Happy New Year!

I couldn’t start the year of without talking about my goals for 2024. Over the years, I’ve always looked forward to this post, to signify a fresh start. I’m not going to go down the new year, new me route, don’t worry. In my opinion, that is not realistic and is just setting yourself up for failure. Having said that, of course 2024 will bring a new version of me, with the arrival of my daughter this year.

With that slump between Christmas and New Year now over, it’s time to look towards the future. I hope you’ll join me as I talk about some of my goals for 2024. My aim is to hopefully inspire you to set some goals too.

Phrase of the year

This is similar to word of the year and to be honest, is something I don’t normally do. However, this year I have chosen to set a phrase as part of my goal and that is “to be my best version of me”.

I want to be my authentic self in all aspects of my life but I want to do that to the best ability. I’m not saying things like I want to loose weight or tone up, instead I’m saying I want to be healthy and live longer. As some of you may know, this pregnancy has been anything but smooth. I’ve learnt so much about my body, how it works, it’s limitations and above all else, what the food and drink I consume, does to it. It’s safe to say it has opened my eyes to the bigger picture.

My chosen phrase also links in to my photography, blog and YouTube work. I’m no longer allowing myself to feel that pressure of having to post something for the algorithm. My online spaces are for my enjoyment now, and if anybody else enjoys what I put out and chooses to follow me, that is a bonus. (A very welcome one I might add!)

My new role

I couldn’t not start of my main goals without this one. Having been a fur mum to Trixie for the last ten years, I’ve certainly faced some challenges in that time. But nothing is going to compare to raising this small human that depends on me.

My main goal this year is to focus on my daughter, ensuring she has everything she needs to thrive. At the same time, I know I need to learn how to balance so that Trixie doesn’t feel put out, because after all, she has been my sole focus for such a long time.

I’ve mentioned this in previous posts, but I will be sharing my journey into motherhood over on my YouTube channel, so if this is something you would like to see, make sure you’re subscribed.

My health

Ok so this is a big one for me. My body has taken a battering and I know when I give birth, it’s going to go through even more. That is why this year I really want and need to focus on my health. Not just for my sake, but my families too.

Allowing myself to heal

Splitting it down into sections, this of course is top priority. My body is about to go through the most work it has ever had to do and I need to remember that. Allowing myself to heal is the first of the building blocks that will allow me to concentrate on my health. Without doing so, I could make things a whole lot worse. So what if celebrities in magazines bounce back or are back to the gym within a month. Good for them. But that is not going to be me.

2023 taught me to listen to my body more and that is something I’m taking with me into 2024. Besides, I’m going to be too busy cuddling and getting to know my newborn daughter, to worry about anything else.

Drink more water

This has been a goal of mine for years and one that I’ve never really fully achieved before. However, I’ve really got to grips with this during the second and third trimesters of this pregnancy and definitely want this to continue. Having gestational diabetes has really opened my eyes to just how important getting the right water intake is.

Eat a balanced diet

Eating a well-balanced diet is only going to be beneficial to both my general health and that of my healing process. I’ll be there first to hold my hands up and admit that my relationship with food has never been healthy. I want to learn more about the foods I’m eating and what is actually in them. I also want to get a better portion side of the right/wrong things so that it aids my health.

Move more

Obviously to start with, this isn’t going to happen. But as baby girl gets a bit stronger, I’m hoping to increase my exercise. I’m not going back to the gym anytime soon, however I do want to try and get out for more walks where I can. In addition to this, there are plenty of free workout videos over on YouTube that I’m hoping I can try every so often.

Do not neglect my mental health

All of the above is going to help with my mental health, especially getting out and about in the fresh air. One thing I’m really going to have to work on to aid my mental health is to ask for help when I need or want it. They say it takes a village to raise a child and I need to allow myself to make use of that support system around me.

Work

Obviously, I’ll be on maternity leave for a little while and in that time, I’d like to concentrate on my hobbies more, potentially turning them into my work if I can. This includes my blog, photography and YouTube channels. My blog is currently open for guest posts, so if you would like to write for The Kelly Diane Report, please email kellydiane94@hotmail.co.uk

For the foreseeable future, I have decided to step down my twice a week blog post release, instead concentrating on once a week, on a Tuesday. I feel like this will be the most achievable for me and will hopefully mean there aren’t weeks where I miss a post. Sometimes there may be bonus posts, whether that’s a blog post or even some sponsored work. But as a whole it will be once a week.

In terms of my YouTube channel Kelly Diane, I’m still going to try to stick to twice a week but I will review this once baby girl is here.

As for my photography and other YouTube channel, that will stay largely the same. Posting my photos daily and once a week for a video, which I tend to work way in advance anyway.

Happiness

The last goal I wanted to mention is happiness. 2023 was super stressful for so many reasons and it looks like it’s going to go into 2024 too. However, I’m going to try to limit how much of that stress I allow myself to feel and instead concentrate on the people and things that make me happy.

Whether that is reading, watching my daughter grow, days out as a family or even just a film night at home with Ash. Whatever I chose to do, I’m going to chose happiness above all else this year and I hope you do too.

Final thoughts

Thank you for joining me on this post and if you’ve got to the end, well done. I know I can ramble quite a bit. I really hope 2024 is a good year for you and that you achieve any goals and aspirations you set yourself. I’ll be back next week with another post, but in the meantime, you can see what I’m up to over on Instagram & YouTube.

Take care x