Goals 2021

 

After reflecting on last year's goals, I've settled on this year's ambitious goals.

1.    Grow your mind: Read 52 books  This was one of my favorites.  This year I'm going to try to keep up with my book blog

2.    Cultivate creativity: 52 5x7 works of art, 6 large paintings.  I was able to do 52 works of art last year ranging from ATC to full 9x12". This year, I considered how I could increase that goal reasonably...when it was such a challenge last year.  I settled on 52 works of small size AND 6 big paintings.  

3.    Practice gratitude: 52 acts of gratitude  What exactly is an act of gratitude?  I left this one fairly open on purpose.  Maybe one week I will write a card to someone I'm grateful for...I have a lot of those people in my life!  Maybe one week, we will sit down as a family and list our many blessings... I want to raise grateful, not entitled children and I want gratitude to be an intentional practice.  Ideas: volunteer at a soup kitchen, pick up trash on a trail, random acts of kindness...

4.    Rest and play: 52 fun things with my children.   Last year my goal of playing with my children for 30 minutes a day was too hard to track.  I often forgot so this year I chose a weekly format...but it can't just be anything.  I bought The Adventure Challenge: Family Edition to help with ideas.

5.    Rest and play: 52 board games.  This will be easy!   One board game a week!   We own over 50 games....so we need to play every game once.

6.    Cultivate a healthy marriage: 52 fun things with Chase.  The pandemic made it hard this year to go on "dates," so this year I changed things up.  Of course I bought The Adventure Challenge: Couples Edition to help us out.

7.    Nurturing my body:  fasting, no soda, no fried food.  I read in Mom Hacks last year that aiming for a number isn't motivating enough to maintain a lifestyle change for weight loss...and it seems to my experience.  This year,  I'm not aiming for a number; I am aiming for a healthier life.  Why?  So I can be there for my kids and so I can set a good example. 

8.    Exercise: 3 days of cardio, 2 strength

9.    Explore nature:  26 hikes; 6 camping adventures.  This one might be tough!   We've already booked one camping adventure, but I hope to fit in a few more this year!  We had a blast camping last year.

10.          Declutter your house: 52 zones.    Each week, pick an area to declutter.  I'm trying to go more minimalist since there are 5 of us in this house..7 if you count pets!  Things are crowded and I'm constantly cleaning.  I want a house that is easy to keep clean...and that means less stuff!

11.          Combat Scarcity: No-spend weeks.  This one is aimed at breaking my Amazon addiction.  YIKES.  Allowed expenditures: repairs, groceries, necessities (and Chase has to agree it's a need not a want...), stuff for adventure books.  If there is something I really want: comes from my art fund and buy used.  This one will be the hardest goal I've set.   The first thing I do when I'm stressed is "add to cart."

12.          Financial goals: Pay off ECSI, Nugget, and Purple.  Save 10 k in retirement, save 10k in emergency.  This year I'm paying off that tiny student loan (still pretending the big one doesn't exist).  I'm also paying off the 2 things we bought on credit in 2019.  The savings goals should be no problem.  Last year we adapted to me putting 16% of my income on accident....so i might as well keep it that way this year.

Closing 2020

 

2020 was a horrible year for a lot of people, but it was actually a great year for me.    I transitioned from stay at home mom and then we pivoted to online learning within a month.  It was like a God-gifted transition period for my family.  I woke up at 5 am, worked until about 10 or 11 and then a hour or two around 2pm.  I researched and wrote rounds on topics I'm passionate about: boundaries, safety, recognizing animal abuse, conflict, and compassion fatigue.   My time home let me treasure my kids and gave me space to develop my teaching.  I didn't have to wake up the entire family and struggle to get everyone to church.  I grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat to a streamed the early service (which we never make it to in person).  I read books, I bought an exercise bike, I painted a lot, I took my family hiking and camping.    We moved a few steps closer to adoption with my 16 year old.  We fought, we cried, we made up, we grew closer as a family.  I learned to treasure the time I have with my friends and family.   As strange as it sounds, 2020 was a great year...and I'm counting my blessings and ending the year in gratitude.  Thank you, God, for protecting my family and giving us time to grow and bond!  Thank you for employment!  Thank you for months of no student interest and no payments!   AMEN!

 My 2020 goals were crazy-ambitious... 

1.  Play with my littles 30 minutes a day.  I think I did this.  I stopped tracking it, but i was stuck home with them for weeks and weeks.  I could still make this more intentional, but I think I did ok!
   
2. Exercise 5 times a week My fit bit report I had an average of 37 active minutes per day in 2020.  That's not bad considering I pulled something in my knee early into the year and had virtual PT for a while... Then in August I got sick as a dog (except I could have made a dog feel better) with an unknown cough.  It took a few rounds of antibiotics, steroids...then inhaled steroids to finally feel like myself.  During that time, I couldn't walk around my neighborhood without chest pain.  I tested negative for Covid twice, but it still makes me wonder...
   
3. Lose 40 pounds (to get back to pre-baby weight)  Ok... so this was an epic fail.  I started 2020 at 184 pounds...and I weighed in today at 182.  I got down to 172.8 then I injured my knee and got back up to 184.  I tried again...then got that horrible cough for 2 months.  I'm a stress eater...so I ended the year at 182.4.  I'm not stressed... This year I'm going to set non-numerical goals and focus on fitness and healthy eating.
   
4. Pay off my little student loan (not the big one...) and my new HVAC system.  That's about $14,700 in debt this year!  I paid off over $10 k in debt completely paying for the HVAC system, and about 1/2 of the remaining balance on my little loan.  With the uncertainty of COVID, we decided that saving for an emergency was a more important goal than paying off that little loan.
   
5. Read 52 books I rocked this goal!  I read 51.25 books and fell asleep last night cranking away at 52.   I was so close, I'm counting this as a win!
   
6. Create 52 works of art I did this one too!  52 little paintings done!
   
7. Sell 6 pieces of art Nailed it!  I sold 13 originals and quite a few prints.
   
8. Go on 1 date a week.  This one is a COVID-fail.  Hard to go on a date when on quarantine. 
   
9. Improve my handwriting by working through 2 books.  My handwriting is as terrible as ever... fail!
   
10. Save $10,000 I vastly exceeded this goal.  I accidentally set my withholding to 16% of my income when I meant to do 8% on retirement.  I didn't realize this until the end of the year so I was also putting some in an Roth IRA.... So I set aside over $25,000 including my employer's generous 8% match. 
    
11. Declutter 200 pounds of crap  I stopped weighing my donations, but I have no doubt I blew this one out of the water.  I got rid of a large volume of furniture so 200 pounds = no problem.
    
12. Communicate with my loved ones more by calling or writing someone once per week.  I feel like COVID really helped this goal.  We called and Facetimed a lot of family this year, but I stopped keeping track.
    
13. BONUS Kid goal: read 5 new books a week.  We stopped counting somewhere around 200 books so i think we did ok at this goal.    Lol we read so much...my kids started to groan so I backed off this goal so they could preserve a love of reading!  Favorite books for the year:  Dandy for MM, and Will you Be My Dog? for Flip. 
    

  So what crazy goals will I set for 2021?