Happy 2016, y’all! I hope everyone had a great night last night and are ready to take on the new year. Last week I discussed my blogging goals for 2016 so today I am going to focus on my general goals for the year. When I write things out, I feel like I instantly begin to hold myself more accountable and am more motivated to achieve my goals. This is #NewYearNewGirl link-up is with Ashley from Lilly & Lemons.  Now onto my #NewYearNewGirl 2016 goals.

#NewYearNewGirl 2016 Goals

Personal

Go to the gym more often & make it a habit + work on being healthier overall // I am not going to set a certain amount of times per week goal but I want to eventually be able to actively go to the gym and not have to force myself to go…especially since I have some pretty important events coming up in 2016 that I want to look my best for. I also just want to work on my health in general by eating less junk food and drinking less soda.

Make more time for myself // I am constantly on the go whether it’s work, grad school or blogging and rarely give myself time to relax so I want to be able to do this more often. Whether it’s just giving myself one “lazy” day per week or allowing myself to relax for an hour each night by reading or taking a bath, I would love to be able to implement this more often.

Take more pictures with Michael // For a couple who’s been together for 2.5+ years and are engaged, we sure don’t have many pictures together so I want to take as many pictures as possible leading up to the wedding.

Read 15 books // This is a pretty ambitious goal for me but since reading relaxes me I plan to be reading a lot more in 2016 so let’s hope that I can meet and exceed this goal. (The Good Girl)

Be more present // Between the hustle and bustle of work, school and blogging I am constantly glued to my computer as soon as I get home from work. This is completely unfair to my fiance because we don’t really get to spend much time together after work because of this. I want us to have at least 30 minutes to an hour of unplugged time each night so we can catch up and talk about our day without being distracted with our electronic devices.

Enjoy the wedding planning process & just being a fiance // I am getting married in November 2016 so I just wanted to make it a goal to just enjoy my time as a fiance and don’t wish it away. I also want to just enjoy all the wedding planning events that lead up to our wedding instead of stressing about it.

Finance

Save money // I have been putting at least $200 each paycheck into an emergency fund but I would love to noticeably increase my savings account in 2016. I thankfully don’t have any credit card debt and plan to keep it that way.

Start retirement fund // I need to start my retirement fund this year. I should have set this up as soon as I started my job but I have been procrastinating.

Create savings account for paying off student loans & start paying them off //The only debt I currently have is student loans and those won’t be due until 6 months after I graduate so I also want to make a student loan savings fund so I can actively start paying those off before they’re even due.

Education

Make all A’s in my grad school courses // I hope to make all A’s in my courses in 2016. So far I have been taking one class per term but I may increase it to two per term if I start to feel like I can handle it. I may end up just keeping with one class to give myself less stress.

Become Google Analytics certified // I had been working towards this for a while but got too busy when I started my job and everything so I want to be sure to be certified by the end of 2016. It will be helpful for me in both my career and as a blogger.

Take more beneficial courses // Whether this is ecourses on social media or photography classes or anything of the sort, I really want to further my education and expand my knowledge in a variety of topics that will be beneficial for me for both work and blogging.

That’s all for my 2016 goals! What are your 2016 goals? Let me know down in the comments.