’m a night owl by nature but I really need to start going to bed earlier seeing as I don’t get to stay in bed in the mornings to make up for the late nights. I think after living with chronic sleep deprivation for four and a half years my body has kind of got used to it, but now Gabe is finally sleeping it wants to  catch up on all the sleep it’s missed. At the moment I probably average about six and half hours a night but that’s not really enough. So bed by 11 pm is the new plan (although as I write this it’s 11:05 so I’m not doing so well yet).

This next bunch of aims are all things that I want to do in 2018…

Celebrate my 40th birthday

Somehow I am turning 40 this year, although I’m not quite sure how because in my mind I’m still 27. But anyway, For the last 10 years I’ve mostly just let birthdays pass me by. But 40 is kind of a big one so I’d like to do something to celebrate this year. I’m not after a big party or anything like that (so Barry can breathe a sigh of relief) but I would like to go out for a meal with all my family, or maybe do something a little bit different. Which leads us on to…

Have afternoon tea

Can you believe I’m almost 40 and I’ve never had afternoon tea? It’s definitely something I want to fix this year – and perhaps it could tie in with celebrating my birthday. I want to go somewhere lovely like a nice hotel though – not a garden centre!

Spa day

This one kind of links into my self-care aims too. I’ve been on a spa day once, with my sister-in-law but I’d love another one (or two!). It would be amazing just to have a day to completely relax and not worry about anything except me for once.

Have more date nights

Barry and I have never really gone in for date nights, even before we had the boys. And since they were born the opportunities for spending quality time together have been few and far between. But Gabe has finally started sleeping all night (the majority of the time anyway), and we now live near enough to my parents for them to babysit, so it’s time we started making the most of it! I’m not going to put any numbers on this one but any increase on the one time we have been out together since Gabe was born (and that was to see the new Star Wars film just before Christmas) is going to be an improvement!

Have a child-free night away together

Since Toby was born four and a half years ago, Barry and I have had one night away together without children, and even that was only to a hotel 15 minutes from our house, and I was four months pregnant with Gabe at the time! However, now we finally have children who sleep, and we live closer to some handy grandparents for babysitting duties, I think this year we should definitely be able to manage a night or two away together on our own!

More family days out

As well as spending some much needed child-free time with Barry, I also want us to spend some more time this year actually doing things and going places as a family. We live within easy reach of so many fab places in the north west but we somehow seem to spend a lot of lazy days at home. Now Gabe’s getting a bit older he’s much more likely to enjoy days out, he can walk a lot further, and we don’t have to fit around a nap schedule any more, so really there are no excuses!

Now, I couldn’t write a whole list of goals and aims for 2018 without including a few blogging related ones in there so…

Film more vlogs

Vlogging was something I started doing last year, and I managed to get a few hundred subscribers on my YouTube channel. I really enjoy it but it seems to take a lot more time than just writing. The thing I really struggled with was finding time during the day to film. From next week though Gabe will be going to preschool for a full day on a Tuesday, as well as his two other mornings, and I think having a full day rather than just a couple of hours should really give me a chance to fit more in. I’m not going to set a particular number of videos I want to make, just more than none which is what I’ve done for the last few months!

Keep blogging

This one on my list last year too. I’m not going to really set any blog specific goals this year other than just keep going. I’d love to get more readers, and earn more money but to be honest as long as I keep going I’ll be happy.

And my very last goal for 2018  is…

Look back on my goals regularly

Last year I wrote about my goals, hopes and plans in January and then promptly ignored them for the rest of the year. So this year I plan to look at this list every couple of months and see how I’m getting on.

Do you have any plans or goals for the year ahead? I’ve really been enjoying reading lots of these 18 for 2018 posts from other bloggers, so if you’ve written one then please feel free to leave me a link in the comments below.