2019 is creeping up real fast, which means it is time for my second annual “looking back on the year and forward to the next year” post!

Navigate to where you want to go:

1. 2018 achievements

1.1. Personally:

1.2. Professionally:

1.3. Now, let’s look forward to 2019 and set some goals!

1.4. Personally, I want to:

1.5. In my business, I want to:

1.6. Here it is:

This year … oh my god.

I really hope that I say this every year for the rest of my life, but wow, 2018 – you were the best year yet.

Before I jump right into a little round-up of my personal and professional milestones this year, I want to give a couple of disclaimers about this blog post:

DISCLAIMER #1: Make sure you read until the end because I have a free surprise that will help make 2019 your best year yet.

DISCLAIMER #2: I am going to talk about money in this blog post. Like, specific income figures. If hearing how much another person earns makes you cringe or wonder “WHYYY are you sharing this?” this may not be the blog post for you. I’m sharing my income because in addition to being a social media influencer, I am also an online educator. I want to be an inspiration for my current & future students to see what is actually possible through social media entrepreneurship. 

ANYWAY. Still here?

Ok, let’s go!

2018 achievements

Personally:

I lived in Bali, Indonesia. Calling Bali home has been my dream for a couple of years now and in 2018, I finally did it. I lived in Bali for almost 5 months and it was by far one of the best experiences of my life.

I surrounded myself with good company. When 2018 began, I made the decision for myself that I didn’t have time for people who drained me, un-motivated me or made me feel “less than.” Making that decision and honoring it was I think a large part of why this year was the best yet. From the friends I maintained to the new people I met, 2018 was the year of surrounding myself only with people who challenged me, uplifted me and made me dream bigger. The number of inspiring, intelligent people I met and conversations I had about the deeper purpose of life in 2018… well, all I can say is that it set a standard.

I made some amazing travel memories. Since last year’s post, I went dog-sledding in Sweden in the dead of Winter, embarked on a solo trip to Iceland and snorkeled at the underwater statues in the Gili Islands, Indonesia.

I visited epic temples in Thailand, saw the balloons rise in Cappadocia, Turkey for the second time and saw the famous tree goats in rural Morocco.

I visited Machu Picchu, hiked Huanyna Picchu and learned about traditional Incan weaving & farming in the Peruvian mountains.

I saw the tulip fields in The Netherlands, learned how to drive a motor scooter in Southeast Asia and boated through the Red Light District in Amsterdam.

I was also mugged in Bali, got my car stuck in middle-of-nowhere Iceland during my solo trip and had Bali Belly five times. The positives and the negatives… it’s all part of what makes travel beautiful. In 2018 alone, I feel like I lived five entire lives.

I practiced more self-love and became more self aware than ever before. My relationship with myself grew a lot this year. I learned to practice daily self-care, I learned to love my own company, I learned how to listen to myself. I also learned how to analyze everything I’m feeling and delve into why I’m feeling it, in order to keep learning & growing – something I think that has made me a better, more self-aware person all around.

Professionally:

I worked with incredible brands. If you told me a few years ago that I would be a social media influencer working with brands like Pantene, Olay, the Morocco Tourism Board and Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, I would have laughed in your face. Well… in 2018, I did it.

I had a breakthrough. When you ask people who have lived in Bali about why they love it so much, many of them say that it’s because the island gives you exactly what you need when you need it, whether you know what “it” is or not. As “woo-woo” as that might sound, I found it to be 100% true.

Aside from giving me memories & friends to last a lifetime, Bali also gave me the biggest business breakthrough I’ve had so far. The kind of breakthrough that had me sleepless for weeks on end, jotting notes on random pieces of paper when more ideas popped up. This happened in July and once I cleared the mess from my head, I realized what it all meant.

You can watch the entire announcement here!

Update: I am currently one month away from launching my new website – christinagalbato.com – which will host my blog, online courses and an expansive shop of digital products for female entrepreneurs. Holy sh*t.

christinagalbato.com coming in January!!!

I more than quadrupled my 9-to-5 income. Two years ago, I worked in a PR job in NYC, making $40,000 a year and barely scraping by in one of the most expensive cities in the world.  I can’t help but feel really proud having earned more than $180,000 this year.

I’m proud of that number because behind it is many sleepless working nights, countless breakdowns, endless feelings of “I’m not good enough” and even more decisions made to “give it my all anyway.” Behind it is some incredible brands that loved my content enough to partner with me and behind it is The IG Bootcamp – one of the most highly-rated IG courses on the market that has helped so many women start living the life of their dreams.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I’m sharing that number because I want to serve as an inspiration for current and future students to know what is possible with online entrepreneurship. I want them to know that it is more than possible to do exactly what you’re passionate about, be in control of your income and live the freedom-based lifestyle of your dreams. I want them to know that, as long as you work hard, taking a big chance in life more often than not will lead to something great.

