Goals for 2020...
I don’t know why the thought of the 20's is so exciting. I think because 100 years ago the 20's were such a significant time. To be in this moment now, feels big, surreal, like there is a change happening. I've changed the way that I look at goals. In years prior, I used to set resolutions because I thought I was bad at something. I really wasn’t looking at them as a way to grow.
So this year this is what I have planned.
Movement - Everyday I will move my body in some way that brings calmness, joy or a combination of the two. I am not going to force myself to do it in order to look a certain way or to reach a number. I am not going to set a limit as to what it can and can’t be. It may look like a long walk with my dog, it may be yoga or it may be dancing in my living room. I don’t know yet, but the goal is to help with my anxiety, get outside and enjoy where I live, and appreciating my body.
Going to social events - As we all know, I am a homebody. I will use an excuse to stay home faster than you can invite me out. If I have a choice I will probably say no to going out or to do something. I did notice that I immediately talk myself out of things. There are a lot of events around the valley, restaurants, parks and they look fun. Instead of participating I just don’t go. Then I regret not going, not enjoying and not doing something that I really wanted to do. I don’t have a number of events that I want to go to, but what am I going to focus on is saying yes and considering before saying no.
Cleanliness - When I clean my house I always feel better, I have a chore chart on my fridge that I made last year and completely ignored it. I usually wait until Saturday to clean the whole house, instead of breaking it up like I have set up on my chore chart. I want to do this so I can feel peace in my own home. I wont feel overwhelmed and it will make our home feel more like a sanctuary.
Waking up no later than 7 AM - I constantly complain to myself that I don’t have enough time in the day or wonder why I feel so lazy. When I sleep in, don’t start moving, don’t get ready for the day until after 7 I'm more likely to be lazy. Starting my day with meditation, and breath work, has been a huge help. But again if I wait too long, I just wont do it, and I don’t like my laziness. This one will be tough because I can already feel myself not wanting to do it, but it will be worth it.
Start a garden - Picking fresh herbs from my front yard is so rewarding, that I want to find joy on a larger scale. I'm going to start small with a 4x4 raised bed, and work that little plot. The main reason for this is joy. The joy in the success, the opportunity to learn, and do something that I have always wanted to do. Growing your own food and homestead life has always appealed to me. My YouTube history is a lot of gardening, homesteading, canning, cooking…. And Supernanny. She is my guilty pleasure.
This is also the first year that my husband and I decided to make couples goals. Those are a little more private because they involve both of us, so it’s not just mine to share. We are working on setting goals that bring us more united. We have sort of lost our way in how we use our time. Most of the time its go, go, go, that when we do spend time together we just Netflix… no chill because again… we're tired! But we want that to change, so we are setting our mindset where this is possible. By sitting down and setting them together we are both on the same page, and understand the reason why, or the intention.
I will share one goal that we did set, that would be good for anyone in any type of relationship. I came up with a goal called "Open Heart Discussions". We set aside one day a week, to just talk, it’s a time to share anything you want. We can do our accomplishments, personal talks, venting, working out problems, whatever we want. The rules are, 15 minutes of uninterrupted talking, and then switch. I have a problem of letting things go when they bug me, I talk myself out of it being a big thing, I forget about it because eh its not worth saying something. So it happens again because I didn’t communicate and then I explode. That’s not good for anyone ever, so I'm hoping this time will help us create an opportunity for open heart discussions. No judgement, or a time to argue just talking and listening.
I am looking at this years goals/resolution in a whole new light. Because making them from the point of harnessing a feeling, or enhancing something, creating instead of fixing, ridding, changing dramatically was not working for me. I also don’t usually stay to the January timeline.
I have made huge changes in my life at all times of year. I decided to start school, quit my job, do a training, get out of debt, at random times. Sometimes January feels like a lot, we just survived the chaos of the holidays for gods sake. Give us some time to recuperate! If you're feeling the pressure or the necessity to do what everyone else is doing, I feel ya. But that is also when I say see ya later suckers! January is for the birds, I'll do it when I'm ready….
I don’t have timelines because again that has always screwed me up. When I say for 30 days, 15 minutes a day, every Friday.. I cant do it. I immediately want to run and hide from all goals that have deadlines. Some work well with that, I don’t. Unless I'm ready, motivated, hungry or whatever, it’s not going to happen. That’s just me. I've messed up too many times to know exactly what I will and wont do. Yes, I can stretch and try and break out of my bad habits, but I've also learned what works and what doesn’t. I know me, and that’s about it. It takes a few years of screwing up everything to finally learn, but I'll get there.
So… in order to wrap up this babbling…Happy New Year! Here's to the roaring 20's!