Words & Goals for 2021
Even though we kicked off the new year with a Feel Good Friday post, today feels like the true start. I mean, I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants to eat healthier after the holidays but decided to eat all the cookies this weekend and start fresh on a Monday! My body type is totally “works out but really likes food.” I figured, what’s one more pound of fluff to lose come Monday. 😉 Anyhow, that day is here and now it’s time to get my rear in gear and start working towards the goals I’ve got in mind for myself. While you could call some of these resolutions, I like to just use the term “goals” with an indefinite end in mind so that it’s just something to keep reaching for and bettering myself, and not something to beat myself up about if I fall off course. A resolution can be broken, leading to defeat. A goal is always on the horizon, even if you take occasional side steps. In addition to a few small health and wellness goals, I’ve selected three words of the year to serve as reminders or mantras to help me keep my focus and not lose sight of what I want for myself. If you selected a word of the year, I’d love to hear from you!
(Photo from this past summer.)
Words of the Year
As I mentioned I selected three words for this year, so I am going to share them each with my intention.
Manifest: Every single time that I have honed in on what I deeply desire in life and tried to manifest it, I’ve been blown away by how the universe delivers. I still have to tell you the story of how I came to get my job at O.Henry Magazine, but I 100% believe that it was a manifestation of my desires. You can also read about my experiences with using visualization and affirmations to bring about a healthy baby boy after several miscarriages. I actually have a really funny little anecdote of something that happened to me recently. This past November, feeling a little rusty in the manifestation department, I decided to dust off and give it a go. Practicing with money is really easy. I visualized finding cash on the road when I was out for a run or walk, pictured how it would look, feel in my hand, and how it would smell. I worked on this for a few days, taking some quiet moments to visualize it. The following Sunday morning I headed out for a run, and as I walked up my driveway, spied a dollar bill next to my car. Not remembering having had cash, but assuming I just dropped it when I had emerged from my car last, I brought it inside and put it on the counter, not thinking anything of it. I headed back out for a walk with the dogs, and came home to Chris asking what the dollar was doing on the counter. I told him I found it next to my car and must have dropped it, but I wasn’t sure how since I didn’t have any loose cash. He told me he had ordered a pizza the night before, and the driver must have dropped her tip. What I found was actually part of her tip, so I apologize to her that my manifestation stole from her. That wasn’t part of my plan! Anyhow, as we head into this year, I am going to remember to work on those manifestation skills and imagine myself living the life I want. I tell you these stories to inspire you to try it in your own life as well. The universe is an abundant place and it wants the best for us, and wants to see us step into our potential… all we have to do it listen, visualize and…
Trust: My second word of the year. This one is always a challenge for me, but looking back on my life, when I’ve trusted in the universe, things have always worked out better than I could have expected. With the help of my coach, I’ve worked hard on letting go of trying to control the how, and instead focus on the what, let the universe take care of the how. This past summer I told her I wanted to write more, especially short form, and that when I visualized my future, I saw myself being more of an asset to our local community and I wanted to do something here in Greensboro. I literally said those words to her. But… then I stressed out about just how I would do that, and couldn’t see the path. Chandra, my coach, told me to stop trying to control that how, and just put out there what I want. A couple months later, I was working at a local Arts & Culture magazine writing social media posts and snarky newsletters. I couldn’t possibly thought that job up on my own, but it was presented to me, and I knew… that was the how.
Write: Working with such creatively talented writers, including a NTY bestselling author, has me so inspired to dig into my own writing pursuits. While I’d love to be an “author,” I don’t quite yet know what I will write about. I’ve joined a monthly writing prompt challenge that started this morning and I am excited to push myself. I’d also love to dedicate one day a week to personal essay writing for an hour or two. Inside of my brain I have several stories that are dying to spill out onto the page. While I don’t consider myself someone who has a story-worthy life, I’d love to explore and celebrate the every day living that makes us human. Perhaps I will share here if you’re interested.
Other Goals for 2021
House
Spoiler alert! We don’t have any grand projects coming up this year. But we’re leaving options open.
- Trim work: Not a fun one at all, but fill nail holes and repaint trim. We’ve got so much trim in our entry that just needs detail work done. It doesn’t show in photos, so…. 😉
- Paint ceilings: We still have not painted out kitchen ceiling since renovating over a year ago. I know! How embarrassing to even admit that here! Additionally, we’ve got a main bedroom, hallway and entry, and basement ceiling that would benefit from paint as well. To give you a little something to look forward to, I anticipate painting the kitchen ceiling a warm earthy color… a light terra cotta, perhaps?
- Back yard: Our back yard is an oasis… if you’re a field mouse or large insect or mosquito. We are not any of those things, so it’s a disgusting weedy jungle! This Spring, we’d love to start giving it a haul over, including weed removal, adding a vegetable and herb garden and, if we have time this year, a chicken coop.
