New Year’s Resolutions for My Dog
New year, new me right? If Navy were to make her own resolutions for the new year, it would look something like this: play with friends every day, play in the dog park for like five hours…daily, more treats, etc…
It may sound a little silly to make New Year’s resolutions or goals for Navy, but as I sat down and created my vision board for 2019 I noticed over half of my board had something to do with her. However, seeing that she is such a large part of our lives, it does make sense that she is included in our goals for 2019. So without further ado, here are our goals for the new year…
Exercising as a family.
A lot of people say they want to lose weight or eat healthier in the new year, and we are no exception! However, Zach and I won’t be dragging Navy to the gym with us. Instead, we want to focus more on getting outdoors, hiking, exploring a new part of the city, and going on longer nightly walks together. We also really want Navy to get back into agility training. Not only is this a great exercise for her, it is an awesome exercise for Zach and I.
Investing in Navy’s training.
It has always been a goal of mine to do volunteer therapy work with Navy. We’ve learned that in order to participate in a number of therapy programs Navy would need to pass her Canine Good Citizen Test. This spring we plan on enrolling Navy in a couple obedience training programs that will help prep her for her CGC title and eventually a AKC trick dog title. With that, we will also be practicing a lot of the requirements for both titles on our own time.
No Mo’ #FOMO.
Dog Instagram is an amazing thing, but it also gives me a bad case of FOMO (fear of missing out). We are incredibly lucky to have some amazing business opportunities on Instagram. However, in 2018 I found myself saying yes to way more than we can handle…simply because I saw everyone else doing it and didn’t want to miss out. Our goal for 2019 is to really focus on the amazing opportunities we currently have and not bother ourselves with what everyone else is doing.
Improving my photography.
One of the most frustrating things to me is how an iPhone photo resonates with our audience more than the photos I take with my camera that I am so proud of. However I don’t love posting the photos shot on my phone, they aren’t what makes me happy. In 2019 I want to challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone when photographing Navy. I don’t want to just capture the “safe” shots of her. I also want to move from always editing on my smartphone to editing using Lightroom and Photoshop.
Taking the time to unplug.
A goal of ours this new year is to unplug and enjoy our special moments with Navy. I often find myself glued to my phone the second I wake up and the second I step out of work. I don’t ever want to sound like I am complaining, but keeping up with Navy’s Instagram is a lot of work and there I times where I do feel so incredibly overwhelmed and frustrated. But when it comes down to it, Zach and I love creating content and it means so much to us that simply sharing a photo of Navy to Instagram brings smile to so many.
Travel once a month.
Both Zach and I travel frequently for work. We get to visit some amazing places, but unfortunately Navy can’t come with us. Our plan for the new year is to get out of town, even if it just for a day, and travel someplace new every month with Navy
Growing our online community.
We love the online community of friends we have! We really hope to grow that community in the new year. Now when I refer to growing an online community it doesn’t necessarily mean increasing our followers. I preach that follower count doesn’t matter however I would like to see our reach get a bit larger throughout the year. I do have a number in mind but I will keep that to myself and focus on the quality of relationships we build, not the quantity
Focusing on our blog.
We started our blog last January and made a ton of mistakes. But with each mistake we made we also learned a lot! 2019 is the year for us to really take everything we’ve learned blogging and put it into practice. We have so much in the works and we cannot wait to share it with you. (As we write this post we are in the process of transitioning to a new platform and we are SO excited to make the change!)
I have a really good feeling that this year is going to be amazing for our little family. I hope you started this year off with a bang! What are some of your resolutions or goals for the new year?
what do you think?