Hello, Gorgeous! Today on the blog I’m sharing my New Year’s resolutions from this past year and letting you know if I kept them and also sharing my new goals for this year. I would love to hear what your New Year’s resolutions are for this year and talk to you in the comments below! Leave a comment after this post and let’s get chatting:).

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS (NYR) FROM 2016

I try not to make too many resolutions because I really want to put all my energy into the ones that I make. Too many resolutions would just be to overwhelming for me. So, in 2016 I only made two NYR’s! Those are:

1. BE KINDER TO MYSELF

My first resolution was to be kinder to myself. I am my own worst critic and am wayyyy to harsh on myself most of the time (if I’m being perfectly honest with you ladies). I heard this phrase back in 2015 and it stuck with me throughout this entire year, “If you wouldn’t talk to your friend like that, why would you talk to yourself like that?”. To me this was  profound because if I talked to friends the way I talk to myself I probably wouldn’t have any friends! That’s how harsh I was on myself. Not good. 

So this year I set out to be kinder to myself in all areas of life. This means the way I talk to myself, the goals I set for myself, and how I treat my body.

I worked out at the gym frequently this year but if I wanted to eat junk food- I ate it. I wasn’t as strict about my diet and do you know what happened? I didn’t gain a ton of weight like I thought I would, I was just happier because I wasn’t restricting myself all the time.

I also started to become my own cheerleader (as corny as that sounds!) and support myself instead of look for flaws. This was hard at first. At the beginning of the year I thought if I was kinder to myself then maybe I wouldn’t be as driven. I was totally wrong. I was more productive because I learned how to be kinder to myself.

I am a perfectionist at heart and this year I allowed myself to be ok with not being perfect (because that is an unattainable goal and no one is perfect!).

I would say that I was pretty successful at this NYR and will continue to improve on this goal into 2017!

2. USE MORE NATURAL BASED SKIN PRODUCTS  

My second NYR this past year was to own more natural based skin products and not put anything on my skin or hair with parabens and sulfates.

I really stuck to this goal this year thanks to amazing brands like Beautycounter and Juice Beauty! (SIDE NOTE: I am going to do an extensive post about these products very soon!). Both of these brand’s missions are to produce products with no harmful ingredients and, as a result, significantly improve the quality of your skin!

In the past year ALL of my skin care products are either Beautycounter or Juice Beauty because they seriously WORK. When I say work I mean that you’ll see a significant improvement in your skin. I saw improvement in my skin after one use of using both of these brands products.

My goal for 2017 is to continue to use these products and start making my makeup all natural too! I don’t think I’ll have all my makeup completely natural, but anything that can easily switch over such as mascara, blush, and powder I am going to start buying from Beautycounter and Juice Beauty. I swear by Juice Beauty’s blush and currently have it on as I am writing this post!

I was slow to start this NYR at the beginning of the year, but by September I was transitioning out all of my old skin care products to make room for Beautycounter and Juice Beauty products. They have a customer for life because their products are seriously that good!

So these were the two resolutions from 2016! Here are the resolutions I have for 2017!

New Year’s Resolutions for 2017

I am going to carry over my NYR’s from 2016 and continue to build upon them for 2017! I also want to add these resolutions to the list this year…

DEFINE WHAT SUCCESS MEANS TO ME 

Do you know the saying, “When you’re younger you think you know everything, then when you get older you realize you know nothing?”. Well, that saying is true for me when trying to define what success means to me. When I was younger I used to think that success meant having a high powered job, making lots of money, and getting to buy anything you wanted. Nowadays I think society measures success as having all of those things and having a large social media presence because that is the direction the world is moving. Everything is on social media to include the President Elect’s plans for the country, marketing, the ability to purchase items, and of course seeing what your friends are up to.

Now, I’m not sure at all what success means to me.

I’m starting to think that success means being happy and maybe that doesn’t come from a high powered job or a large social media following. I think success being in a happy relationship (for me that would be my marriage), supporting your family, surrounding yourself with amazing friends (or a blogging community for you blogger babes!) who truly love you, and doing something every day that you enjoy.

I don’t think you can buy your way to happiness nor do I think a large social media following is necessary to be successful (although people may tell you it is). What if success isn’t material or monetary at all? Does society need to “decide” that you are successful? Or, can you simply define for yourself what success is and tell society you DGAF what they think?

But, like I said, I’m not sure what success means to me right now. This year I am really going to try and create my own definition, but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to find it in a Chanel store or behind the wheel of a new fancy car.

At the end of 2017 I’ll let you ladies know what I come up with!

WATCH MY SAILOR MOUTH 

This may come as a surprise to you ladies, but I actually have quite the “potty mouth” as my mom likes to call it. I blame being in the military for starting this horrible habit, but I am going to try really hard this year to watch what I say, especially when I am not in a military type of environment.

This is going to be super hard for me since it’s such a bad habit and it’s starting to rub off on Chuck a little bit (sorry, Chuck!).

I would love to hear what your NYR’s are for this year!

Follow me along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for daily style inspo and if you loved this post don’t forget to share with your friends:). Both your friends, and myself, will thank you!

Thank you SO much for stopping by Blush & Camo!

xx Julianna

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