Thursday, January 14, 2021

Goals for 2021

There’s a lot we could all say about 2020 and the type of year it has been. I don’t think any of us expected to be home so much or wearing masks when we were out and about. But with all of the negatives that plenty of us will be associating with this year, I know I’m lucky to say that I’ve also experienced my share of positives as well. I have a lot to be grateful for. I’ve been able to stay healthy (as has my family), I still have a job, I have a house that’s very comfortable to work from home in, and I have memories associated with this past year that aren’t all negative. 

After finally getting through all my end of the year blog posts I wanted to get done in the past few weeks, I am just now getting around to writing my 2021 goals post. After this past year, I am trying my best to set my expectations realistically to include things I can control since then, I’m less likely to be frustrated if something isn’t achievable. Two of these goals are even rollovers from last year since I never got around to it or could improve on it! 

I’ve broken them down into categories since that’s the way my brain works, but I hope to keep in mind throughout the year how these categories can have things added to them too. That’s part of the problem with resolutions, so often we make them and never revisit them. I’m guilty of that also, and in year’s past, I haven’t always been the best about checking back in on the goals I’ve written down, so this year I’m going to write them down and hang them on my bulletin board as a more visual reminder.

shop the planner above here

Financial Goals
In general, I’d like to become more financially savvy. As a twenty-something, I am sure that I am probably not alone in wanting to be better about money management. 

Since I will have to move this year and my roommate and I will be looking for a new place, I would love to lessen my cost of living. I know this may be tricky since rent prices in Birmingham can be expensive, but we’ve had some friends express interest in potentially moving in with us, so depending on what we can find, this may be a great way to go about this! An additional person not only paying rent and also splitting utilities with would be awesome (even if that does mean having to give up the luxury of having my own bathroom).

I would also like to ask for a raise this year. I’ve never negotiated my salary or asked for a raise, so this one kind of scares me since I know initiating the conversation is all on me. Over time I’ve made a compelling list of reasons/things I’ve done that make a strong argument for why this would be deserved but talking about money isn’t something I love to do, so advocating for myself in this regard is a bit of a weakness of mine. Maybe 2021 will be the year I change that. 

Lastly, I have come up with a monthly goal for blog income, and I’d love to hit my monthly blog target income goal each month this year. I certainly never started this blog thinking about the ability I had to make money from it, but as time has gone on, I’ve been so thankful to have it as a creative outlet that also serves as a part-time job of sorts. Continuing to put out content that y’all respond well to will make this possible while also continuing to benefit my readers and followers! 

Health
One health/fitness goal that I didn’t tackle this past year but had wanted to was run another half marathon. I did my first one in 2019 and had every intention of keeping up with running long distances after I finished it. After the race though, I was a bit burnt out and wanted a different workout to keep me entertained, which is how I got started with true40. This year, I’d love to slowly start getting back into running and finally get back to the point where I could comfortably run a half (whether that be on my own or in another race).

In addition to adding running back into my fitness routine, I would love to stretch multiple times a week. I HATE stretching mainly because I’m not flexible and don’t love to do things I’m not good at. Well, if I refuse to stretch, I’m not going to get any better at it, which doesn’t help the problem. Thankfully the Peloton app has plenty of guided stretching videos that I’d love to take advantage of as I work this back into a weekly routine.

I don’t know if it’s entirely fair to include this in the “health” category, but I’d love to try more new-to-me recipes. For the most part, the recipes I make are relatively healthy, but I’m a strong proponent of an “everything in moderation” attitude. I really enjoy cooking (especially when I can mindlessly follow a recipe) and would love to branch out more when it comes to the variety of dishes I cook.

Lastly, for this category, I want to floss daily. I got a head start on this when I started doing this in December, but I definitely want to keep it up. I am an avid teeth brusher to the point where I probably brush them 4-5 times a day, but flossing is a habit I’ve never been as great about. So far, using flossers and keeping them out in a pretty cup next to my toothbrush has been a good reminder since a lot of times I can fall into the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ category with flossing.

Blog
This is a goal that I’ve had for the past few years but could continue to improve upon. Engage more is how I’ve phrased this goal in the past, and I still like the way that sounds, so I’m sticking to it. I don’t always love talking on Instagram stories and would much rather share a pretty graphic, but I know that seeing the person behind the Instagram is well valued, and I want to be able to deliver on it. It’s also an excellent way to attempt to grow in that space, which would be nice but isn’t necessarily a huge focus of mine as I’d rather have quality followers (aka people who are there because they want to be there and are genuinely interested and engaged) versus a large quantity of followers (who are just there because of a giveaway or something of that sort). I’m already doing a better job of this, so hopefully, I can keep it up. 

Personal
I used to be better about being in the habit of reading, but in this past year, it dwindled. Hopefully, this year with my long list of books I am interested in reading, I can deliver on my goal to read more. I don’t have a certain number of books in mind, but ending my night’s reading instead of scrolling through my phone sounds pretty ideal, though.

I’d love to hear any goals you may have made for the new year! 

1 comment :

  1. Hi guys. I have health problems and have become disillusioned with medicine. Do you have advice for me? Maybe nutritional supplements?

    ReplyDelete

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