Happy New Year, friends! Here’s to fresh beginnings in an even-numbered year with an extra day to do something amazing! Can you tell I’m trying to force this year to be better than the last few?
If you caught up with my blog yesterday, then you know I’m not very good at setting goals. I have high hopes and things I’d like to achieve, but it’s the in between that gives me trouble. Thus, I decided to try something different for 2020.
Before I get to that, let me share my “word of the year.” As you can guess from the blog title, this will be the year of passion. Yes, I do hope to finally find love (or at least go on a date), but this is more than that. I want to find what sets my soul on fire. I want to find things that get me really excited and do more of them. That’s the real hope for the year.
What am I doing different this year? I have only two goals. That’s definitely different than 2019. The other difference is that I want to develop habits. I’m somewhat a habitual person, but have found that it’s not always the best habits that I focus on. With that being said…
2020 Goals
Only two goals this year. I’m trying to keep it simple.
- Pay off my car. I’m so very close to paying off my car. When I purchased it in January 2015, I got a 74 month pay-back plan. I just happened to have a target number in my head for what I could pay per month, and it was 74 months that got me there. Here I am, 60-ish payments later, and Florence is almost mine! The financer I was using was bought and I no longer have access to how much is left to pay off.
- 20,000 reading minutes. This is ambitious, but how exciting and amazing would it be to read fr 20,000 minutes in 2020?! I’m going to try and continue reading new books, but I’m also going to try not to punish myself for the times I want to go and read one of my favorites again.
2020 Habits
I’m breaking these down into both quarterly and monthly habits. My new favorite, Rachel Hollis, says that you need to do something consistently for 30 days for it to truly become a habit.
Winter
January – March: Start a daily gratitude journal/reflection. I did this a few years ago, but was inconsistent. Starting or ending each day with things that I love just brings a whole new level of positivity to my life.
- January: Make going to the gym a habit. Consistently 3x per week. This means putting it on my calendar and sticking to it. Saying I’l go and actually going.
- February: Replace social media with stretching in the mornings. Right now, I scroll social media for about 30 minutes right after I wake up in the morning. That’s not a good way to start your day.
- March: No snacks or sweets after 7:00pm. This is a very guilty habit. I love all things sweets and love snacking. I don’t eat large meals so, I tend to snack later on in the evening.
Spring
April – June: Wake up one hour earlier. I could get so much more done with just one more hour in my day.
- April: Cook a new meal every week. I’ve tried this more often than I can count, but I really need to do it. I’m a bit tired of nonsense dinners that I throw together.
- May: No social media beyond my phone’s limit. I’ve implemented the Screen Limit for social media, but it’s just so easy to click that “15 More Minutes” button.
- June: Do something creative every day. Whether it’s coloring for a moment, blogging, or whatever else…I just need to flex the other side of my brain a bit.
Summer
July – September: 20 minutes outside per day. This is obvious. These will be the hotter months of the year, so outside time may be more difficult. However, it’s a wonder what a bit of Vitamin D can do for your body.
- July: A glass of water when I wake up. I’m a stickler for water, but I haven’t made it a habit yet. Starting my day with 8 ounces of H2O can make a huge difference.
- August: No unnecessary spending. Doing this once per year can help you save and pay off plenty of things. Totally worth it. Check out my tips for saving an extra $10,000!
- September: No alcohol. Enough said.
Fall
October – December: Hikes! This is the most beautiful weather of the year, and I haven’t explored enough.
- October: 100 ounces of water per day. Seriously, water is magic. I can’t stress that enough.
- November: Meals, not snacks. My friend likes to tell me that I eat like a toddler. She’s not wrong, which is an issue. I’m a grown ass woman who should be eating actual meals.
- December: Journal every day.
Now, it’s not to say that I won’t implement some of these habits throughout the year, but focusing on 1-2 at a time will really help me focus on improving myself and developing healthy, beneficial habits. I’m also going to leverage some of my weekly challenges to help break me out of a rut.
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