2019 Resolutions

Hi readers! We’re coming up to the end of the year which means I’ve been reflecting on 2018 a lot recently. A lot of exciting things happened both in my personal and my reading life and I’m very excited to see where 2019 takes me! This year I pushed myself out of my comfort zone a little and read a pretty wide variety of books from different age ranges, genres, etc. and managed to read the most number of books I’ve ever read in a year!

This year I also joined a gym, got offered my first full time job (which starts in January 2019), got my first car, and so many more exciting things. I’ll be moving houses in January and, as mentioned, starting my dream job alongside a Cerificate III in Library and Information Services. I’m not sure how my time management is going to go, and so I’ve tried to set myself some attainable goals for the year of 2019. I might reflect back on these midway through the year and set new goals for the second half of the year, but as of right now, here are the resolutions I’ve set myself for 2019!

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Book Related Goals

1. Read 52 books

I read basically double this number in 2018, however because I’ll be starting studying and a fulltime job, I’m unsure how much time I’ll have to read throughout this upcoming year. So, I decided to set myself a pretty easily achievable goal so as not to stress myself out too much. A goal of 52 books means I’m aiming to read at least one book per week, which I think is doable! I’ve recently discovered audiobooks as well, which will help with my goal, but I think I should hit this pretty easily!

2. Read at least one adult/literary fiction, one young adult, one romance & one non-fiction book each month

This is a goal I started for myself a few months ago and want to carry on into the new year. I’ve really broadened my horizons when it comes to what genres/age groups I’m reading, and I really like this goal. I’ll be starting a trainee library assistant position next year and I want to have a wide variety of books to read and recommend to customers & friends alike. I’ve already achieved this goal every month since about October, so this should be an easy goal to hit in 2019!

3. Limit my book buying

I’m actually going to be doing a sort of book buying ban in 2019. I will limit myself to buying only one book for every 5 books I read. I’ll also be trying to utilise my local library more than I have in the past year, however my main focus will be on getting my owned physical tbr down.

4. Reduce my owned physical tbr to ~75

So, last I checked, my physical tbr was sitting at about 120 books. I originally had planned to try to get this down to 50, however I don’t think that’s going to happen. If I’m strict on myself in 2019 and limit my book buying, I think 75 is an achievable goal to get my physical tbr down to. Apart from reading the books I own, I also regularly unhaul books I’m no longer interested in. I’m excited to see how many books are on my tbr by the end of next year!

5. Read for at least 30 mins per day

So, with starting a new job and studying, I’m not sure how much free time I’m going to have. If I can organise my time well and read for at least 30 minutes either first thing in the morning or right before bed, I’ll at least make a little more progress in my reading year! I think 30 minutes is a low enough number that I can read for, and decent enough to make a difference compared to days where I don’t read for the day!

6. Read all 12 “must read in 2019”

I made myself a list of 12 books I must read in 2019, so this goal is pretty self explanatory– I want to have read all 12 of those books by the end of the year. I picked 12 specifically so I could read one of these books per month, and I’ll be kicking myself if I don’t complete this goal, to be honest.

7. Publish 3-5 blog posts every month

I know that 3-5 doesn’t sound like a lot, especially when you take monthly tbrs and wrap-ups into consideration, but I want to try to stay at least semi-organised with a lowkey posting schedule in 2019 and I think 3-5 is an acceptable number of times to post each month, especially not knowing how busy I’ll be!

8. Read 6 classics

I have never really been a fan of classics, but I’ve been watching Merphy Naiper’s viceos lately and she’s really inspired me to pick up some classics! I’ve ordered about 9 that should come in the mail within the next week, and I’m hoping to read at least 6 of them next year. If you have any favourite classics, or classics you think are a great starting point, definitely recommend them to me!

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Personal Goals

1. Look after myself

This is super broad, but I stress and burn out very quickly, so I know I’m going to need some solid self care in 2019. Taking breaks, looking after my health and making sure I eat properly are just a few of the things I want to make sure I do in 2019.

2. Exercise for at least 30 minues every day

Honestly my main goal for this is to make sure I take my dogs for a quick 30ish minute walk every morning when I have time/it’s not raining, but doing other exercising like HIIT sessions or going to the gym is something I want to make sure I stick to, even with a busy schedule. After I left school, I went through a 4ish year period where I barely exercised at all and really struggled to come to terms with things I could no longer do with ease when I started exercising again. This is also a great stress relief, so I really hope to stick to his.

3. Save save save

Already I’ll be saving some money by not buying as many books as usual in 2019, but I want to really save some money next year. Considering I’ll have a full time job, even if it’s at a trainee wage, I’ll be on a consistent salary now & so I should have an easier time with saving some money. I want to go on a trip with my boyfriend sometime in the next couple years, so this will 100% help with that

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Okay, those are some of my book related and personal goals for 2019. I’m really excited to see what the year has in store for me, and I hope I can accomplish everything I’ve put down here today!

Have you set yourself any goals for 2019? What are they?

Thanks so much for reading!

Taryn xxx