Set goals not resolutions

I think we can all agree that we are happy that 2020 is over and that 2021 is finally here. I felt this year while it had it's ups and downs, just felt so long. I at one point felt like it was never going to end. Every new years I think everyone makes their resolutions for the new year. But 80% of resolutions fail. And if you were like me I usually made the sale resolutions every year telling myself that this year would be different, that I would make it happen and this would be my year. Only to at some point get discouraged and lose my focus. I know that if you keep doing the same thing and hoping for a different resolute that you will get nowhere and that is insane. So I am determined to do something different and hope for a better resolute. If you don't like your life then it is up to you to change it. There is no magic fairy that is going to come and change it for you. You have to do it and you have to make it happen. So this year I am setting goals and intentions for my year. The main difference for me between goals and resolutions is that goals should be measurable and specific.

I thought of the different areas of my life. I thought of my intention for that area, what I over all want that area to look like at the new of the year. Then from that intention I thought of goals within that intention. You need to make sure that you write it down so that you hold yourself accountable and are able to track when you accomplish them or how far you are to accomplishing them. I put my intentions on a piece of paper and put it up by my front door so that I can see it every day. Then I track my goals in a few ways. I have a journal where I have my goals for the year and I also put goals for 3 months at a time. 3 months seem like a good amount of time that you can accomplish some smaller goals. I then also have a habit tracker where I track daily things I want to accomplish.

One of my intentions is to be more focused and present with my daughter. While I am always with her if I am not working, it's hard to be really present now a days. We are always doing a few things at a time, on our phones all the time. I found that while I was with her I wasn't always present with her. So on my habit tracker I have a few goals. I want to do at least one hour of play with her each day. One hour where I am not on my phone and I am focused on being present in the moment with her. It could be going outside or just playing with her. I also have my habit tracker to do at least 20 minutes of learning with her. I have a few learning books and cards to help her learn things before she goes to school.

One intention is to have 2 streams of income by the end of the year, one of being online and at least one of them being around something that brings me joy. I don't want to just have a job to just have an income any more. I want to do something that is more in line with my soul and what brings me joy. I also think that if nothing that 2020 has taught us that you need to have more than one income as you never know what is going to happen. So I have goals to do an hour of at work from home. As I get started and figure out what that means that can include courses that I am doing, something to do bring me closer to my goals. I love to write and want to do something with that come the new year. So one of my 3 month goals are working towards trying to get published. My first 3 month goal is to have my book proof read and edited.

I have found great joy in fitness and trying to get healthy. One of my intentions is to be healthy and happy with who I am and I would like to do a job in fitness. I have lost a bit of weight over time. But I am not at my goal just yet. I am proud of how far that I have come though. Now I really want to get myself really healthy. So I have weight goals that I want to hit and I will make different goals every 3 months. On my habit tracker I track a lot of my fitness and health goals to keep me on track. Eating healthy, drinking 15 glasses of water, working out at 9+ energy level and eating no processed foods are some of them. I also have a goal to be able to lift 25 lbs. Right now I am at 10 lbs, sometimes at 15 lbs.

Finance is a large area of improvement for me. It always has been. Never learning how to save and to stick to a budget, I have always been a spender. I did make progress over the last year and got much better with my money. But I know that I could be better and I have a lot of room for improvement. So I made sinking funds this year. Sinking funds is where you save a little bit of money over time for an expense that you know is coming. Such as Christmas. I want to make sure that I put money into those sinking funds and that I am able to fund them through the year. I also have a saving goal that I want to hit. I want to make sure that I make and stick to a budget. I know that this will not happen overnight, but over the course of the next year I feel like it is something that I will be able to do and accomplish.

Also make some fun goals and some small goals that you know that you will be able to achieve. When you achieve one, then it makes you more motivated to hit the rest. Such as I want to be better at making and decorating desserts. So one of my goals is to be able to make Instagram worth desserts. You can break up this goal by having a goal to make 4 complicated desserts every 3 months. The more you do it then the better that you will get at it. I also want to be able to do my own nails at home and have them look like a professional. Not only would this save money, but for me it's something fun that I enjoy doing.

No matter what your goals and intentions are for the next year, know that it is all about progress. Nothing happens over time. The more that you do something then the better that you get at it. I believe that without goals and intentions then you just go through life without having a target. That is a very easy way to get lost, I know for me that is when I feel the most lost is when I don't have any goals. No matter what you're goals are, write them down and track them. I hope that at the end of next year I can look back at this and say that I have accomplished the things on my list. I hope this has given you some ideas on goals that you want to make for your own life.

Thank you for reading. Sending you love, prayers and happiness.