My New Year’s Resolutions and Goals for 2020

Last updated on July 23, 2024

There are two types of people in this world – those who grasp every opportunity to start anew and love setting goals and resolutions they can benchmark their actions against, and those who feel like it’s putting too much pressure on themselves. I’m definitely the former, but I’m always very mindful of the kind of goals I set. While I love a good challenge, I like my resolutions to be somewhat realistic so that striving to reach them doesn’t lead to quick burnout.

Over the years, I also found that having something to work towards is enough to keep me on track. Even if I’m left with some unticked boxes at the end of the year, I don’t beat myself up over it. As long as I’ve been making conscious effort to achieve my goals throughout the year, I consider myself winning. I’ve always kept my goals private, but this year I decided to publish my list of things I would like to achieve in 2020 to be able to check in with you and monitor my progress. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

1. Grow my blog and social media

I know this resolution is probably on every blogger’s list and one that will probably keep appearing on mine year in, year out, but please bear with me. When I first thought about it, I wanted to set myself numerical goals to make them more measurable. Once I’ve given it more thought, I realised as a new blogger it’s hard for me to estimate the pace with which I will be growing. I could end up smashing my goals by the end of the year, but I could just as easily fall short of my target and feel disheartened.

It took me years to return to the blogosphere and there’s enough comparisonitis as it is. I would never want to fall out of love with blogging again just because my stats don’t match up to someone else’s. This year, I will observe my blog and socials, be grateful for every single person who cares about what I have to say, and then figure out where to go from there.

2. Save up for my dream camera

One of my biggest passions in life has always been photography. For as long as I can remember, my dream camera has been Canon EOS 5D Mark IV (and Mark III before then), but I could never justify spending that kind of money. In many aspects, 2019 has been a real eye-opener – it showed me how easily something can be taken away from you and that nothing in life is certain. It’s definitely a learning process, but it taught me that we shouldn’t put things off for later and I’m determined to chase the things that set my heart on fire. I want 2020 to be the year I finally set aside enough money and take the plunge to purchase my dream camera – there’s no time better than now.

3. Create more varied content

Ever since I started my blog back in August, I’ve been trying to find my feet with posting regular content while having a full-time job and travelling to different countries. I had a lot of photos from my previous trips sitting on my laptop, so travel guides became the main focus of my blog in 2019. While I still have a lot of travel content to put out and will be adding more and more destinations as the year progresses, that’s not the only type of content I would like to create.

Over the years, I found my interests leaning towards all things beauty and I would love to bring you more product reviews this year. I’ve also made it well-known that I drink coffee like a Gilmore – if, like me, you can’t imagine your day without a cup of joe, I want Into the Bloom to be a place you can come to for café recommendations (and it’s the perfect motivation to explore the local coffee scene properly).

4. Become more confident in my photography

Speaking of blog content, something I’ve been struggling with is creating flatlays and any type of imagery that isn’t travel photos. This year, I want to play around with my photography and get my creative juices flowing to bring you more visually pleasing photos to go in line with my content.

5. Complete a number of online courses

As I mentioned in my 2019 in Review post, this past year made me realise what skills unrelated to my job I would like to acquire. I have already bookmarked a number of courses related to digital marketing, SEO, and photography that I would like to complete in 2020. Taking my photography to the next level also involves stepping up my editing skills, so if you know any good Photoshop and Lightroom courses, please send me the links!

6. Refine my personal style

It might be a strange confession coming from a person working in the fashion industry, but I have been feeling lost and confused when it comes to my personal style for a while now. Before I started my job, I used to love visiting the local mall and browsing the latest selection of clothes even if I only bought a thing or two, or walked out empty-handed. Now that I work with clothing samples from Monday to Friday, I hardly ever go shopping anymore.

I am lucky enough to be gifted clothes at work, but it poses yet another question – would I still choose this item if I had to pay for it, or do I only wear it because I got it for free? This year, I want to be more in sync with my personal style and make conscious additions to my wardrobe based on what truly reflects me as a person. I want to wear things that spark joy and make me feel good about myself (I may or may not have read Marie Kondo’s book recently…), regardless of what anyone else might think.

7. Read at least 15 books

Since we briefly touched upon the topic of books, yet another of my 2020 goals is to read at least 15 books this year. In my teens, I used to frequent the local library with my mum and could often be found with a book in hand, engrossed in a fictional world. As I moved away for university, I mostly did compulsory reading for my courses that I got zero enjoyment out of. In the past couple of years, I’ve been making time to read for pleasure again and it made a huge difference in my life. I’m really into self-help books, light reads, as well as page-turners and whodunits, so if you have recently read something you think I might like, please let me know!

8. Watch at least 50 films

I can practically see you squinting your eyes at the screen and giving me confused looks after reading this one. In an era where everyone vows to get off their sofa, become more active and stop wasting time on Netflix, here we have this girl making the exact opposite resolution. Hear me out…

I have never been a film person. While I devour one TV series after another, sitting down for two hours to watch an entire film has always been a struggle. As a result, my film knowledge is severely lacking. I find it especially troubling when someone is talking about a classic that pretty much everyone apart from me has seen, something that I am often reluctant to admit out loud. Last year, I vowed to watch 60 films and I failed miserably, having barely passed the 50% mark (although I did manage to cross some of the biggest classics off my list). This year, I want to do better and be able to join in on some film conversations.

9. Go on at least 5 trips

Finally, would my resolutions post even be valid if I didn’t include at least one travel-related goal? I have restless feet and few things upset me more than knowing I don’t have any trips planned. Since I managed to tick off my lifelong dream of visiting New York in 2019, I’ve been on a travel high and I want to keep exploring the world. I would love to go on at least 5 trips in 2020, no matter how big or small. One thing I find we often seem to neglect while dreaming up distant travel destinations is visiting the places that are practically on our doorstep. There are many beautiful Polish cities I haven’t seen yet and I’ve been feeling inspired to change that in the coming years.

What is your approach to setting New Year’s resolutions? Do they motivate you to stay on track or do you see them as a source of unnecessary pressure? And if you’re just like me, what goals did you set for yourself? I’d love to hear!