“This will be an awesome year,” has always been my New Year’s mantra since the beginning of time. And you know what? After reading this incredibly inspiring post, I feel it in my bones. 2015 will be awesome.
My 2015 blog planner
Happy 2015, my lovelies! I hope the year has treated you well so far. I’m joining the bandwagon today and sharing a bunch of my reading and blogging resolutions! I know- you’re probably thinking, Not another one! *insert exasperated sigh* because literally everyone has been sharing resolutions for the past week. I’m doing this mostly for me though. I want to remember this purposeful feeling I have now through the year, hold on to it. I’ve never truly been great with resolutions but I want to be the girl who does her damnedest to try. Let’s do this!
1) Read 100 books
100 books has been my usual yearly goal until last year when I tried to outdo myself by moving my goal up to 150. Looking back, that was a crazy move especially since I didn’t have my long summer vacation to read as much as I could. My reading challenge was a burden then and it made me feel so horrible whenever I was behind. So I’m going to revert back to my no-pressure, carefree 100 this 2015.
2) Get organized & become productive
This is on my resolution list every damn year and I think I’m getting there. Even though I still feel like the world’s most unproductive, messy person some days, I feel like I had done so much last year and it’s rewarding. I want to keep that up and instill it further especially with my blogging. I want to schedule more posts and blog as efficiently as I can. I think the book blogger organizer I purchased will really help with that!
3) Take more photographs
Granted I started sharing more photography on the blog in 2014 with my Novel Portraits feature, but I feel like I still took to few photographs. I want to be a more active photographer (I’m even thinking of reviving my photography blog again) and I want to start by posting lots of photos on my Instagram account and on the blog too, of course. I’m going to dare myself to photograph all the books I read in 2015, in fact!
4) Write (x100)
I’ve always thought it weird that I’ve become a blogger because that had a lot to do with writing and I quite suck at that. I also find this weird because I’m a huge reader and don’t all readers love to write? Anyway, writing is a challenge for me because I’m such a turtle at it. This year though, I want to write more reviews, write more discussions, write more lists. I want to continue to write my novel WIPs, and maybe try NaNoWriMo again. I want to use up the huge stack of pretty notebooks I unearthed during my year-end cleaning and fill them with words. I want to write a whole lot.
5) Cut down TBR
One of the things that I feel bad about is how I let my TBR mound up immensely in 2014. I bought so many books that have gone unread and yet here I am, still with a long long list of books I want to buy. I’d impose a buying ban but that never works so instead, I’ll challenge myself to read at least 1-2 backlist books on my to-read shelf before I buy a new book. Not only will this help me cut down my TBR, but it should cut down my spending on books as well.
6) Expand my design shop
Starting my design shop was one of the best things I did last year. Design has become something I’m very passionate about and doing something you love to do and earning something out of it is just pure awesome. I feel very proud that I’ve gotten more orders than I initially imagined and I feel so thankful for the trust that was given to me by the people I’ve worked with. I want to continue providing designs for the blogosphere and branch out by selling premades and maybe even working with authors too!
7) Collaborate
Let’s do/make amazing things together, you guys! I want to collaborate with everyone (or at least some of you people) to spread the bookish love even more. What do you say? ;)
So those are my resolutions for the new year! Do share yours in the comments, if you have some! With that, y’all have an awesome 2015, okay?
43 Responses
These are awesome goals Hazel! I’d REALLY love to do #3 myself (take more photographs). I adore photography. My problem is that I don’t go anywhere LOL. There are only so many things to take photos of around the apartment. Gah!
Good luck with everything. :)
Thanks, Ashley! I’d love to see more photos from you- I’m sure you’ll find some things worth photographing this 2015! :)
My TBR pile is a bit out of control, so I’m also trying to cut it down. That also means buying less books than the previous two years, which is going to be quite a challenge. I’m going to buy a new camera and I can’t wait to make pretty pictures from my blog. I love your photography :) Good luck with your great goals.
You’re getting a new camera- so exciting! I’m sure you’ll take plenty gorgeous pictures with it! Also, thank you so much for the sweet compliment and for your encouragement! <3
I really want to read 100 books this year, but unlike you, this is actually a stretch kind of goal for me. I hope I can do it. I also want to start taking bookish photographs too. I don’t have a fancy camera, but used the right way, my iPad can make a pretty good camera. And writing more is always a goal of mine. I’d like to do some more magazine writing, as well as polish up one of my WIPs enough to maybe start querying agents. I would love to open my design shop. I’m really into coding, but I’ve never done much blog or website design coding. Where did you start learning how to do this? Also, how does the design process usually work? For example, for custom do you have to have access to someone’s account to work on their website and for premade do you just email the customer the code? Thanks.
