Future Goals & Looking Back on what I have Accomplished!
It’s funny, I started writing this post over six months ago and it is crazy how much I had to change when editing it. How many of my goals I had accomplished, such as my goal of becoming a Jadelynn Brooke College Rep, and how many of my goal had just changed in general. When I originally drafted this blog post, I wrote that I might start a YouTube channel after I graduated college. I started my YouTube this passed July. I wrote that I hoped to have 5,000 Instagram followers at the end of my freshman year at NC State, I currently have almost 4,200 an 5,000 is my goal to reach by Christmas Break. It is crazy to really look back and realize how much I have accomplished over the last six months.
The spring semester of my senior year, my psychology teacher had us draw a clock and use it as a timeline for our life. He asked us to label what year/how old we want to be when we get married, have kids, and retire. He then proceeded to criticize us for only being concerned about the goals society has set for us and not considering what we really wanted. This upset me because he specifically told us to label those things and did not ask what other goals we have, and I actually put a lot of thought into the things I want to accomplish because I find that know what my goals are helps me accomplish them. Some of these may seem more like “Bucket List” tasks, but nonetheless, they are all goals.
“I hope to have a successful Instagram/Blog that will provide me with the opportunity to rep and work for many different brands and reach thousands of fashion lovers!”- That is what I wrote in February to be my goal to accomplish by 2020. This goal is something that I currently do, but at that time, I had not worked with any brands before. It is crazy to think that over the span of approximately six months I went from working with zero brands to having relationships with nearly fifteen, even if they were only one-post relationships.
To further my goals for the blog, I hope to not only share my love for fashion with other fashion lovers, but to inspire others. I hope that I can act as a role model for my younger readers and share advice that is beneficial to them. I hope that I can encourage others to follow their dreams and wear an outfit they love but would normally be too afraid to. These are the main reasons I blog and the overall goal of blogging and why I love it so much. I get the opportunity to share what I love, and others benefit from and love it too.
Here are a few more trivial goals for the blog and my social media: I want to have one of my photos featured on Lilly Pulitzer’s website and one of my rep photos reposted on Jadleynn Brooke’s Instagram. I want to finally earn my first pure money check. This is also crazy to me. Sixth months ago, I did not even know how to make money/earn product blogging. Now, I am connected to different sites I can earn money through and have relationships with other sites/brands I earn product from. I want to become connected with the Like to Know It site. I applied a while back before my account was at the level it is now and was not accepted so now I am waiting for my time hold to expire so I can apply again! I know these goals listed are going to be accomplished, but they are current goals of mine. In fact, since I am so much closer to reach my follower goal than expected, let’s set new goals to see how much my sites have grown a year from now. So by September 2018, I hope to have the following follower count:
Instagram: 15k
Twitter (brand new account, brightestotb): 500
YouTube (brand new account, Olivia Noles): 1500
Although I blog because it is my passion, I would also love for it to become my career one day. Many people do not believe that blogging is a “real job,” but believe me, it is and can provide a stable income just like any other full time career. If I grow my following enough, connect with the right brands, and find the right opportunities- blogging could become my career. I have already landed a job through blogging- my Journalism Ambassador position through NC State University Housing. I would have never in a million years believed six months ago that blogging would give me a job through my University. My future career is another aspect on which my goals have changed. This is what I wrote that my career goals were: “I would hope to either be working on A. owning an actual boutique franchise B. having a fashion line that I design and carry either in my boutique or, if the boutique does not happen, through other boutiques/on a website specifically for my brand or C. having my own brand in which I am the creator of the business, not necessarily the designer for everything.” So basically, I was more into design then. Now, my career subject is still focused on fashion, but this is more of the direction I am planning on heading: 1. Blogging is my career. I would be hired by different brands to either write for their blog site or write about their product on my site on a weekly or so basis; or my following would be large enough to hold a stable income solely publishing what I desire on The Brightest of the Bunch, with relationships with different companies to bring in more income, of course. 2. Have a franchise of “The Brightest of the Bunch” boutiques where I sell clothing brands like Jadelynn Brooke and boutique style clothing that I buy at shows. I would do this while still blogging, of course. 3. Work as a buyer/seller/trend forecaster- whatever job my major (Fashion Textile Management) can align me with while I develop my other career plans or if I fall in love with the job, maybe I’ll stay forever. My current major is Fashion Textile Management, but I would love to either add the major Communications with a concentration in Media and double major or just minor in journalism. A combination of the two could result in me automatically connecting with fashion brands on a blogging/social media work level right out of college to better suit my number one goal. All in all, I would love for blogging to become my career.
I would love to get engaged to the love of my life sometime in my early/mid twenties. I want to be able to afford to have whatever wedding desires may come up, but at this point, I do not have any desires for an extravagant wedding. I just want my dress to be perfect- that’s all I care about.
I feel like before I totally settle down with a family I will live in an apartment or small home or something like that, I guess depending where I live in general. Anyways, I eventually want to have a huge closet in my house. I have ideas about what I would like in a house, but at this point, none of that stuff seems truly important to me. I know I want one of those “Pinterest-Worthy” closets- ya know, the ones that are basically spare bedrooms and have plenty of room to film videos in and hang gallery walls? The closets that are part-closet part-office? I want one of those.
At no younger than 28, I want to have my first baby and I want it to be a boy. Then, two or so years later, I want to have a girl. This way I get to have both, and the girl has an older brother to protect her.
This is as far as I have gotten with my planned out life goals, but I plan to do this every year now because it is fun to see how far I have come and changed and I believe it is good to lay your goals out on the table so you know what you are working for.
