And just like that, it’s 2023! Happy New Year! I spent mine like a true Cancerian (not the sea types), cosy in my shell (a.k.a indoors). I prefer going out on rotation with staying in each year as my outs are always eventful and meticulously organised. This NYE, my free time needed to involve zero plans as I have spent a lot of 2022 organising myself and others. This year everything, except for the food I always needed to prepare, was last minute. After some true covid chaos over the years, followed by a slow return, I look forward to returning this year and could not be happier to have you hear for the ride. 

New Year, Habits & Commitments

I’ve never been a resolutions person since my brain will always make me work on them until I fatigue. Therefore I go more habit introductions and self commitments. Introducing a habit involves identifying a specific goal and then breaking it down over the year before placing the routines that will help you achieve it. 

For example: If I wanted to save £6k by December (let us say for a specific purchase like a designer handbag 🙂 ), I know this would be £500pcm there, for I would wish to save £125pw. The habit I would be committing to is to save £125pw regularly.

Self-commitments are less specific and more about self-care for me. For example, if my leg gives me problems because I often work at a desk. My self-commitment may be moving more, and then I could introduce activities like going to the gym, attending dance classes, or adding more journey time to walk more each day.

2023 Mind, Body & Soul;

Health

My body aches in places I did not know it could, I feel like my posture is slacking, and I swear I’m standing weirdly nowadays. Prepandemic I was in the gym 3-5 times a week; however, the gym paused everyone’s subscription, and I never restarted it. Due to my overactive brain, I need to have zones for things like working out to avoid the number of other chores that need to creep in. Also, it is surprising that when you live with others, they only want to talk to you when you are doing something like working out. So I want that age-old resolution of a gym membership.

My hair and I have never really been friends. Its cycle is growing and then breaking. I’ve never really known why and no matter what I’ve tried, this has stayed the same. Not to mention the weird patch of damaged hair I’ve had since I was a young child making any growth look uneven. This year I’d love to see someone who can help me work out how to turn my hair health around once and for all.

I am slow with my checkups with the doctor and the dentist. In my defence, the doctor issue is more of an actual calendar availability issue (as in my doctors). In contrast, the dentist is more of a bankruptcy avoidance tactic (the most convenient is entirely private, and prices are crazy high). However, I also want to get Invisalign this year, so I need to speak with a dentist.

Finally my vitamin intake, I need to commit to a routine and stick to it. I try different supplements and switch frequently, so now I have a bit of stock to get through.   

Travel 

There I said it. I’m not too fond of heights. I don’t particularly appreciate feeling trapped, I like being seated close to other people, and I don’t like not having control. This unfortunate combination of dislikes means flying is the anti-me. Even worse since I enjoy travelling and I have incredibly itchy feet. So I will travel more first, starting locally and commuting by train (which is more efficient anyway). I wish to visit Austria, Sweden and Finland in particular. Since I’m not made for the cold weather, I will need to try and get there over the warmer months. I have shared a few medium, and long distant locations in a previous post. If all goes to plan and I get to at least three places this year, I will be happy with my travelling progress.

Create 

Not only the makeup artistry, but I’ve discovered a few other artistic activities I enjoy and want to do more. Some of these will make their way to the blog throughout the year. Since I am a lefty, it should be evident to me that I will always enjoy creating and digesting art. I have enjoyed expanding my knowledge of architecture. Biophilic design is now one of my favourites! Last year I also picked up a Tate membership, and that place is incredible. Initially, I picked this membership up so I could attend the hugely popular Yayoi Kusama Infinity Rooms exhibition. After quickly realising how excellent the membership benefits were and decided that this was me. I’m a Tate Modern membership person. I actually might pick up my Saatchi Gallery membership again too. I plan to visit more often this coming year. Back to the blog, I want to create more content than in previous years. A lot of the restraint for me is time due to working full time and generally over-committing to others as my personal development area. 

Connect

I want to make new connections, ideally with local people, this year. This would be great as I could meet up with them frequently and share hobbies. Perhaps as I immerse myself in more of my hobbies, this will happen as a byproduct.

Downsize

Although I did start this last year, I want to continue and ramp up my downsizing efforts. I want a more minimalistic life free of many items, and although I don’t have much, I do have a lot of work ahead. I have been listing a lot on Vinted, which has been going quite quickly; however, listing items takes a lot of time. This year I plan to do this quicker and achieve my goal of a minimalistic life sooner.

Clutter-Free Nadiene:

• Categorize my clothing and assign a maximum number of garments I can own for each category 
• Do a charity run of any unworn Winter clothing items
• List on By Rotation occasional, low-wear items. 
• Invest in proper storage solutions
• Invest in a new shredder or get a mobile shredder booked for old paperwork.
• Work out a better folder system for my emails
• Clear out my phone files (cloud storage is expensive)

CONNECT:

• Achieving the ‘Old Money’ Aesthetic Look – A Step-by-Step Guide
• How to handle an angry Cancerian
• Create a Stunning Makeup Look Fit for a Coronation
• Jazz Nights at Chelsea Harbour Hotel [AD]
• Benefits of Lavender skincare products