Also (and this might just be me – let me know in the comments!), I am SO inspired hearing what other female entrepreneurs earn. It challenges me to not only do better, but also to know what I am capable of too.

Now, let’s look forward to 2019 and set some goals!

Personally, I want to:

Get better at documenting my travels. I’m embarrassed to say that I take so many photos of myself for my Instagram that I sometimes forget to take photos of my surroundings, the food I’m eating, the people I’m meeting, etc. I need to do much more of that in 2019 and also need to get better at storing & organizing content on my hard drives at home. The number of photos I’ve lost due to my inability/laziness to organize files is so, so bad.

Travel more. Of course! Some of my dream destinations for next year include Jordan, Israel, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Maldives, Philippines and New Zealand. I also want to go back to Bali for a few weeks and explore other parts of Indonesia, like East Java, Flores and Raja Ampat.

Take better care of my body. I’ve been pescatarian since January and I do generally eat healthy, but I need to get better about taking care of myself. In 2019, I want to work out more regularly, consume less sugar and drink less alcohol.

Give more. I want to give more of my time and more of my money to causes that I am passionate about, like refugee resettlement and animal welfare.

Tell the people I love that I love them more often. One of the biggest lessons I learned in 2018 is that life is incredibly precious and cannot be taken for granted. No one is invincible and people can be taken from you in a second.

Continue with self-care and be easier on myself. Between solo trips, weekly baths and an extensive skincare routine, I practiced a lot of self-care this year that has without a doubt had a positive impact on my life. I want to continue to take time for myself in 2019 and I also want to be easier on myself. There were multiple times this year that I completely broke down from how hard I was working and I never want to feel that way again. In 2019, I will give myself more time off to breathe, be more forgiving on myself when I can’t do allll the things and practice more positive self-talk.

In my business, I want to:

Grow my tight-knit community. This year, I really saw my community grow tighter and more close-knit than ever. So many IG Bootcamp ladies meet up with one another, travel together and support one another like they’ve been best friends their entire lives. They’re always on my posts commenting on one another’s comments and replying to my Stories with the most encouraging, kind words. My community just rocks. I am so inspired by all of you every single day and I want this group to grow even bigger so that we have more bad ass ladies to chat to everyday. Meet-ups and retreat(s) are also something I’m considering… Thoughts?

Work smarter, not harder. I plan to do this in a couple of different ways. First, I want to make the educational side of my business more passive by utilizing Facebook ads and email marketing. Second, I want to outsource more tasks to team members, which will free up more of my time to do the most important things.

Work with more brands that I love. Whether it’s a luxury hotel group or a skincare brand I adore, I want to work more with awesome brands, destinations and hotel groups. I was so blessed in 2018 to only take on projects that I was really passionate about with brands I really support, so I want this to continue into 2019 and beyond.

Get more media hits. In 2019, I want to do more public speaking events, be featured in more articles online and be interviewed on more podcasts.

Offer as much value as I possibly can, in everything that I do. Enough said!

Talk about more entrepreneurial topics. With the launch of my new website will come a new blog! And on that blog, I will write about travel (of course), but also about more entrepreneurial topics that I think will help you ladies massively. Just for a sample of what to expect, here are a few topics of blog posts that will be up when the site launches:

• How to stop the IG comparison game
• Jobs that will allow you to make money while traveling the world
• 5 ways you can start saving like crazy
• The most common entrepreneurship mind blocks and how to overcome them
• What I learned from launching my first online course

Earn a gross revenue of $300,000. I literally just cringed writing that, almost erased it right after I typed it and heard a little voice in my head say “Nah, aim for $200,000 – that’s safer.” But guess what? You know that I am a big fan of setting massive goals, repeating them to myself daily and working hard to manifest them into my own reality. The power of manifestation is real, ladies, so there we go – it’s out there in the universe!

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Ok now, it’s your turn!

How much time have you spent setting goals for 2019?

If you are a blogger, social media influencer, coach or online business owner, have you planned out your 2019 game plan?

If you haven’t started yet, I have a little something for you…

I put together this FREE, 14-page guide that will make you both look back on 2018 and look forward to 2019. In this guide, I will help you:

• Take a critical look at what worked and didn’t work for you in 2018 
• Hit your 2019 income goal
• Turn your biggest 2019 goals into plans by breaking each of them down
• Plan out the first 4 months of 2019
• Make your personal life, your mindset and your business the best they can be by giving you alll my top tips

Here it is:

 

 

Let me know in the comments…

Did you download my free planner? What are your goals for 2019? I can’t wait to get even more inspired by you all!

xx,

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