For the past couple of years, I’ve basically made the same New Year resolutions…

Drink more water

More life balance

Workout more

Travel more

Blog more

Pay off more of my student loans

….basically, I was telling myself I needed to do more.

2018 was definitely a year of growth. I barely worked out, prioritizing my side business over myself most of the time. I didn’t have time to do anything more, yet I constantly felt like I wasn’t doing enough. Recently, I read this article about Millennial Burnout, and I highly suggest you give it a read. It’s lengthy, but justified some of the stress and feelings I had throughout last year (and still have now).

At the end of the year, I came across a Facebook post that said to come up with your word of the year starting with the letter of your first name. My immediate response in my head was action. I wanted to stop writing out a long list of to-do’s and actually do them. But now after reading that article, I realized why I felt like I was never doing enough. Because there is constantly a long list in my head of to-dos. And even if I cross one-off, there will be more added and I will never feel accomplished. There is never an ending point or state of completion. So I never feel like I’m doing enough. I always need more.

And I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. It’s not just because I have a side hustle and I feel the need to constantly share more with my audience. That definitely has a lot to do with my personal struggles, but I know if you’re reading this you also have your own never-ending to-do list and things you would like to do more of. Even if the task is so simple. In the article, they called that errand paralysis, and I can definitely relate to that. I have a constant, never-ending list of simple things I need to do.

2019 is the year I need to do less. Not that I don’t have huge goals in 2019, but I need to be more forgiving of myself and accept that I can’t always do more. I’m not saying this to discount your resolutions if you’re wanting to “do more” of something. In fact, I encourage you to get it girl! But if you are in a place of constant stress and anxiety, I hope you take a step back and realize just have much you’re already doing. And I hope that helps justify how and why you’re feeling this way! I saw on Instagram recently that someone creates a “done” list instead of a to-do list for this very reason. Maybe I will try that out.

* * *

I just wanted to share a few thoughts I had transitioning into the New Year. To see outfit details, head to this post. Thank you so much for reading!

xo Amanda John

shop