Well hello, gorgeous! Welcome to 2022. I might be a few weeks late to the party, but my wrist has now healed enough to return to the boudoir studio and I’m bursting with excitement, energy and a stack of awesome new business ideas to implement on my return! New Year intention setting – or resolutions or goals, whatever you prefer to call them – has always been a part of my personal growth process, but this year is definitely feeling a little different for me, and here’s why.

My 2022 intention is to put myself first this year.

A simple statement, but a powerful one that changes the entire order of my personal priority list. Because it’s one thing to have self-confidence, be at peace with your reflection in the mirror and believe in your own abilities, qualities, and judgement – which is a topic I discuss a lot here on the blog – but it’s a WHOLE OTHER THING to have self-worth and feel comfortable advocating for your ‘needs’ – and maybe even some of your ‘wants’ – to be prioritised in amongst everything else you consider important in life.

A memory that has kept coming back to me over the last few months is sitting in a business networking group back in the January of 2012/13 (over cocktails, of course) talking about intention setting for the year ahead. The leader of the group asked us what we were going to give up that year to make our businesses more successful and I suddenly realised that I had given up so much to make my business successful that I had nothing else left to give up. So right there and then, I made myself a promise that I would stop giving up things to make space for my business.

And it was working… or at least I thought it was! Holidays and small self-care treats like getting my nails done started popping up regularly into my routine. However, when 2020 hit, surviving a global pandemic whilst preparing for surgery and realising that I was about to become incredibly reliant on others for several months whilst I navigated life with one working hand… had me sitting with a lot of feelings and asking myself a lot of questions.

So behind the scenes, last year I did a lot of self-work with two incredible humans – funnily enough, both called Joanna – doing a deep dive into the concept of self-worth and what that looked like to me. Covid has been and continues to be… a lot. For all of us. But this time has also been a gift for me personally as it guided me out of my comfort zones (faster than I probably would have preferred) in terms of truly acknowledging myself as a higher priority, setting much better boundaries throughout all areas of my life, as well as learning how to ask for and accept help.

Over the last nine weeks of dedicated recovery, it’s been a real chance for me to lean into and explore this theme of self-worth, and my intention setting for 2022 is focused heavily on further exploration around this theme and finding a healthy balance. Which of course, I’ll be sharing on this blog with you for those on (or wishing to start) a similar journey.

And of course, I still have big dreams for both brands: there are some kick-ass goals written in my shiny new journal for the year ahead too, like rebuilding both websites and a couple of exciting new launches… but for now, balance and moderation whilst I get used to being back in the boudoir studio are definitely key.

What does New Year intention setting look like for you this year? I’d love to hear!

Ps. I hear my #QueenOfSocials Sali has been looking after you all really well in my absence and has been busy pencilling boudoir shoots and consultation calls into my diary for you, so I’ll be working my way through everyone’s requests on a first come first served basis this week. Thinking about making 2022 the year we finally shoot together? Now is the time to email me that shoot request gorgeous!