- Update Wilder’s room: I pray to God that we can potty train Wilder soon, at which time we will be changing up his room to remove the big changing table. Perhaps I need to work with Wilder on manifestation: Picture yourself wearing your tractor undies, imagine how the cotton feels against your bottom, and how proud you feel peeing on the big boy potty. He’ll be three in April, and I would imagine he will soon be ready to be in a twin bed as well. And of course, in my mind, that means ROOM MAKEOVER! Right now, he hasn’t attempted to climb out of his crib (knocking on wood) so we’ll gratefully keep him in the crib for as long as we can.
- Go with the flow: Create projects as the need arises, rather than create projects in order to share something here or on instagram. I see so many influencers cranking out projects, and I just don’t have that time or desire. My plan is to just keep things on a realistic and attainable timeline, within budget, and as needed or inspired. (Meaning, if I get a wild hair to paint a design on a wall, go with it, but don’t paint a wall just to have a project.)
Healthy Living
One of my fave healthy recipes of 2020: Corn & Blueberry Salad
As someone who has struggled with body dysmorphia and eating disorders in the past, I am striving this year to really focus on how I feel- physically and mentally. I’ve spent years beating myself up for the things I eat, and this year, I really want to find a better balance and habits that I can stick with for life. I’ve done things like Whole30 in the past, and to be honest, I always end up gradually going back to my old ways after the 30 days are over. I don’t want to live like that any more!
- Dry January: After a month of gluttony, it’s time to lay off the alcohol for a bit! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t get trashed these days, but over the month of December, I had several nights of 1-2 glasses of wine. They add up, and they lower my inhibitions, making dessert a much more likely possibility. (Like 100% chance of happening if I had wine!) Chris is joining me in taking the month of January off of alcohol. I typically do this a few times a year, and it honestly just feels like a great reset, and my skin always looks so much better, too!
- One New Recipe a Week: We are planning to try one new (mostly healthy) recipe a week. I don’t know about you, but we tend to get in ruts of the same foods on rotation, which is crazy when there’s a world of cookbooks and food blogs out there to explore. This past weekend, we kicked off the new year right by trying two new soup recipes. I am thinking of documenting this each month with a post of the 4-5 recipes we tried that month. Would you be interested? I eat a pescatarian diet, so most of the time, the recipes will fall under that umbrella.
- Find a workout routine/schedule: Starting this past summer, I got into yoga and practiced every afternoon. When my job started, time got away from me, and those daily sessions dwindled. Now I am looking to create my own schedule of running 3-4 mornings a week, walking 7 days a week (After sitting on my rear for work, I like to take a late afternoon walk to wake me back up), yoga twice a week, and strength training twice a week. I got some new free weights for Christmas and have already broken them in! So far, I’ve just done what I feel like, when I feel like, but I think setting up a weekly schedule will really help me. When I don’t do that, I often just procrastinate which leads to not happening. Also, I want to add that I run and do yoga more for my mental fitness than for my physical fitness. Finding a schedule that works is about finding something that serves me mentally as well as physically. That being said, should I start to feel burnt out, I will allow myself the grace to take a week off as needed.
- Read: One of my favorite forms of relaxation, escapism, and learning is reading books. I shared my favorite books of 2020 here as well as everything else I read for the year. I managed to make it through 41 books, and am hoping to hit 50 this year. Put down the Netflix remote, Cassie, and pick up a book. Friday night I picked up Daring Greatly, so I hope to read that this week, and then follow it up with a good thriller which happens to be our first book club pick for the year.
Work
These are some of the goals that I have for my job at O.Henry.
- Grow our oheygreensboro account to 10k: (You can find it here.) I took over all 3 of our social media accounts in November, but this is the one that I really want to focus on as the audience is there. Since taking over, I’ve gotten us over 3k, and I am truly hoping to get t0 10k so that we have have the swipe up option. Because we are a local interest page, it will definitely be a little more challenging, but I think we can do it!
- More community involvement: We have some plans to connect with our community more in the new year, and I am really excited about it! Once things are safe again, we may even do a monthly cocktail hour as well as story slams- stay tuned, locals
- Get out of my own way: The Friday before Christmas we had a little get together and it was meant to be fun, but with such creatives around, we can’t help but share ideas. As everyone spoke, I was pinching myself that I was part of this team and wondering how I got there, and when would they figure out they’d brought in an imposter! Perhaps that’s why I selected Daring Greatly from my shelf as the first book of the year, to remind me to just get in the damn arena.
Ok, so now that I’ve spilled it all in a very wordy not very picture-y post, first of all I should congratulate and thank you for making it this far. Secondly, I want to hear from you. What are your goals and hopes for the year ahead? Put it out there in a comment for the universe to see, and then let it be yours!
P.S. I had 2020 all throughout this post where it was supposed to be 2021. Oy.
