It’s hard to believe that January has come to an end. Between the division in our country and the pandemic raging on at record levels, the post-holiday blues were even worse than usual this January. Therefore, I felt pretty unmotivated with respect to New Year’s goals. However, I’ve definitely been thinking about goals for this year. And what better time for a fresh start than the dawn of a new month. Here are eight goals for 2021 that I want to tackle:
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My Goals for 2021
1. Become more productive in the mornings.
So, becoming more of a morning person was actually one of my goals for 2020. But then not too far into the year I started working from home due to the pandemic. With a commute from the bedroom to the living room, there wasn’t a ton of motivation to get up early to be productive before my workday began. Even though I’m still working remotely, I still want to be more intentional about getting up earlier to do things before starting work. In addition to starting my day off in a better state of mind, I know that getting into this habit now will make the transition easier when I eventually go back into the office. The biggest challenge to this goal for 2021 right now is that it’s cold and dark in the mornings!
2. Let go of grudges.
If someone asked me what is the hardest thing about walking with the Lord, I would reply, with zero hesitation, “loving my enemies.” It’s not necessarily forgiveness itself that’s hard for me. There have been multiple instances in my life where someone has hurt me deeply, but they’ve also showed remorse for their actions and worked to repair our relationship. In these cases, it’s been amazing for me to experience God at work and the amazing power of healing and reconciliation. Forgiveness comes naturally in these situations.
On the other hand, there have also been people in my life who’ve hurt me, but they’ve never apologized or repented for the way they treated. In this situations, I’m extremely apt to hold a grudge against them. Even though Jesus commands me to love my enemies, loving and praying for people who have wronged me without remorse is honestly the last thing I want to do. A wise young adults pastor I had several years ago used to tell us that our sin against God is far greater than the worse thing that anyone has ever done to us. He also challenged us to think about how a failure to forgive others indicates that we don’t fully grasp the seriousness of our sin.
Deep down I know that I’m a sinner in need of God’s grace, and that anything good in me is only because of Him. But it’s so easy for me to forget this when wounds from past hurts resurface. One action step I plan to take towards this goal for 2021 is reading Lysa Terkuerst’s newest book, Forgiving What You Can’t Forget. However, God’s work in my life is what will ultimately lead to progress in this area.
3. Be more consistent with journaling.
I’m pretty sure that journaling more was another goal I had last year where I didn’t make much progress. One of the reasons I prefer using the term “New Year’s Goals” rather than “New Year’s Resolutions” is that goals have a connotation as something that you continually work on all year. If you don’t succeed then you try again the next year. On the other hand, resolutions have the implication as something you go hard and fast on at the beginning of the year, and then ditch in mid-February if you aren’t successful. Hence, journaling is another example of something that I’m trying again this year after not making much progress a previous year.
4. Spend less and save more.
This is something I’ve been wanting to work on for awhile, but it’s especially imperative in 2021. I need crowns on four teeth. Even with dental insurance they are extremely expensive. Fortunately I have more than enough money in savings to cover this big expense. But it’s important that I’m intentional about putting money back into savings so I can replenish what I take out, plus keep adding. I will definitely have to exercise a lot more self control with shopping. However, moving to a new apartment last year reminded me how much stuff I have, and I don’t have the closet and drawer space for a lot of new clothes anyways.
5. Promote to Manager with Beautycounter.
I’m so thankful that I promoted to Senior Consultant with Beautycounter in November 2020. I’m striving to grow my Beautycounter business even more this year. Therefore, one of my goals for 2021 is to promote to Manager, which is the next level with Beautycounter. If you’re interested in switching to safer beauty products, I would love to help you out.
6. Get my first paid blog collaboration.
In nearly three years of blogging, my blog page views have grow and I’ve earned some affiliate income. I’ve also scored some gifted collaborations with nationally known brands, including Vera Bradley, DaySpring, Ann Taylor, and Sarah Flint. I’m so incredibly thankful for these opportunities and don’t take them for granted.
In 2021 I’m hoping to take my blog to the next level by landing some paid collaborations. This is where a brand pays you to post about their product(s) on your blog or Instagram, in addition to gifting the products. Because I have such a relatively small following on Instagram, I didn’t think that brands would actually want to pay me to post. But late last year a couple blogger friends told me that I absolutely do have a large enough audience to score paid collaborations. They encouraged me to pitch myself to brands.
So after I put together a media kit and get a little bit more organized, I plan to start pitching to brands for paid collaborations. To be honest, this is really intimidating. All of the gifted brand collaborations I’ve gotten in the past have been from the brand reaching out to me, so I’ve never sent an email to a brand proposing a paid collaboration. However, I’m going to kick this fear to the curb and go for it. After all, the worst they can say is no, right?
7. Spend less time on social media.
I am currently finishing up a social media break that’s lasted just over two weeks. Taking time away from social media sounds counterintuitive when you’re a blogger and trying to grow your audience. However, around mid-January I determined that taking a brief break would be best for my mental health. So, I took the remainder of the month away. It was extremely refreshing. To be honest it wasn’t as difficult not to check Facebook and Instagram as I thought it would be.
This was the first time I’ve taken extended time away from social media since I started blogging. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever taken this much time away from social media at once even prior to starting my blog. While I’m looking forward to getting back on social media, I definitely plan to be more intentional about how I spend my time on it. Spending less time overall on social media is definitely one of my goals for 2021. I plan to set up boundaries that will keep me from mindless scrolling when the time would be better spent doing other things. In addition, I definitely won’t hesitate to take some more mini social media breaks.
8. Finally learn how to use my Waterpik flosser.
I actually bought my Waterpik water flosser a few years ago at the recommendation of my dentist. However, I was too intimidated to learn how to use it. At my last dental cleaning, the hygienist noted that the inflammation at a couple places along my gum line had gotten worse. She said that using the Waterpik will help with this, since it cleans plague more efficiently than regular floss. My hygienist said that it’s important for me to pay extra attention to these inflamed areas before they become irreversible. Since I don’t want advanced gum disease, teaching myself how to use the Waterpik is another one of my goals for 2021. I actually tried it this past weekend. While it felt very awkward, I know I will get the hang of it!
Thanks for reading my goals for 2021. I hope you found some inspiration to set some of your own goals for this year. What are you hoping to accomplish in 2021?
PS. If you want to see my favorite products from 2020 that I’m excited to continue to use in 2021, check out my previous post.
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-xoxo Liz
