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Katherine Moon
Katherine Isabella Moon
Meow, hello there, my name is Katherine, but you can call me Kat; because I basically am a cat. Anyways, I am a 26-year-old, lifestyle blogger, with an INFP-T personality type, from the United States. I love fashion, the color pink, cats, dogs, and spending all my time on my computer. I'm often seen wearing cat ears headbands.
The Kat Life
The Kat Life

how I'm choosing to live my best life

Thursday, November 21, 2019

How I'm Prepping For The New Year

Planning for 2020
Photo courtesy of STIL on Unsplash

New Year's Day is one of my favorite holidays. It's possible that I actually look forward to a new year more than I look forward to Christmas, but it's a very tight race between the two. The Winter holiday season is exciting to me, in general, even though I strongly dislike Winter. The Christmas season has always been a wonderful and magical time of year for me. Honestly, I still get that child-like feeling when December arrives that I did when I was a little girl. Even though I'm technically an adult now. Although, I'd say that I have more appreciation for the season now that goes beyond the food, the presents, and all the fun events. There is a lot of work that goes into decorating, shopping for gifts, wrapping, and everything else leading up to Christmas morning. All of which can be a lot of fun, but also a little stressful at times. But honestly, through all the magic and chaos of the December holiday season, I can't help but think about the new year coming up.

I have always been the type of person that absolutely loves a fresh start and an opportunity to begin again. I love all of those chances to refocus on my goals and set new ones for myself. Of course, you can choose to do this at any moment, even right this very second. Seriously, there is no time like the present! But I have always loved it when the spirit of beginning again was there, as it certainly makes it significantly easier to refocus. I absolutely love Sundays, the start of a new month, and (most of all) the start of a brand new year because of that factor. Who doesn't enjoy the feeling of a clean slate?!

That being said though, my New Year's resolutions have always been rather ambitious, as I'm sure most people's are. So when January 1st hits, all the goals that I've set for myself can be a little overwhelming, especially if I go into them unprepared. Although I have stuck to some of them in the past, many were lost within the first week of January because I wasn't ready for them. So this year, I've decided to figure out my New Year's resolutions early, and start working on them now. Like I said, there's no time like the present.




So, you may be wondering. Why am I starting now, during the most chaotic time of the year? Let me be very real with you, one of my New Year's resolutions for 2020 is to stop waiting for "the right time" to do something or "the right time" to start over. There is no reason that I should feel like I have to wait until tomorrow, Sunday, the first of the month, or New Year's Day to start something new or to refocus on a goal. Life is short, and there's no time like the present

I'm also doing this because I want to go into my goals with a solid plan, and I want to start building a foundation for my goals that I can work off of when New Year's Day arrives. Starting now also allows me to "beta test" my plans a little bit, so I can see what does and doesn't work for me. I know that it'll be a challenge to refocus on my goals and start my New Year's resolutions in December of all months, but that's actually the point. I want to test myself to refocus on my goals during the chaotic holiday season. Because if I can do this through the December chaos, I can only imagine how smoothly January will go. Plus, I'll be ready for those less than calm moments that 2020 will inevitably bring.




Refining my daily routine


Photo courtesy of Karita88 on Pixabay

Right now, I'm at a point where I feel that my entire daily routine could use a little bit of refining. Actually, my daily routine could use a lot of refining, let's be honest. Although I would say that I have a pretty good basis for my morning and bedtimes routines, everything else throughout the day is rather unstructured. This often causes me to have an imbalance between work and play, a habit that can really damage my mood and my overall productivity. There have also been days that I've wasted not knowing what to do with the day, usually after I ignore the signs that I need to take a break, and I end up burning myself out. That being said, I'd like to focus on creating a daily routine for the hours between my morning routine and my bedtime routine. I'm actually thinking of breaking it down into multiple time blocks for work, play, and relaxation so that I can maintain a better balance between them.

