I hate new year’s resolutions.

I feel like that’s a pretty cynical way to start off a new year’s resolutions post. But I also feel like I have to be up front with you all at all times. It wouldn’t feel right for me to write this post without mentioning the fact that, yeah, I kind of hate new year’s resolutions.

I have a lot of reasons for my less-than-positive views on new year’s resolutions. I suppose if I were to name just one reason, it would be that a year is a really long time. Longer than we tend to realize. And I don’t mean in terms of actual days, so if you’re thinking that doesn’t make sense, allow me to explain.

The way I see it, new year’s resolutions turn achievable goals into abstract dreams. Instead of breaking a long-term goal down into weekly or monthly increments, new year’s resolutions give us the opportunity to say we’re going to do something without any  substantial follow through.

With new year’s resolutions, we can tell ourselves we’re going to devote a year to something, and then make excuses like “I’ll start next month” all throughout the calendar year. That is, if we even remember them that long. By February or March, the goals we once claimed would last a whole three hundred sixty-five days are usually long-forgotten.

That being said, I guess you can say I feel like this post is destined for failure. Not a great attitude to kick off the new year, but old habits die hard, right?

At this point, you’re probably wondering why someone as opposed to new year’s resolutions as me is writing them at all. To be honest with you (once again!), I’m not quite sure myself. I think it’s just me wanting to try something new. It’s good to try new things at the start of a new year (hence the whole “new” part).

So, today I’m sharing with you some of the things I’d like to accomplish on or for my blog in 2018! My plan right now is to establish these larger goals and then break them down into smaller, more attainable ones. Hopefully it’ll help me stick with them throughout the entire year. Hopefully, of course, being the operative word here.

I’ve been keeping a mental note of these goals for a while now. So, if they seem random, that’s because they are. I’m typing these up exactly as I thought of them.

Invest in a quality camera:

If I had to tell you the biggest change I’ve experienced as a blogger, it would be my understanding of photography. If you were to scroll back and look at some of my earliest posts (which I strongly advise against–they’re pretty awful), you would see that my photography has changed a lot since then.

I’ve learned so much about the photo-taking process since becoming a blogger. But despite the knowledge I’ve gained, I’m still using the same camera. That being said, I think it’s time for me to invest in a new one! I’ve been doing some research on the best cameras for bloggers, and I’ve narrowed it down to a few models I really like. Now it’s simply the matter of saving up the money to get one.

Daily blog for at least one month:

Way back when, there was a point in time when I was able to daily blog. I loved putting content up on daily basis because it challenged me to be as creative as possible. But as much as I enjoyed daily blogging, I’m a lot busier now than I was last spring. Posting on a daily basis 365 days a year isn’t feasible for me anymore. If I tried, I think I would be really unhappy with the content I was putting up.

While I can’t daily blog all the time, I’d really like to find at least one month in 2018 where it becomes doable for me. I did Blogmas this past December, so maybe I’ll give it a go this year too.

Work on improving my social media:

I have to confess that in the past, I’ve been very inconsistent on social media. Some days, I’m posting multiple times. Other days, I won’t put up a single thing. In 2018, I’m hoping to get more consistent on my social media platforms. It’s not something that I’m too focused on, but I figure it’s better to aim high with new year’s resolutions.

Blog about a wider variety of topics:

Several months ago, I wrote a post about blogging niches and why I think it’s perfectly fine not to have one. This year, I want to do a better job of sticking with that philosophy and writing about more topics that I feel like writing about. I feel like the best way to do this is to simply starting writing something as soon as it pops in my head, which, coincidentally, brings us to my final resolution…

Do more spontaneous blogging:

There are a lot of good things that have come out of blogging on a more consistent schedule. I generally feel a lot better when I have content planned out in advance. However, one of the only cons to this strategy is that it has limited my ability to blog spontaneously. This year, I’d like to find a good balance between planning and being spontaneous.

Anyway, that concludes my 2018 new year’s resolutions! Here’s to hoping they actually work out.

Happy New Year!

How do you feel about new year’s resolutions? Do you love them? Hate them?

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