Happy New Year!
I truly hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Oh, and that those pesky hangovers have finally started to clear now too for anyone who had a little bit too much to drink on New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day.
I’ve always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with a new year starting, particularly since my mid-twenties. Time does seem to go by so quickly now.
Truthfully, I also have some serious disdain for the “new year, new me” mentality that seems to be everywhere. I prefer to set goals for the year, I don’t make resolutions anymore. The main reason I stopped making resolutions was I would always end up beating myself up if I hadn’t achieved every single one.
My old resolutions used to be things like:
- Lose an unrealistic amount of weight
- Save an unrealistic amount of money
- Get a new unattainable job (well I thought it was unattainable)
- Keep a daily diary (I managed two, maybe three weeks before I gave up)
- Find Mr. Right (Mr/Miss Right doesn’t exist).
The other reason I started to set goals instead of making resolutions was thanks to my degree and learning about SMART goals.
For those of you not in the know, SMART goals are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable/Attainable
- Realistic/Relevant
- Timely/Time-Bound
There are multiple meanings for some of the letters as different authors have used different letters. Generally specific and measurable are always used and ART are the letters that may differ.
I set goals because I find I focus more on details than on a general idea. If I don’t achieve all the goals I’ve set, I know it’s something I can work on the following year.
I also set goals as we live in a society of instant gratification. When we don’t achieve our goals within the first month, we feel disheartened and give up on them completely. That’s an awful way to feel and it doesn’t help anyone achieve anything either.
My goals for 2020 are split into two different categories. I have blog related goals which probably aren’t too interesting and personal goals.
My personal goals for 2020 include:
Endometriosis issues – Obviously my main goal for 2020 is to get whatever has happened to my pelvis sorted out but that’s dependent on what my doctor says when I see her.
Improving my fitness – after my back injury two years ago, I have struggled to keep fit as any exercise aggravates my back and causes a lot of pain. For now, I’ll be focused on walking more and swimming but eventually, I’d quite like to go back to the gym.
Make time for myself – one thing I’m rubbish at is making sure I take time out each week for some proper self-care. This year, I’m making it my mission to set time aside every week to pamper myself properly.
Read more – I adore reading and it’s something I don’t do very often. This year, I’m going to set a target of 52 books for the year on Good Reads (you can find it on android and apple devices) and try to get through as many books as I can. Maybe I’ll even beat my target.
Meditate more – I always feel better when I spend time meditating so I’m going to try and meditate more frequently than I have been.
Practice mindfulness – I’d like to focus on being more present in the moment and pay more attention.
Eat healthily – this one doesn’t take much explaining. I want to make healthier choices this year.
Believe in myself more – another one which doesn’t need much explanation.
Now for my blog goals. I’m not going to share all of them, but these are a few of them:
- Set a blog schedule and stick to it.
- Blog about more than endometriosis.
- Consistently post on social media.
- Market my blog more.
- Edit and revamp my older blog posts
What have you decided your goals or resolutions are for this year? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to read them!
Lis x
