The Achievements of 2015 and the Goals of 2016

H A P P Y  N E W  Y E A R  !!!!!!

Wishing you all the best for 2016 and I truly hope that it is your year. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported Salt and Chic this year - I can only hope I will continue to get the same support and love that I have over 2015!

Another year has come and gone and as usual, the internet is rife with resolutions and vows to change in 2016. At this time of year, it's natural for us all to look back on the year and think about the things that went wrong and the things that went right. Yesterday I posted about my 2015 travel review as 2015 has been such a wonderful year in those terms. I've seen so many new places and experienced so many different things this year and for that I am more than grateful. However in other respects, 2015 has been a bit unlucky for me. My beloved car was crashed into by someone else and written off and I had a whole carry on with my insurance over it, despite it not being my fault. I put a lot of pressure on myself over the last few months and have taken way too much on with two jobs, blogging and third year university work and on top of that I lost two childhood family pets. Overall through the course of the year, there have been various ups and downs and as I'm sure you all know, it can get tough. 

Despite the unlucky aspects of the year, there have definitely been some positives and those positives have been amazing so I thought I'd (rather vainly) list a few of the things that have happened or that I've achieved this year that I'm immensely proud of.

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2 0 1 5:  T H E   U P S 

1. My blog has grown immensely. This past year, I've been overwhelmed with the support Salt and Chic has had, by readers, family, friends and anyone else. I've seen my blog grow and grow and grow, ending 2015 with almost 16k on instagram (if you want to help me get there you can follow me ) and 2600 bloglovin followers. I've been lucky enough to work with some truly amazing brands that I've loved for as long as I can remember and when I began blogging I wouldn't have even dreamed that one day I myself would have the opportunity to work with them. Not only that but I feel that my whole blog has improved immensely, from the design to the photography to the writing and I hope that you guys all love the new and improved content!

here

2. My blog took me all over the country and even the world. As you'll probably know by now, travelling is one of my passions. I want to see and experience as many different things as possible and my little blog has given me even more opportunities to do so in 2015. I've been to York with Santander and to London with Currys PC World and even got the opportunity to take some time out and explore my local city of Newcastle with Travelodge. ASOS, Slydes and Croatia Wave even sent me to the beautiful island of Pag in Croatia, something with I am eternally grateful for and I honestly hope my blog takes me even further in 2016. 

3. We adopted a new puppy. I'm 99% sure you have all seen Harry by now as I never stop posting photos of him and as a huge animal lover, getting new pets can only be a huge positive for me. Harry needed a new home when he was about 10 weeks old as the family who had bought him from the breeder couldn't look after him anymore so we adopted him into our home and he and Luna have since become the best of friends! I don't know about anyone else but I absolutely any kind of animal and physically can't walk past one without stopping to stroke it so yep, the more animals in the house the better!

4. I completed my second year of university with a great mark whilst also holding down two jobs and writing my blog and taking on a third job back in Autumn. Like I said above, it's been really tough and I'm really proud of myself for getting through it all, although I am going to have to seriously think about how I spend my time in 2016. I love studying law at university and I'll be really sad (albeit relieved!) when I graduate this year but I am looking forward to not having assignments and deadlines to worry about! 

And that's just a selection of some of the things I'm most proud of this year and I hope there are many more great things to come this year!

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2 0 1 6:  T H E    G O A L S 

I'm not one for making resolutions. The word "resolution" has such a negative stigma attached to it for me and the thought of them just makes me want to groan and sigh. Resolutions, to me anyway, are just fads that only last a month or two at most and it's much healthier and more doable to set yourself goals to achieve by the end of the year. Here are a selection of things I'd like to achieve by the end of 2016.

1. I want to graduate from university with a decent law degree. I'm currently a third of the way through my third year studying law and I'm not going to lie, it's very tough. I'm writing my dissertation and various other assignments whilst trying to keep up with life in general and it is definitely the hardest of the years. I'm due to graduate in July and if I manage this it will be a huge lifetime achievement!

2. I want to travel, travel and travel more. Last year was an insane year for travelling experiences so I'd love to be able to see more of the world and blog about it in the process! I'm going to Amsterdam in two weeks with my friend Jess so that will definitely be on the blog and I hope that my blog will take me even more places and give me even more experiences. Over the past two years, I've made myself a little travel memories book in which I've written down all of my travelling experiences, along with photos and memorabilia to remind of all of the amazing things I've seen and done. I'll definitely be sharing it with you later in the year when I've filled it up a little bit more! 

3. Make my blog kick ass. I'd love to see my blog grow even more and 2016 is going to be the year that I put even more effort into creating great content and hopefully an even better blog. I want my photography to improve and to incorporate some more lifestyle posts into my content, as well as being a little bit more organised with my blog overall.

4. Get back into fitness. Okay, okay, I know this goal is such a typical "resolution" but it's a goal I really need to set. Since going back to university in October, I have had literally no time to go to the gym, any of the classes I usually go to or to to my running club, of which I've been a member for the last year. I want to get right back into it and get my fitness level back up to what it was earlier in the year and I'm really determined to make some time for it.

5. Be nice to myself. Sometimes I neglect myself. Not my appearance or anything like that but my overall wellbeing. I take on too much and get myself very stressed out and we all know that in the long run, it only has a negative effect. I need to make some time for myself to do the things that I love and to relax and take some of the pressure off myself. It's easier said than done but it is something that I really need to do.

6. Get rid of the negativity. There comes a time in life where you realise that certain people just aren't meant to be there. They can bring you down, they might not appreciate you or they might just have a negative impact on you, whether they intend to or not. As we mature, we realise that no matter how much we want these people in our lives, sometimes it's just not healthy and we need to cut ties. In 2016, I want to focus on myself and I only want to spend my energy on people who appreciate me and are willing to spend just as much energy on me, as I do on them. 

7. A change of attitude. I have a really good attitude as it is, in most aspects. I never give up and I really hate failure so it makes me determined to put my all into anything I do. My downfall is that I am so hard on myself. I constantly compare myself to other people, whether it's in terms of blogging, appearance, university, jobs or whatever and I really need to stop. I love when people succeed and I'm definitely someone who cheers people on but I'm also a worrier and I can't help but think that I'm not good enough. It's difficult but it's something I'm working on and 2016 is the year that my pessimism changes.

Have you made "resolutions" or do you prefer goals? 

Amy x