Happy New Year to all of my followers. It is so great to begin another year. I like to think of this year as twelve new chapters in my life and January is chapter one. I am excited to begin this book.
I am sure I am not the only one whose 2020 did not go as planned. Back on January 1st, 2020, I set myself some pretty lofty goals. I was sure that I would be able to achieve most of them without any difficulty at all. Boy, was I wrong! I am afraid due to Covid-19, I did not achieve even one of them.
My word for 2020 was SIMPLIFY. I had plans to declutter our home and simplify everyday life. I was going to go through each closet and sort out what we no longer used or needed. I had big plans to donate it all to our local thrift store or even sell some of it on-line. Once our state was pretty much shut down from mid-March to December, I had no place to donate all the items I wanted to clean out of our house. I may try again in 2021 because I do need to de-clutter.
I was going to get into a routine of doing Pilates every day. That lasted until we left for Florida in late January. I had no place to work out there and once we came home mid-March, I had too many new daily routines that took precedence. It was more important for our health to get up early and take advantage of senior hours at our local grocery store. It took time to de-sanitize everything once we brought it home. I spent time making masks and not exercising. I found too many excuses to become sedentary.
I had a goal of reading one self-help and one non-fiction book each month. Although I did read a lot, I spent far more time writing and self-publishing two novels of my own. I am currently editing number three. I did join a book club so that the non-fiction part of my goal was achieved as we read a new book about every six weeks. Most of my other reading was easy fiction of the mysteries I like.
I had a goal of making money with my blog. I had a couple of ideas but with the virus, those contacts were set aside. Then, I decided I didn’t start my blog to make money but only to share the story of my journey, my likes and hobbies and hopefully inspire others. I decided to promote me. I posted the first four chapters of my novel on my blog. Due to the positive feedback, that is the reason I finally self-published it.
One of my biggest goals was to travel to new places. That goal came to a complete halt on March 24, 2020, when our state of Michigan went into lockdown. We were not supposed to travel in or out of our state. With the virus, both my husband and I lost the desire to stay at hotels. We didn’t even go camping in our own state during the summer. Our children were concerned for a long time that one of them might be a carrier of the virus so we had a lot of family ZOOM meetings. That is how we celebrated our anniversary, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Thanksgiving.
My final goal for 2020 was to help others. I do believe that is the one goal I did partially achieve. We spent a week in July caring for our oldest son after he spent a month in the hospital recovering from a stroke. I am happy to say he is 98% recovered. In August, my husband spent a week recovering from a medical procedure. I attended to his daily needs during that time as well. I hope that my blog posts inspired a few people with a little hope for the future. I made sixty hand made greeting cards and sent them to an organization that distributes them to hospitals and the like for others to send.
Sadly to say, 2020 was also a year that I wandered away from the healthy lifestyle I worked so hard to achieve. I have only myself to blame as I didn’t follow all the behaviors and actions I knew would help me. I found too many excuses, including the virus. I stopped counting calories and picked up the old bad habit of snacking at night. That is why 2021 is going to be back to basics for me. I have developed five goals that I am hoping will get me back on track.
Goal #1: My word for 2021 is BALANCE. To have balance in my life, I must remember to nurture my body, mind and soul. To have a balanced life, I want to focus on a positive mindset. I am afraid 2020 had more of a negative one and allowed me too many excuses to wander from what I know is a healthy lifestyle. I want to focus on getting enough sleep and helping others. This mindset relates to the other four goals I have set for 2021.
Goal #2: I want to get back to my daily workouts (body). My workout calendar became non-existent for 2020. In fact, I always post the calendar on the back of the door of my workout room. The calendar I found there the other day was dated December 2019. I want to make sure I make a calendar each month this year and actually use it: 15-20 minutes aerobics or Pilates, 15-20 minutes Yoga and 20+ minutes on my stationary bike.
Goal #3: Regain my healthy eating by watching what I eat and count calories again (body). I got careless and didn’t do this in 2020; therefore, I gained 20 pounds. I would eat this and that and tell myself it was okay and that I could tell without logging my food if I was eating too much. We know how that worked out. I will do better grocery shopping and meal prep to help with this and log everything I eat.