While I'm at it, I also want to refine my morning and bedtime routines as well, and really take a look at what works and what doesn't work for me. There are also a few things that I'm thinking of adding to each of them. I'd really like to start consistently meditating both in the morning and at night, or at least trying to anyway. Meditation is a practice, and I can't expect myself to grasp it right away, but I do want to build a consistent meditation practice and see if it has any impact on my life. And with December being such a chaotic and sometimes stressful month, I could really use some sort of meditation this time of year, not gonna lie.



Creating a better blogging and social media plan


Photo courtesy of Melinda Gimpel on Unsplash

I've been wanting to start a blog for years, and I finally started my blog in March of this year. But now that I have my blog started and I know that I enjoy blogging, it's time to get a little more serious. As of right now, I'm mainly just blogging at my leisure. I don't have any sort of posting schedule. I'll be honest too, I'm not sure if I want to have a super strict posting schedule to where I would have to post on a specific day of the week. But I would like to be able to get one post up per week, or at least post a lot more frequently than I have been. It's time for me to step up my game. And not just with this blog itself, but also with my social media in general. I know that my Instagram could use a lot of love as of right now.

I'm still working out the specifics of how exactly I'm going to start stepping up my blogging and social media game, as I'm still relatively new to this. But I'm ready to go at it full force! Full force, while still allowing myself some time to relax so that I don't burn myself out, that is.



Decluttering my room


Photo courtesy of Burst on Pexels

I'm going to be really honest, I have way too much stuff. It's actually kind of ridiculous how much stuff I have. I'm pretty sure I still have things that I've had since I was a child that I no longer use, or even think about for the matter. And because I want to redecorate my room in 2020, it's time to start getting rid of some stuff that I don't want to bring back into my room after redecorating. This is going to be a multistage process, and I know it's going to spill over into 2020, but I want to get a head start on the decluttering process now. I want the actual redecorating process to go as smoothly as possible, without the stress of going through a ton of items.

I'd also like to see how getting rid of some of the clutter affects my overall mood, and if having less clutter will help lower my stress levels. Even if only by a little bit. I wouldn't say I'm aiming to be a minimalist just yet, but never say never!



Getting back into the swing of working out


Photo courtesy of Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Yes, I realize that this is the most cliche New Year's resolution ever. Pretty much everyone who makes New Year's resolutions has some sort of fitness-related resolution on their list. This also tends to be one of the first ones to go for most people, as it takes a lot of dedication to stick to a fitness plan. The feeling when you wake up the morning after you actually start your workout plan, and it hurts to sit, doesn't really help either. I can speak from experience that it is possible to stick to your fitness resolutions, as this was actually how I got into fitness. But around this time of year, as the weather starts getting colder (and the baked goods start coming out), I do find myself becoming a little lax on my workout routine (and my eating habits). It's usually not too difficult for me to pick it right back up in January, but why wait until January when I can get back into the routine of working out regularly now? Then I can shake off the rust before it's time to smash my 2020 fitness goals!

I'm going to keep my December workouts relatively quick and easy just so I can get back into the habit of hitting the mat daily. For my workout plan itself, I'm a little torn between doing one of Yoga With Adriene's 30-day challenges and revisiting the Blogilates beginner calendar. I may end up doing a little of both, but that'll depend on how busy I am on each given day in December.



Getting creative


Photo courtesy of Kenny Lou on Unsplash

There are a lot of things that I want to do in 2020 that are related to creativity. A lot of it is related to blogging in one way or another, but I also want to use my creativity a little more for myself as well. I'm hoping that 2020 will be the year that I finally start bullet journaling! I'm already planning for the spreads I want to include in my 2020 bullet journal. I've been reading up a ton on bullet journaling, and I have a ton of ideas for spreads. I've also been watching a ton of videos on bullet journaling and bullet journal doodling, and honestly, it's exactly what I need in my life. But before I break out the notebook I picked out for 2020, I'm playing around with different doodles and hand lettering styles in my sketchbook. I am a little rusty with doodling and lettering by hand, as I've been so spoiled by technology. So I need to get a little practice in before I start my 2020 bullet journal.

