This is going to be a long one so grab a cup of tea or your preferred drink and settle in. 

I have decided to approach 2020 a little differently.  I am determined to make this year great so instead of jumping in headfirst I am going to wade in.  If I’m honest 2019 was not the greatest year for me in general. I went in with all of these plans and grand ideas only to fall flat.  I have been reflecting on this for the past few weeks to see where I went wrong and what I can do differently. Yes, there were a lot of factors that played into it like my daughter’s active music schedule, not having a job then changing jobs, and so on but that is life and I need to find a way to work with all of this crazy if I want to succeed.  

As I watched everyone put up their goals for the new year and picking their words, I honestly became overwhelmed. But then it all came to me. I fell flat because I  try to do way too much too fast and I burn myself out it’s not a matter of motivation but I literally exhaust myself and end up sick, which in turn forces me to rest and I fall behind. 

I also realized that I have created a lot of bad habits that I need to fix before I can successfully move forward. Which brings me to my plan. Instead of picking a word for the whole year to live by I am breaking it down to picking a word per month.  This way I can build on what I accomplish and I do not overwhelm myself if things do not go as fast as I want them to. This is driven by my main personal goal this year: To take care of myself. I know this seems obvious to most but when things get tough, that is the first thing to go and I need to make me/my health a priority or I am not doing anyone any good.

My word for January is:  Reset

I need to stop and reset all of the bad habits and begin making them back into good ones.  I know from experience that you can not just say I’m not going to do _____ anymore and have it miraculously work. So this month I am focusing on figuring out what I need to fix (I fix one thing and three more come to the surface) and approaching it without the added stress of a hard deadline. I never give myself enough time and that is one of the reasons I fail.  They say it takes two months to create a habit, so I am going to take this one day at a time.

I am breaking down my 2020 Goals down to four categories General, Personal, Blog, and Reading.

Personal 

• Take better care of myself:
  • Losing 8 more pounds (this is really important to me because if I accomplish this there is a chance that my diabetes will go away.)
  • Eat Breakfast every day. A real breakfast not junk.
  • Drink my daily water.
• Create Morning and Evening Routines. If you have any ideas I am all ears.
• Watch at least 1 SkillShare class a week. 
• Use my Start Today Journal Daily
• Use my Bullet Journal Daily
• Engage with people more

General

• Controlled Spending (goal is to pay off debt)
  • Book Purchases – 2 a month (this is outside of BOTM YA and Audible)
    If I do not buy 2 books that month they can roll over to the next month
• Use all of the candles I currently own before I start buying more. (This has always been a big issue in the past I really love candles)
• Use Coupons – Check weekly and before shopping trips
• Online Shopping – Only do from home (when feasible) – so I can take advantage of Honey and Swagbucks (plus this gives me time to think on the purchase and decide if I actually need it.)
• Do Surveys: Pinecone, I-say, Paidview point, etc.
• Work on eliminating fast food (big money suck)
• Attend String Association Meetings (horrible parent I don’t think I have attended one yet.)
• Attend Band Meetings (I stared finally attending these again a few months ago.)

Blog

• Update the look of my blog
  • Find a Theme that I like (I have been wanting to do this for about 9 months but just never committed to anything so it’s time that I do it.)
  • Update with new header etc when I get them (I commissioned these a little while ago)
  • Create a better schedule for updating site pages (I want to start doing this on a weekly basis)
• Cross-reference Reviews more timely (I want to do this the day they are posted or weekly)
• Try to not take on more than 1 review book a month (I took on way too many in October and burned myself out. I am still feeling it.)
• Post at least 3 times a week
• Be more active on Social Media ( I really struggle because I have an issue with comparing myself with everyone else. Working on that)

Reading

• Get my Physical TBR to 175 (I hope that I will get this number down much lower but I am being realistic with how I feel right now.
• Get my E-Book TBR to 50
• Catch up on more Series (I was surprised how I did last year so I am hoping to do good this year too.)
• Clean out my shelves at least once a quarter and take books to sell (if I play this right I won’t be spending too much out of pocket for books which helps with my spending.)
• DNF if I do not like a book (I put way too much pressure on myself to finish books I’m not feeling.)

So there you have it those are the start of my goals for 2020.  I know I want to start an exercise routine of some kind even if it’s just some time on the treadmill I just need to figure out where to block that out but that will come.  Baby steps.

If you have stayed for all of this you are wonderful.  If you would like to talk about any of it or tell me what your plans are for 2020 talk to me in the comments below or if you want message me on another platform.

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