Reflecting on 2019 & Goals for 2020

In the beginning of 2109, I was feeling very uninspired. I was absent online for many days (if not weeks) at a time.

It really started at the end of 2018, where Instagram really began to feel mundane to me. It was a combination of both the influencer industry shifting and the priorities in my life changing.

When you start your ‘journey’ in the Instagram/influencer world, I think it’s easy to do what everyone else is doing. To do what’s popular. But over time, and as I’ve gotten older, my interests have slowly changed.

I really began to delve into the topic of living a more sustainable life. I wanted to start living more minimally and focus my time on what brought me the most joy. But I wasn’t sure how/what to share that, so it was easier to share nothing.

“When we really have clarity of purpose, it enables us to succeed in our endeavor.“

By mid 2019 I was inspired to finally share the challenges I had been dealing with regarding fashion blogging/fashion industry and that I wanted to be more conscious about sustainable fashion. There is no easy/perfect path to living a sustainable life and I’m still trying to find the balance in how I can sustainably live the most sustainable lifestyle (while in this this career).

In August I launched my jewelry line SOPHIYA. Ever since I was kid, I used to make jewelry and even did my 8th grade exhibition project on the history of Beading around the world. Learning to build a brand and product, was a hugeee learning curve for me but it gave me a new sense of passion and motivation.

As an ‘influencer’ (I don’t really care for that term but I’m unsure how else I am to refer to my ‘role’ lol), we spend our days wear, showing and promoting other brands. But to be able to wear my own brand and promote my own product (!) has been so rewarding–and so much more fulfilling!

Working on SOPHIYA is a LOT of work (and I’m still trying to figure out how to balance it all as a one-woman team!) but I’ve learned so much and it’s allowed me to connect with my followers in a way I wasn’t able to before.

As the year began to wrap up, I began to read and listen to Jay Shetty’s podcast On Purpose. His episodes covered such relevant topics and has helped shaped a new mindset for me.

I’m also currently reading “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” by Greg McKeown and in the book the author states “When we really have clarity of purpose, it enables us to succeed in our endeavor.”

Seems so simple, yet I think we often lose sight of what our purpose is. And often our purpose can change and we need to realize that so we have clarity of our new purpose.

With that said, my theme for 2020 will be to live more purposefully. And I challenge you to do the same. Consider what you feel inspired by? What are you good at? What is the one thing you wish do in your life right now?

Here are some of my goals for 2020:

1. Read one book a week. Crazy, I know!! I’ve probably read a collective 10 books in the last few years so 52 books in one year is no easy task. But, I absolutely love reading and whenever I finish reading a book, I always wish I read more. I plan to read both fiction and non-fiction (I’ve pretty much only read fiction books in the past) as I would like learn more and expand my thinking. I also hopes this helps me have the discipline of spending less time on social media. It’s a bad habit I think many of us have built, and it does nothing for us. Let’s spend more time learning, and less time scrolling!
2. Work out at least 3 times a week. Ugh, I have just been AWFUL at working out consistently (if at all!!) for the past couple of years. Having no set schedule in this job, I’m all over the place (literally and figuratively) so I don’t keep to a consistent workout schedule. BUT NO MORE! My health (and yours) should be our number priority.
3. Drink more water. I am the WORST at drinking water. I don’t know why, but I have this weird thing with water where it smells and tastes weird to me (unless it’s in a sparkling clean cup and is iced and has a splash of lemon LOL–not kidding though). So this year I’m going to carry a refillable water-bottle with me everywhere and drink at least on water-bottle a day (you’d be shocked at how many times I drink nothing). I think working out will help since I tend to drink a lot of water when I work out. ALSO my family just bought me this self-cleaning water bottle for my birthday and I’m so excited to try it!! It should prevent any weird smell and bacteria from growing so I should have less of an issue drinking water.
4. Share more about sustainable living. It’s a whole lot easier to post an outfit photo than to research and write about a meaningful topic. It takes a lot of time to put together an informative post. But this is truly a topic that I care deeply and passionate about I want to share more tips with you guys. I want to add more value to what I’m doing and what you read. There is is lots more to come, but this will entail capsule wardrobe ideas, clean beauty, healthy recipes and other sustainable swaps.
5. Write a blog post from every trip. I’ve been terrible at keeping up with blog posts and posting a travel guide/recap after each trip, but I think it’s so important to do! After traveling and editing and posting to IG, I’m usually too exhausted to do a blog post but having a permanent place for my travel photos/tips/experiences is so important (at least to me haha). Otherwise everything gets hidden over time on Instagram (which is not very search friendly). Along with this goal is also catching up on all my trips I missed out on last year..so expect to see some of those coming!
6. Less but better. This is not really a goal, but rather a mindset I want to have. Less you say? Yes. The motto of Essentialism. Focus on only the essential. Do less, have less. But better.

“Tell me what is it that you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?”

Mary Oliver