Goodbye, dumpster fire. Hello, 2021!

I don’t know of anyone who is sad to see 2020 go. However, as Aslan says, “What’s done is done. There is no need to speak to…what is past.” Let’s welcome in 2021 with open arms. If we have hope, it’s bound to be a better year.

In 2020, I had only two goals: Pay off my car and read for 20,000 minutes. I am proud to say that I achieved both! In addition to those two goals, I had a multitude of habits that I wanted to develop. Things like less social media, more working out, cooking new meals, doing creative things… The list goes on. I kind of threw those out the window once the world shut down. However, I am also proud to say that I added some new habits! I have worked out 125 of the last 130 days, so exercise is a habit now. I end every day with my gratitude journal where I list three things I am grateful for from that day. I’m drinking more water and taking Olivia on more walks. No, I did not implement all 12+ of my healthy habits, but I did get quite a few and I feel better for it.

With all of that being said, here’s to 2021! I tend to be a bit overambitious with my goals and resolutions, so I’m really going to try and keep it simple this year! Call them goals, resolutions, habits, whatever…but this is what I would like to achieve this year:

  • Read 100 books. My goal in 2020 was 75 and I read 84, so I think 100 is a comfortable enough stretch goal.
  • Read for 20,000 minutes. I definitely surpassed this goal in 2020, but I like the number. If I can do it two years in a row, then I can grow it. I mean, a year has 925,600 minutes (Thank you, Rent), so reading for 20,000 minutes is 2.16% of the year.
  • Grow my blogs. Yes, blogs in the plurality. I’ve been stuck in a rut for blog growth for years now, and they either need to grow, or I might need to do something else with my time. (P.S. Don’t forget to bookmark downthebookjar.com for all of my book reviews and recommendations!)
  • Develop some side income. Again, I’ve been blogging for quite a bit now, and it’s not bringing anything in. I’d like to find a product or something that can bring in some additional income.
  • Workout consistently (at least) 5 days per week. I’m already fairly settled in this one (Thank you, Beachbody), but I want to stick with it. I took a few days off around the holidays, and I already feel myself getting into old habits.
  • Journal more. I need to get back to writing down some feelings and thoughts. Nothing really happened in 2020, so I didn’t really journal.

I like to think that this is a fairly conservative list. Only time will tell, but I think they’re solid goals to have. What are yours?

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One last thing. A few years ago, I was inspired by another influencer I follow to choose a word for the year. 2018 was “intention,” 2019 was “flourish,” and 2020 was “passion.” I have struggled a bit with the word to choose for 2021. Initially, I considered “thrive,” but after consideration, I decided it was far too similar to “flourish.” That word didn’t do much for me, so I didn’t want to lock myself into it.

In 2021, my word is “extraordinary.”

Go out and make this year extraordinary. Do something extraordinary. Just be extraordinary. Happy New Year!

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