Best of luck! I’m sure you can do it! I use my iPad camera a lot as well for taking Instagram photos. :) Good luck with magazine writing and your WIP! So cool that you’re into coding too. For custom, I do access accounts to install the themes. I’m not sure how premades work yet either.
Oh okay. Thank you so much. I guess we both have some research to do, then.
Personally, I need to be more productive and organized, I’m always terrible at that ^^’ but I’m planning to be better at it. Although I’m not making resolutions, I never keep them.
I always feel that way too which is why organisation and productivity are always on my resolutions! I wanted to not make any resolutions this year because I’m terrible at keeping them too but I always want to have goals and resolutions are a great way to move towards them. :)
I never really noticed how many new year resolution posts there are until this year, but I actually enjoy reading them. It makes me feel like everyone is trying hard to make this an awesome year! I enjoy taking photo’s as well, but my camera is so crapy it takes some of the fun out of it. I try to share a picture in my Sunday Post every week and i hope I can actually take at least one picture each week to share.
Good luck with your goals and I hope 2015 will be an amazing year for you!
Same, same! And I bet you could do a whole lot even with a simple camera! Thank you, Lola! Have a great 2015! <3
Yes to collaborating! If you need someone or if you’re feeling like hosting a readathon or something, holla at me! I’ve never collaborated with a blogger before so it would be definitely fun to try that this year. And I need to cut down my tbr pile too! I’m very determined to do that this year. I also don’t mind seeing new year resolutions post because I love reading everyone’s goals. :)
I shall do that! I bet it would be such a blast to collaborate with you! :) Good luck with your own resolutions and I hope you have a wonderful 2015, Leigh! :D
Oh wow, I love the book blogger organizer! What a cool resource.
Looking forward to reading more posts from you in 2015! :)
That’s what I thought too! I’m already using it and starting to get more organized! Thanks, Danielle! :)
Good luck!
Good luck with your goals and I wish you an amazing 2015! I love collaborating with other bookish people. Always so fun! And yes, I get the whole “want to write more” thing. It’s funny, I never really thought about writing or maybe writing a book one day, but I have after being around the book blogosphere. I don’t know what it is…it must be catching.
Thanks, Rebecca! You’re one of the people around the blogosphere who are so collaborative and I totally admire you for that! :)
Great resolutions! Writing is one of my goals as well. NaNoWriMo is something I really want to complete.
Yeay! We should be NaNo buddies when the time comes! :D
I don’t have much of a following, but I’d love to do a collaboration with you – I enjoy your blog posts :)
I don’t mind at all and I would love to collaborate with you too! If you ever get an idea I could be a part of, please do tell! :D
Likewise!
Well, I hope you succeed in all your goals! It would be so cool if you photographed all the books you read this year. I want to do that too! Haha. Though I most likely won’t post it all on IG, because I really want my feed to look nice and collected, and my lazy photos are definitely not that. Haha.
And gosh, that 2015 planner looks pretty.
Thank you, Shannelle! You should post more on IG- your photos are lovely (not lazy at all) and your artworks are fab! Seriously. I bought the planner at Papemelroti for like 20 pesos!
Good luck with these goals, Hazel! I personally want to see more of your photographs because let’s be honest, THEY ARE ALL SO GORGEOUS YOU’RE SO TALENTED. I also agree about writing — even though I’ve read a lot of books, I don’t think my writing is that good. But I will try to produce a few short stories this year. I wrote a couple of fanfictions in Indonesian for my favorite anime last year and they seem to get positive responses.
*tackle hugs* Thank you, Kezia! <333 Good luck with your writing and have an amazing 2015!
I like the sound of collabs! ;) Happy new year, Hazel!
Oh yay! Happy new year, Alena! <3
Love this blog so much! Good luck with reading 100 books (you’ll definitely be able to do that I think) and YES to diminishing that TBR pile. Whoo!
