2018 goals and being frank

Hello my lovelies, hope you all had an amazing break and are feeling refreshed for the new year?
I don't usually have new year resolutions, nor do I usually say "this is going to be my year" but seeing as I'm turning 30 this year I'm excited once again (every year after the age of 21 is not really spectacular tbh, sorry if you're coming up to this age!). It also turns out to be the year of my favourite colour (purple), as Pantone's colour of the year is "ultraviolet" so I feel like this is an extra reason to incorporate more purple into my life - who knows I might ditch my signature blush pink hijabs for lilacs lol.
Sometimes I still feel like the 16 year old me, but when I look through what I've achieved in life - my education/degree, experience in various job roles, life's ups and downs (especially overcoming the downs!) and most importantly now being a mum, it all adds up and makes me feel altogether a bit more mellow but hopefully wiser.
I've decided to write this more personal post as I really would like this year to count and since getting my Happiness Planner as a PR gift from L'Oreal last year (pictured above), it's helped me write down my goals in life and I feel like it really does make me feel more motivated to achieve them. So if you or someone you know are struggling to motivate yourself, I would totally recommend writing down your goals somewhere.

I've written a small list of blogging-related things I reckon are fairly achievable for this year and here they are:

1. continuing to blog regularly

Last year my son was less demanding in a lot of ways and I got a little free time to myself, so I decided to use those days (and nights!) to blog and am pretty happy I have because I feel a sense of achievement having juggled mum life with blogging life and of course loads of you have messaged to say how helpful my posts have been which is the icing on the cake. I hope to still continue blogging regularly enough, particularly on my Foundation Files posts or Lip Swatches posts as they're my main focus these days.

2. more videos!

This is the one part of blogging I struggle with as they are tiringgg to film, edit and upload (and I personally prefer blogs to videos!) but judging by my Instagram story polls you guys really do love videos so I will try my best to get more videos up this year both on Instagram but especially on YouTube. I would love to do more chatty videos and build my confidence on YouTube (instagram is more easier to be chatty with as it's more real-time/responsive), but I've started a "Chatty Videos" playlist on my channel which I've already uploaded a get ready with me/us with Aysha Begum HERE, do check it out if you'd like to know a bit more about blogging in general as well as beauty products, hopefully it's helpful!

3. sponsored content

If you remember my personal post last year, I touched on the subject of participating in campaigns and taking on sponsored content, but I'd like to just be up front with you guys in this post and remind you that I hope and plan to always stay true to myself with my reviews and any sponsored content will have been carefully chosen i.e. I will not promote products I don't believe in or would not recommend as I feel like this is not authentic and personally I value my followers trusting my opinion.
I do think sponsored posts are something followers can be put off by but I just wanted to also be frank here and say that in the 7 years of blogging, I've pretty much worked on my blog for free, but as a single mum, products don't pay my bills and I would like to consider taking on more sponsored posts in the future, but only of course if they fit with my blog content and are in line with my intentions, integrity and faith values/thought processes - please do read last year's post here for more on this.
I'd hope that my followers understand this now and support me whether a post is sponsored or not, knowing that I do not accept things that would affect these 3 values.

4. meet ups/events

I've been wanting this for a while as so many of you lovelyyy girls message me saying you'd love to meet up some day, so I'm hoping to work with brands to either do meet and greet type events or a masterclass even.
The last masterclasses I held were all organised by myself when I was pregnant but things have changed so much now in the blogging world, I'd love to see you lovely girls again in a more convenient setting.
As a "micro" blogger, these things are harder to organise as there are many "bigger" bloggers out there in the same field but I know a lot of you girls are undoubtedly loyal from my early blogging days, retail or freelance work as well as my new followers who are equally amazing too, so I need to be able to show brands that there is actually a demand for little old me to hold these events and any feedback would be welcome on what kind of events you'd like me to do if you could comment below!

5. giving back

Last year I managed to hold a fair few giveaways, some of which were exclusive and I felt so lucky that brands allowed me to hold these. I do really appreciate all the support I get through comments, likes, using my links etc, so I really do try to ask if there are any giveaways I can hold for my followers as it's so nice to be able to give back products that I get to use/love. Hopefully I can continue to do this in 2018. I also love finding the best price or getting discount codes (probably the Asian in me) so where I can get exclusive codes with brands, I'll try and ask ;)

I do have a few personal happiness goals too like parenting goals, doing things I love (eating brunch, socialising etc) but I thought I'd keep this post blogging related so it's somewhat short and sweet 😅

I look forward to seeing what this year holds, I do genuinely believe that a positive mindset helps you achieve what you want regardless of whether life hands you lemons or not so here's hoping we all have a positive, happy and healthy 2018 and onwards!
What are your goals for this year? Do let me know what you'd like to see from me and let's see if I can make it happen iA!