I'd also like to start drawing more in general and start getting into typography, both digital and on paper. I also want to get more into photography so I can take more pictures for my blog, and not have to rely as much on stock photos. Stock photos are amazing, but I do want to give my posts a little extra personal touch when I can!



Practicing more positive self-talk


Photo courtesy of Sincerely Media on Unsplash

I actually realized how much I need to start watching how I speak to myself as I was watching Shane Dawson's series, The Beautiful World Of Jeffree Star. Because honestly, I can be my own biggest bully and my own worst critic. I was actually so used to criticizing myself and making self-deprecating jokes that I didn't even realize how bad of a habit it really was for me. It wasn't until Shane said he needed to stop with the negative self-talk in the fifth episode of the series that I realized that this may actually be my biggest mood-killing habit. Especially because this one happens within my own head, and I usually do little to nothing to correct it. And honestly, more often than not, it's the latter.

I honestly can't thank Shane Dawson enough for saying that and bringing this to my attention. Because this is something that I really need to work on, and I know it's not going to improve overnight. But this is something that I really want to overcome in 2020 and beyond. 



Setting boundaries


Photo courtesy of Antonina Bukowska on Unsplash

For the longest time, I have struggled with being a people pleaser. I feel that this may partially be a result of being bullied in school, and I still have moments where I just want people to like me or accept me. Regardless though, this people-pleasing mindset of mine has led me to have very poor boundaries. Up to this point, I've actually never had any clear boundaries; if I even had any at all. I'd often find myself putting the wants and needs of others above my own wants and needs because I felt like I had to so that I could keep them in my life, or just because I didn't want to upset them. I'd take part in conversations that made me uncomfortable because it's what someone else wanted to talk about, even if the topic made me extremely uncomfortable. And worst of all? I would allow toxic people to stay in my life because I didn't want to hurt them and because I have a hard time letting go. Wow, this just got very real. But for the sake of my mental health, it's time to start setting boundaries for myself and to distance myself from toxic people.

Another thing I've always had an issue with was saying no, not only to others but to myself. I'm a rather ambitious person, and there is so much that I would like to do. But there are only so many hours in a day, and there's only so much one person can do. A big thing here will be coming up with a system to prioritize different tasks and projects, and whether I have to do them, want to do them, or neither. Or if I only kind of want to do it, but I don't really have room for it on my to-do list, or if it'll only cause me unneeded stress.



As you can tell, there is a lot I want to accomplish in 2020, and I'm hoping to grow a lot in the year ahead. So before the new year even starts, I'd like to start planting the seeds for my own personal growth and for any other goals that I have. 

So, now that you have a little preview into some of my 2020 New Year's resolutions, and how I'm working towards them, I'd love to hear some of your goals for the new year. Do you like setting your New Year's resolutions early so you can really plan for them, or do you prefer to wait until late December? Or do you prefer not to have any New Year's resolutions at all? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Thank you for reading, and I hope the rest of your day is wonderful!
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2 comments

  1. Omg who are you and how did you clone me?? You basically described me to a T and included everything in your resolutions that I would! Hate winter, love Christmas, love starting fresh on Sunday or the 1st of each month but really need to learn how to start today (srsly though, starting something new on a Friday night is akin to treason). I want to up my game on routines, working out, boundaries, being creative.. the blog/social media section is a little different for me but similar enough! Anyway, just wanted to say I found this on Pinterest under a “prepare for 2020” search and loved it! I’ll be following you and your blog! Let’s smash our goals! I’m on Pinterest as Lavhrain.

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    1. This comment really made my day! It really does sound like we are a lot alike! OMG, I have the hardest time with starting something new on a Friday. I mean do people even do that?! Haha, I do want to stop waiting for Sunday or Monday in 2020 though. I wish you the best with your goals/resolutions for 2020, may this be the year we both stay consistent with them throughout the year! I followed you back on Pinterest! :)

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