Goal #4: Read 1-2 books per month and continue with the book club I belong to (mind). I bought myself a new Kindle as my old one quit holding a charge. I have enough books loaded that I could read five books a month but will focus on two. I also want to self-publish 1-2 novels in 2021 and increase my book sales by 20%.
Goal #5: Stay attentive to my husband and his needs is my final goal (soul). We have been married for almost 52 years but I have to be careful not to take him for granted. Sometimes I get so involved in my own activities that I ignore him. This became a reality when he suffered a health issue this past year. My goal is to make one of his favorite meals every week and spend meaningful time each day just talking and doing things together.
We survived 2020 and are now ready to move onto the next chapters of our life. I want to make the most of everyday and will no longer take life or the people in it for granted. 2021 has so much promise. What are your plans for 2021? Have you set your goals?
As always, “Don’t save today for tomorrow.”
Share this:
I totally understand how goals set for last year didn’t happen? Some of mine did…most couldn’t due to COVID. However, overall it was a good year for the blogs. This year I’m more cautious about goals but very open to what unfolds.
Healthier eating is one of my goals as well.
Great goals! I love the idea of getting back to the basics. I’ve been cleaning out and getting rid of things we don’t use. It feels great!
I love your word – Balance – we all need to have our lives reflect that.
I love how your goals are tangible for 2021!
I had such high hopes for 2020. Three of my kids were going to be in school and the baby and I would have time alone to do things like story time at the library, mom and baby yoga and I was going to write more. Instead I had all four kids at home, theee I’d gone I had to teach!
2021, my goal is to find time to take care of me. Consistently write even if an hour a day. Heal from my childhood trauma and just live one day at a time.
Yes, be sure to take care of yourself. Self care makes us all better for those we live. Keep writing.
So many big goals and plans were set aside in 2020… however… I also did hit a lot of my goals. I am choosing to look at the positives! 2021 will be a great year, because that’s what I am striving for!
I had some big goals for this year too! I’m happy to report that I was able to achieve some of them–like launching my blog finally! 🙂 I love your balance wheel for 2021! Good luck achieving your goals!
I had big plans for 2020 as well, most of which fell to the wayside when I was thrown into survival mode. It’s ok to realign with goals!
You are so right on so many levels! All my goals went out the window Mid March with three kids at home full time! I kept having to change my perspective several times! Trying to stay positive for my kids helped me break through a lot of my anxiety and depression. I hope your 2021 is amazing! Thank you for sharing your goals and thoughts!
I’m more of a planner and have my plan for the first half completed and already have gotten two of my major ones completed, my Etsy store is up and I’ve created a FB group for gardeners.
Congratulations
“Don’t save today for tomorrow.” Wisdom. You have a solid, admirable plan, and I’m sure you’ll stick with it.
I love the image of your balance wheel. I need to balance my time better to fit more reading in too! 🙂
Balance is necessary in all endeavors and the hardest to achieve in all endeavors!
Great goals- balance is what I’m striving for in 2021 too 🙂
Loved everyone of your goals. Especially your goal to get back to reading. That is one of my goals. Thanks for sharing.
I love simple goals. They start the New Year right!
These are great goals. Simple goals that can still be achieved moving into a another year of uncertainty for sure. I’m hopeful that this year will lead to much more healing for us all.
You accomplished a significant amount in 2020, even if it wasn’t the specific things you set out to do!
Thank you.
2020 was defiantly a year we had to alter plans and goals. I love your 2021 goals.
One thing we all learn in 2020 is not to be too hard on ourselves. I wish you an happy New Year! Great read!
Love the balance wheel. This year I’m trying to slowly add in new, healthier habits so I don’t get so overwhelmed and throw in the towel 🤣
What an amazing year you had! I hope 2021 is just as wonderful! I’m hoping to get back to basics too!
You have become an inspiration for me. Have a great 2021.
Wow. I was impressed with you just knowing you are a writer. Now this ! I am amazed by you. I am trying to get back into yoga. Last year with the lock down I had surgery and problems with arthritis. Looking for very light routine.
I have a book I ordered from Amazon but there is also a book on chair yoga. Try that.