2020 Goals

It’s a new year, which means a fresh start. You all probably know that I love a clean slate as an opportunity for improvement. I am constantly working on myself, setting new goals, & evaluating progress. I think the new year is a wonderful time for positive change! I really enjoy setting new goals all throughout the year– at the beginning of a new season, month, or even week, but the new year really gets me excited. Today, I’m sharing my 2020 goals with you all.

2020 Goals

These may seem a few days late, but I really like to take a few days into the new year to set my goals so they are intentional. I spend time reflecting on the last year, looking forward & considering bigger picture, long-term goals, & then deciding what I need to do to get me there. You may be asking why I set goals instead of resolutions & that is very intentional, so I’m explaining more below.

Why Goals & Not Resolutions?

Resolutions is a popular word around the new year. Me? I’m more of a goal setter. The reason is three part. First, goals are supposed to be specific. Secondly, they are supposed to be measurable. Lastly, goals are supposed to be attainable. This is key to why I set goals & not resolutions. It may seem like semantics, but for me, it’s important, so let me break it down for you.

Let’s say someone has a resolution for “drinking more water.” I’m sure you’ve heard this one. Well, what’s more? A better thing would be to add a specific. ‘I’ll drink at least 80 ounces of water a day’ or ‘I’ll drink at least one cup (8 ounces) of water first thing each morning.’ This makes it more specific AND measurable. You can count how many ounces of water you drink in a day or whether you drank a cup first thing in the AM. Finally, it’s attainable. You CAN do this. You can also actually hold yourself accountable for meeting it. If you don’t meet it,  you can reevaluate & revise a new criteria as needed. It’s not “I’ll lose 20 pounds in two weeks.” Because, let’s be honest, that’s probably not going to happen. Now that you know how to write a Psychologist-approved goal (ha!) I’m going to share a few of mine with you all. I add to mine throughout the year & come up with new ones as or revise as needed, so this is just a starting point for me. Writing them down & sharing them with you all will help me stay accountable, too.

New Year, New Goals

• Complete two Whole 30s: I’ve done this every year for the past six+ years. It starts my year off on the right note & makes me feel so good. Many people scoff at the Whole 30 as a quick fix. You can read more about about my journey with it here, but I think it is what you make it. I personally create new & improved lifestyle changes with each round I complete & it has truly changed my life. I usually do one (mostly) in January & another (mostly) in August. I’m starting my January one today, on Sunday the 5th, & I’ll plan the post-summer one depending upon my travel schedule at that time. If you’re planning on a Whole 30, I have a ton of content & recipes here to help including, how to prep for a Whole 30, Whole 30 essentials post & my Whole 30 favorite recipes.
• Meditate at least three mornings per week: Meditation & stillness can be very challenging. Particularly for someone as Type A & go-go-go as myself. Even if I just take three to five minutes in the mornings to set an intention for the day, I know it will make a huge difference. I’d of course, love to make this a part of my daily morning routine, but I want to start with something attainable, so I’m aiming for three days per week. I’m using this book to help guide me each morning.
• Drink green tea & lemon more than coffee or chai lattes: I used to be really good about starting my morning with warm green tea & lemon. I prefer chai tea lattes with almond milk to coffee, but recognize that chai has a lot of sugar in it. I got in a pretty bad rut the past six months or so where I was either having coffee & nupods creamer or a chai tea latte with almond milk almost every morning. It made me ‘break my fast’ earlier in the day & just didn’t start my morning out as well as it could have. It may sound sad, but I was so overwhelmed feeling between work & my blog that some mornings, it was what would pep me up & get me out the door. That much caffeine can cause more anxiety & the sugar in the chai was just not a great thing to have that often. I want to keep my chai lattes and/or coffee habit down to once a week & maybe even limit it to when I travel or do as a special treat. Overall, I just want to pick green tea more than coffee or chai each week. So if I do green tea three times & coffee or chai once, that’s a win!
• Finish decorating our home: This one may be a little harder to measure, particularly because I feel like a home is never ‘finished.’ What I mean by this is, I want furniture in all of the rooms (which requires another big renovation we are saving for) & on our back patio. Easier said than done, but we have done a huge portion of it already, so it’s definitely attainable. I also want to consider having a professional designer come in to give me a little final direction here & there with styling & some visions for the future, too.
• Bring back bi-monthly date night: We have dates nights more frequently than twice a month, but we used to each plan a date for the other person each month that was a surprise. It was so fun to plan new restaurants, nights on the town, events, or even doing something at home for each other! We let this slip & we definitely want to bring it back in 2020. They don’t have to be anything extravagant, just the surprise of things makes it fun!
• Drink 80 ounces of water at least four times per week: Hey, nobody is perfect & TBH, my goal used to be 100 ounces per day. I got off the band wagon & it’s shown in my skin, mood, & overall health. I need to get back on my water kick. Working out in the mornings definitely jumps starts this for me, which brings me to my next goal.
• Change up my workout at least once per week: This means, If I’m on a running kick & run four or five days a week I need to add in pilates at least once. If I’m doing Megan Roup’s The Sculpt Society videos (which I’ve been LOVING recently) I’ll throw in some yoga. If I’m doing quick little Melissa Wood Health videos because I’m super busy & can’t find more than 20 minutes a day, I’ll throw in at least one long walk with the dogs. I started my Couch 2 5k app again around August & got up my running stamina again & it felt great. I felt like my body was kept guessing & I am loving keeping things fresh so I don’t get in a rut. I signed up for Class Pass to help me stay accountable & switch up classes more often. I’ll share a full blog post on all of this, soon.
• Say No without apologizing: I have been working on saying ‘no’ more often. It was my habit to say ‘No, I’m sorry…’ but I have been working on that. If I am truly sorry for something, sure I can apologize. For example, if I am missing a birthday dinner for a friend because I’m out of town. I’m truly sorry to miss that so saying I can’t go can come with an apology. If it’s to take on more work that I can’t do, organize something I can’t put my full effort into, or stay home to work/rest/spend time with my family instead of going out & I don’t need to be sorry, then I don’t need to apologize. I need to prioritize myself, my family, & my health so sometimes, that means saying not without an apology unless I’m truly sorry, which more often than not (about 75% of the time) I am not.
• Watch the top 100 best rated movies on IMDB: Charles will not watch a movie without checking the ratings on IMDB & honestly, usually a few other sites. We were looking through some of the top movies & realized how many we hadn’t seen. We thought it would be fun when we sit around & debate what to watch to make our way through the list!

A few blogging related goals: Continue to share video content & make at least two videos per month to share, grow my LiketoKnow.it, grow my Instagram, increase my page views, increase sales, work with three new ‘dream brands,’ & continue to respond to every DM in a timely manner. *I have specifics for all of these, but am keeping them to myself!