Intentions For The New Year

If you’ve been reading my blog for a few years, you know I’m not really into New Year’s resolutions. I think the beginning of another year is a great time to reflect on the previous year and think about what you might like to do differently, and I also think it’s a good idea to have goals. But thinking that you will suddenly change all of your bad habits or achieve some lofty, pie-in-the-sky wish just because the calendar has changed to January 1 is a little unrealistic, and kind of setting yourself up for failure.

Instead, I prefer to set an intention or two for how I want to carry out my life in the next year. These intentions act as guiding principles as I make decisions through out the year. Last year, I decided I wanted to invite more joy into my life by practicing gratitude, something I’m still practicing and that I feel has made my life better.

Last year brought a lot of big changes (ahem, a new baby, blogging full-time, and a new career for my husband). Trying to navigate running a business, keeping a tiny human alive and content, and maintaining a somewhat functional home more or less by myself while my husband juggles a family business and a full time job has been…chaotic to say the least. I’ve been in survival mode the past 6 months, and I’m finally just now able to come up for air.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my intentions for the coming year. When thinking about my business goals, my initial reaction was what it’s always been – growth. 6 figures, multiple revenue streams, world domination.

But then I had to take a step back and realize the whole reason I do what I do. It’s all for that little girl. It’s so I can stay home and be her mom and not have to stress about who is raising my child.

I’ve been in constant hustle mode since I started Lively Table, that it only seems natural to keep going. But I’m no longer in a place where I have to work on the blog 24 hours a day, 8 days a week. I can feel the burnout coming if I continue to work without structure. I love what I do, but I have something bigger to focus on now. So my intentions for the new year revolve around finding the work-life balance that I not only want but need.

These are my intentions for 2019:

Setting Boundaries

The beauty of working from home is that you can do whatever you want, when you want. But that’s also the downside. I’ve been trying to work all day while also playing with the baby all day and I end up doing a sub-par job at both. I’m constantly switching tasks and having to get back on track. This year, I’m implementing some serious work time/not work time boundaries so that I can focus on work when I’m working and get it done, and shut it off when I’m not so I can focus on family.

Asking for help

I’m awful at asking for what I need. But if there is anything I have learned in the past 6 months, it’s that I can’t do it all by myself. Well, I CAN, but at the end of the day, I have nothing left to give to my husband or myself. And that’s not fair. I am going to work really hard on asking for what I need, whether that’s a listening ear, a hug, or a night off from cooking, instead of trying to make others (mostly Mr. Table) guess. Which also leads me to…

Taking care of me

It goes without saying, I would do anything for my child. And the past 6 months, that has meant ignoring my own needs in favor of either 1) the baby, 2) work, or 3) chores. I’ve especially been struggling to get any sort of movement in, even though I have a gym membership (that goes unused), spin class passes, and a pretty awesome yoga app on my phone. But I know that things like exercise make me feel so much better. So I’m going to prioritize myself just a little bit more and do things I enjoy, like read those all cookbooks I got for Christmas!

Being Present

It’s incredibly hard for me to not be doing something. I get it form my dad. I’ve never seen that man spend a Sunday on the couch unless he was sick. I can’t physically relax knowing there is a load of clothes in the dryer that needs to be folded or emails that need replies. But my baby is only a baby once, and I only get one chance to experience that. I want to be fully present to soak in this precious time with my little family. I’ll be trying my hardest to enforce those boundaries around work, put the phone away, and spend some quality time with my little girl and my husband.

All of these intentions for the year lead me to my word for 2019 – presence.

What is your word for the year?