How to go about making resolutions coming out of a year where we are incredibly restricted? This time each year I’m bursting with resolutions and cannot wait to get them onto paper (or blog) to make it official. I’ve always preached how making resolutions is something I feel very strongly about, and putting them out there for the world to see really does help hold me accountable. However, this year I feel different. I’m pregnant [restricted], we are in a pandemic [restricted], and without having any sort of idea when these restrictions will be lifted it’s hard to be ambitious, make plans, or be excited for the year ahead. I sound like a complete Debbie Downer, I know, but I’m also a realist and need to be honest with myself (and you guys) about how I’m feeling heading into the new year.
I want to be excited at the prospect of a “fresh start” as we usually feel at the start of any given year, but as I mentioned above, is it really going to be any different? I’ve given this a lot of thought and looked inward to set new resolutions that are more geared towards self-growth and improvement rather than goals that involve unrealistic outcomes (like traveling).
Despite feeling this way, I am hopeful this next year WILL be better than 2020 (honestly, anything has to be, right?). For me personally, things are already looking up, as I will be having a new baby, and growing my family is the ultimate joy, so I’m already feeling more positive about 2021. Here are some other resolutions I am making for 2021:
+ Mentor – Giving back to the community is really important to me and I’ve always been time-poor. Rather than just making monetary donations, I’d like to donate my time to young aspiring entrepreneurs who are interested in building a brand. Participating in the With Honors mentorship series this year really inspired me to do more of this in a one-on-one capacity and hope to be able to make this happen starting in the new year.
+ Find happiness daily – I often allow myself to get consumed and sucked into the abyss of my work. While it brings me tremendous happiness and fulfillment (specifically around big launches / events / achievements), I also want to be able to find happiness in everyday things. Currently I feel Capri is my one true happiness in life. No matter what shit I’m going through, everything else in the world means nothing when I’m with her. I have such a blessed life with such incredible people that I want to feel that same sense of happiness just knowing all of that is there, too. Sometimes I get confused about how I could possibly feel unhappy or lacking something when I have so much positivity in my life. This one is pretty complex and I’m still working through how I truly feel about all of this, but what I do know is that I want to feel lighter, happier, and more present in my everyday life. It might not make a lot of sense to anyone reading, but I just had to write this one down, as it’s an important one for me to follow through on.
+ Find my way with 2 kids – Everyone always says the transition from 1 kid to 2 is incredibly hard. I believe it. Even with all the help in the world you can’t help but feel overwhelmed / guilty / frazzled at times, especially when you work more than full-time hours. I’m hoping to make this transition as smooth as possible so I can fully soak in all those fleeting newborn moments while also maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
+ Do something with just Capri weekly – She recently started going to ballet classes and LOVES it. I would like to find something that her and I can do just us so she still feels special and gets that quality time with me. Any ideas are welcomed!
+ Resume date nights – Something that used to be a norm in this household pre-baby, pre-pregnancy, and pre-pandemic were regular / weekly date nights with Paul. We have been awful about this, mostly because I can’t exactly drink wine, we can’t go out to a restaurant, and it has become more of a chore than an enjoyment trying to find a sitter or somewhere to go. My hope is that once I have this new baby we can resume date nights at home (until we are allowed to safely go out again). Pre-baby I used to love cooking for us, opening a bottle of wine, playing music, and catching up on life. There’s no reason we can’t still do that.
+ Cookbook – There, I said it. I’ve been wanting / needing to release a cookbook for a few years now. It is a highly requested item from you guys, and quite frankly, I’ve been avoiding posting recipes on the blog in order to compile enough content for the book. It is something that I’ve always wanted to do and this year I will make strides to move this forward. Stay tuned on that.
+ Stay on track – This one is more business-related. Before we closed the office for the holidays, I mapped out 2021 product releases for both + Lux Unfiltered & Tan + Lines with the team so we were all on the same page about timelines. One of the biggest struggles in starting your own product line is staying on track when there are so many moving parts. I want this upcoming year to be less delays, less disappointments, and more celebrations sans 10000 meltdowns. I don’t really show this on my social media much, but with each product launch, we have encountered some type of delay / hiccup / issue that has stressed us the fuck out and sometimes it’s incredibly discouraging. You put your heart and soul into projects and then something has to come along and stand in your way. I know this is really vague, but trust me when I say it’s not all easy, happy, fun times running our brands. It’s a lot of anxiety, stress, fights, unexpected costs, legal shit, etc. I’m hoping by planning out the year better, and finally having a team that we feel confident in, we will be able to achieve this.
+ Convert my garage into a gym – I’m like 9 months too late on this one. At the start of the pandemic, I thought I would find my way with at-home workouts and I’ve failed miserably. Between my pilates studio closing and only seeing my trainer Joey once a week, I’m not proud of my fitness this year. Once I pop this baby out (5 weeks to go), I’d like to have a space ready for me to jump right back in with a new situation. My plan is to convert our garage into a functioning gym that won’t gross me out, which will require us to clean out some shit, add flooring, mirrors, etc. I’ll take you guys along on this one.
+ Make more soup – Kind of random but as I get older I’m so much more into soups. Also, Capri loves soup so I’d rather make fresh homemade ones instead of depending on takeout soup all the time. I’ve decided to invest in the Le Creuset Dutch Oven (even though it’s pricey, you guys say you have 0 regrets) as a way to motivate me to begin. Of course, if I come up with anything spectacular it will be in *said cookbook* above!
I think I’ll stop here. While I could go on and make some more resolutions, I just feel like let’s start slow. I’m about to have 2 kids so that already will be a hurdle and an adjustment (LOL); so before I go making myself all sorts of big plans, let’s get through these next few months and hopefully the rest will fall into place. I hope you guys take some time to reflect on this past year and focus on how to make this next one a more positive one. Would love to know what type of resolutions you’re making for 2021.
Happy New Year!
XOXO,
Sivan