Basically I want to do everything you said [aside from the whole design shop thing because I DONT OWN ONE] lol. I want to read 200 books, because in 2014 i read about 150, i want to take more photos and WRITE MORE AND COLLAB MORE. Mainly I want to achieve things in 2015 so when i look back on the year i’m not like..I didn’t do anything..as I did with looking back on 2014..
What a great list of resolutions, Hazel! 100 books is a fabulous goal, and so is “getting more organized/becoming productive”–the productive part is something I should probably work on, too, haha. Also, I’ll look forward to seeing more of your lovely photography around the blog, and the best of luck with your writing! I definitely don’t think all readers are necessarily writers, but if it’s something you enjoy then definitely go for it. :) I wish you all the best with ALL of these wonderful goals, and I hope 2015 treats you marvelously! Happy (belated) New Year! *hugs*
(PS: I just wanted to let you know that you got a shout-out at the end of my most recent post, which is linked to below. Thanks for being awesome! :)
This is a wonderful list of resolutions! I loved reading through it. My goal is also 100 books. This will be my first year keeping track of how many books I read. I loved how you described writing! I’m switching from writing on the computer to writing in notebooks and I think that’ll work better for me. And I’m going to set aside an actual time for writing, and make it part of my routine.
Best of luck with your resolutions, Hazel :) I’m so excited for all the new releases this year. They all look so promising. A resolution of mine is to, like you, cut down my TBR. It’s ginormous haha.
Thank you, Jade! Riiiight? 2015 is gonna be a great bookish year. :) Good luck tackling your TBR!
Lessen your tbr pile? *throws back head and cackles maniacally* Good luck with that! *winks* My son loves to read and hates to write, even though he gets As on all of his Uni papers. I had a colaboration idea. I was thinking of having guest post/blogger interviews about library systems in different countries. Do you think libraries differ enough from country to country to be intetesting?
Oh, and yes, yes, yes to more photographs.
Great goals… your photography of the books you read this year inspires me too!! I am going to try to do it too. You should’ve set up a challenge with this! That will be a good idea for next year and people can join it.
I haven’t set many goals, but there’s still time to reassess and make some. Good luck with all your goals!
Good list; I want to read 100 books this year. :)
This is probably my first time commenting on your blog (I think?) despite having linked to it before, so hi!!! First off can I just say that I love your font / layout / etc. and have always loved the headers you use for your posts? Your photography is awesome! Just like 2015 will be :).
1.) I’m glad you lowered your goal from 150. It’s a horrible feeling to fall behind on your old goals, and having a lesser number will make you happier when you will (most likely) exceed it :). As for me, I’m going to try and not count how many books or participate in challenges because I’m too sensitive to the stress.
2.) “This is on my resolution list every damn year and I think I’m getting there.” — Me too! I’m actually currently ahead right now and it’s quite freeing. Spreadsheets I’ve found really helped for this (though who knows if the organization will last?), and I bet your book blogger organizer will last.
3.) YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY IS AMAZING I WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE.
4.) Not all readers love to write :P. But I do too. This is on my list as well. I’m not good with NaNo because the pressure of that is like reading goals, but here’s to hoping we can both at least manage to squeeze more writing time in!
5.) Me too! This is at the top of my list. Request a lot less ARCs & then read more of the TBR books :). Book buying bans are so hard to keep up with. I’ve found lately that my library helps some with that though? Maybe it could help you?
6.) Ooooh. Good to know that you have a design shop. I don’t remember when I last changed my blog layout and I quite like the way you have everything, so I may check that out later.
7.) Collaborations are awesome. I’ve started small, like asking people if they want to do read-alongs with me, but one idea I had was getting a bunch of bloggers and/or booktubers to film their top choice of most anticipated title of 2015, so it’s like “polling from the community.” But I’m not entirely sure how to start.
You have awesome resolutions! I hope that you have an awesome 2015 and good luck with your resolutions too :D!
What a great list of resolutions, Hazel! Two in particular stand out to me – writing and collaboration.
I too need to get back in the writing groove! I hit a dry spell for some time in 2013, and slowly started to resume writing in 2014. I feel refreshed and inspired to continue and finish some of my stories this year; I will be rooting for you to do the same.
And then, there’s collaboration! I always LOVE teaming up with other bloggers to promote books or a love of reading or authors, etc. Here’s to hoping WE can find a way to collaborate on something this year, because I would LOVE to do that!
All of these are wonderful goals! Pretty photgraphy is my weakness…I can’t help photograph books in different places for ages :P