I’ve never really set myself any goals before – but this year feels different. I’ve had a few things floating in the back of my mind that I would *like* to accomplish in 2020, and I mulled over writing them down in a journal or planner, but then thought why not pop them in a blog post? That way you guys can see them too, and check up on me to see how I’m doing 😉
- Set up my EU company
Living in France, whilst running a business that was started in the UK, and working with clients from Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and so on is pretty complicated. For a while I’ve been a freelancer (sole trader) which has worked up to a point, but now Cocoon is finding its feet I’m keen to get a proper business structure established. Enter… XOLO. The beauty of XOLO is that it allows you to run an EU company from anywhere. The company supports you in creating a virtual business that’s based in Estonia (after you apply for an e-residency) and helps you with all those tedious admin tasks like invoicing, accounting and banking. I can’t wait to say goodbye to my sad Excel spreadsheet…
- Learn French
Working from home in another country isn’t the best way to pick up the language, so of course it’s taken me more time than I would have liked to feel confident striking up a conversation in a boulangerie! This year I really want to make this a priority, as I promised myself if I did anything while I lived in this country it would be to master the language. I’ve been working my way through the Duolingo podcast, and also Coffee Break French (great for when I’m running or walking Sydney) and also having casual lessons with a teacher once a week in a super cute Salon De Thé/Book Store.
- Develop my blog
My original vision for this blog was to focus on sharing marketing advice, but I feel like the internet has never been more populated with marketing-related content, so I’ve decided to leave that to the experts and keep this as more of a blog/journal for myself. The idea of blogging has always appealed to me, but I’m not overly keen on sharing my personal life and I didn’t have a passion that I wanted to share enough to create a standalone blog for it. But the idea of keeping a blog on this website totally makes sense and I couldn’t be more excited! I plan to do more posts about my business, brands I love, product reviews, sustainability tips and more. Watch this space…
- Reduce my impact
I made a lot of switches in 2019 to cut back on waste and live a little more lightly. We switched to a mainly plant based diet, we shopped for local, seasonal and organic ingredients, I’ve switched to zero-waste bathroom essentials like shampoo and soap bars, toothpaste, a bamboo toothbrush, invested in a GUPPYFRIEND, Eco Egg, made my own surface cleanser…the list goes on. There are still areas to improve on, and it recently occurred to me that zero-waste is *virtually impossible* for most people and we shouldn’t really call it that because it immediately seems unachievable! I believe in being conscious consumers, making smart decisions about what we buy, how we use it, and how we dispose of it. I can feel a blog post coming on…
Other smaller goals:
- Try and do more activities to connect with the outdoors (I’m thinking hiking, surfing)
- Find more second hand / thrift shops in Toulouse
- Say yes to opportunities, but also learn to say no
- Spend less time on my phone/social media/online
What are your goals for 2020?