5 Things I Stopped Doing in 2018
5 Things I Stopped Doing in 2018 | Outfit Details
Coat: London Fog // Snow Pants: Old, Similar // Hat: J Crew // Scarf: Steve Madden // Boots: Sorel // Jackie's Snow Suit: Lidl // Jackie's Snow Boots: Lidl
5 Things I Stopped Doing in 2018 | The First Snow of 2019!
Living in Northern Virginia, we don't get a ton of snow. Some years, like last year, we got one snow storm and it was less than an inch. Or like three years ago, we got 3 feet of snow in January (all in one storm!). But I remember not getting a ton of snow growing up. Apparently this year is going to be crazy for us snow wise, so we are excited. We had a big storm over the weekend and another one is coming this next weekend too!
Of course, we had to take Jackie sledding! My parent's have an awesome hill in their yard so we braved the weather and drove over there. I wasn't sure how Jackie would like sledding but as you can see from the pictures, she had a blast! Even without gloves or a hat (she refused to wear either) we were up and down the hill for about 30 minutes before she got too cold. It was so fun to sled with my brother, his wife and The Husband there too!
5 Things I Stopped Doing in 2018 | Changing My Mindset
I talked earlier this month about why I don't so New Years Resolutions. It is so much easier to stop doing things than to start doing them. There were some things I stopped doing in 2018 that I didn't really remember until I sat down to look back at the year. I did them each intentionally but they were things I did every day so they didn't seem like a big deal at the time. Looking back, I have noticed that my mindset has changed in regards to some of these things and I am much happier overall! I wanted to share them with you so maybe you can stop doing some of the same things in 2019.
5 Things I Stopped Doing in 2018 | Caring About Other People's Opinions
To be honest, this is not really something I did much of anyway. I don't really care what other people think and I haven't for a long time. But when you are a parent, people always seem to think they have the right to comment on your parenting or your lifestyle in general. In 2018, I took my not caring about other people's opinions of me to the next level. Some of the things I had let come through in the past, I blocked out. Because honestly, what other people think of me doesn't matter.
Rachel Hollis has said a number of times, "Other people's opinions of you are none of your business". I LOVE THIS! We form opinions of other people based on our interactions with them. We usually don't know the entire story when we do this. So when someone forms an opinion about me, they don't usually know the entire story. So why should I care about what they think of me? They don't know that I have literally tried feeding Jackie every other food today and we are resorting to peanut butter M&Ms because those are the only non milk calories she is getting today. Other people don't know that I didn't get more than 4 hours of sleep last night because between my toddler going through a sleep regression and my anxiety, I'm not sleeping. So if I am a little short tempered, I am a little more forgiving with myself than someone else would be.
5 Things I Stopped Doing in 2018 | Spending So Much Time On Social Media
This happened toward the end of 2018, but I have been putting my phone down more and I have been spending less time on social media. I will post something each day but instead of mindlessly scrolling and linking things, I put down my phone and get back to my day. I still interact with all of you and other communities I am a part of. But I do that intentionally now. And I don't spend hours doing that. Because real life is happening too and I don't want to miss that!
5 Things I Stopped Doing in 2018 | Caring About The Numbers
When I started this blog almost 6 years ago, I was trying to share my travel tips. This space has morphed a lot over the last few years and in that process my audience has changed. Social media has changed has well and where I used to get over 200 likes on an Instagram post, I am now barely getting 50.
But somewhere along the way, I noticed that I was getting more traffic to my site and I was getting more commissions from affiliate links (thank you to everyone who shops using my links!!). I decided to stop caring about the social media numbers and to start focusing on my audience (all of you). You all keep coming back and I want to serve you the best I can. So instead of focusing on how many likes or comments one post gets, I am focusing on sharing things you all are interested in!
5 Things I Stopped Doing in 2018 | Trying to Keep Up With Other People
I am not immune to comparing myself to others. I have done it in the past and it sucks. Why hasn't my blog taken off? Why can't I afford a LV purse? Why haven't we bought a house? But in 2018, I decided to stop doing that. This kind of goes back to not caring about other people's opinions of me. My life is, well, my life. No one else is on the track my family and I are on.
So why compare myself to where someone else is in their life? We haven't bought a house yet because we have moved A LOT and it doesn't seem like the best idea to put roots down somewhere we might not be staying. And besides, I LOVE living in an apartment. The snow storm this weekend was another reminder of that when I didn't have a sidewalk or driveway to shovel. I haven't bought a LV purse because every time I start looking at one, I decide I'd rather spend my money elsewhere. We are each on our own path and where other people are on their path doesn't matter in regards to where we are on our path.
5 Things I Stopped Doing in 2018 | Filling Up My Schedule
I stopped packing my schedule full last year. This started after my surgery and I couldn't really do much. I tried to get back to work before I was ready. I tried to walk without assistance before I was ready. I have always tried to be constantly busy because I thought I did better when I was busy and I had a schedule. But I learned, I need more down time and I need to be more flexible.
I have a toddler that literally marches to the beat of her own drum. When I get used to whatever schedule she has decided, she switches things up on me. Jackie has a consistent bed time and that's about it. She wakes up in the mornings anytime between 7 and 10 am. I had to stop packing those mornings hours with planned activities because I never know if I am going to get any of them done. So I have a to do list and I get done what I can.