2020 Here I Come…Ready or Not!

2019 seemed to fly by. I went into the year with the goals of continuing my weight loss journey, eating healthier and living a life of gratitude. I am happy to say I did achieve those goals. However, that does not mean I am satisfied with where I am. Everyone needs to have goals in life-no matter how old you are. Just because I just turned 73 does not mean I can skate through life without any firm direction. Specific attainable goals makes us all better people, gives life direction and holds us accountable. I am ready for some new goals.

It hardly seems possible that we are beginning the year 2020.  I remember as a child how far into the future the year 2000 was.  I love the start of the new year.  It is like a blank slate with nothing written on it.  What finally is written is up to me.  I have the choice of how I would like the year to look.

As I do every year, I am setting some goals, not resolutions.  Resolutions are, “a firm decision to do or not to do something.”  However, a goal is, “the end toward which effort is directed.”  I much prefer to work toward an end. I am setting six goals for myself to work towards this year.  These will also become my 2020 vision board.

#1: I am setting a PERSONAL goal of implementing my “word” for this year, SIMPLIFY.  For those of you who have read some of my previous posts, you will remember me talking about the book, One Word That Will Change Your Life by Gordon, Britton and Page, which is available on Amazon.com.  Spending the year by focusing on a single word has made a big difference in my life.   I plan on de-cluttering and getting rid of what we do not use or things we have not used in years.  As the quote says, “It is better to do stuff than to have stuff,”  and stuff we do have.  When we moved to our current town 22 years ago we got rid of a ton of stuff.  However, when we bought this house 15 years ago our stuff seemed to multiply again.  It is time for some serious purging. 

#2: I am setting a HEALTH goal.  I want to continue to work out each day and want to add Pilates to my workouts.  I purchased the book, The Women’s Health Big Book of Pilates, from Amazon.com way back in August.  Now I am going to put this book to use.  I also want to continue to fix healthy meals by adding one new healthy recipe each month.  I also got another recipe book to help with this. 

#3: I want to READ more, but not just the mysteries and psychological thrillers I enjoy.  I am setting a goal to read one non-fiction and one self-care book each month.  I already have my first books picked out.  The non-fiction is, A Different Drummer by Michael K. Deaver.  It has been sitting on my bookshelf for years now and I decided it was time to actually read it.    I just received the first self-care book I want to read from Amazon.com.   Its title is, Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, MD.  I do believe it focuses on men’s health and I can’t wait to start on it.  It can make helping my hubby with the aging process a little easier.

Goal #4:  I want to TRY SOMETHING NEW.  Now that I have started this blog, I want to try to begin making money via the blog. I have already signed up for an on-line course to help me with this.   I am not sure how it will go but it is a challenge I want to take on.  I am also going to take the plunge and try to sell some of my homemade hostess aprons and matching pot holders on Etsy. I will keep you posted on how that works. I also have a printable download for healthy food shopping and meal planning in the works. Stay tuned for information concerning that. Where we live it is not always easy to join an organization so I have taken the virtual route. I recently joined a Facebook fitness group for women over 40. I enjoy this group because it gives us weekly challenges. I belong, via Facebook, to a private photography group and enjoy the theme challenges we have every two weeks. I have “met” people from all over the world in this group. I also belong to a Facebook group on mindful nutrition and fitness. I am hoping that what I learn from these groups will give me more insight into helping others.

Goal#5:  I want to VISIT SOME PLACE NEW.  My husband and I love to travel.  We have discussed expanding our horizons.  We are not getting any younger so I want to make 2020 the year that we do this.  Of course, it will be by auto.  For us, half the fun is getting there.  We have found some of the best places to explore on our way to somewhere else.  I have my passport so want to get him his.  We live in northern Michigan so an extended trip to Canada will fit the bill.  We haven’t been there in years. If we don’t make it there then we want to visit some of the states we have never been to. So far together we have only been to 26 states, so we have many to choose from.

Goal #6:  This goal may be the most important one for me to achieve.  It is, “HOW CAN I HELP OTHER PEOPLE?”  There are too many people my age who face boredom, depression and isolation.  Somehow, I want to find a way to reach out to this group and help improve their quality of life.  I am hoping my blog helps accomplish

this.  I will be including posts on outsmarting the winter blues, some easy and interesting hobbies to take up and some on-line groups you can join via Facebook.  Stay tuned for information on this. 

I have a new way that I am going to chronicle 2020 as well as our winter in the South.  In order to chronicle my 2020 goals and what life offers us this year, I am creating a junk journal.  If you are not familiar with what a junk journal is, be sure to catch my blog post coming in a few weeks titled, “Scrapbooking Plus-My Creative Side.”  I am also creating a smash book for our trip South.  This will also be covered in the same blog post.  These are two new things that I am trying this year.  I love to learn how to create new items and both of these are very inexpensive.

If you do some calculations, each year consists of 365 days and each day has 86,400 seconds.  I do not want to waste even a second of my life this year.  It is full of opportunities for a quality life and I want to take advantage of those opportunities.

DEAR FUTURE, I AM READY!      Are you ready for 2020?

As always, “Don’t save today for tomorrow.”