HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let us crush 2020!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

2019 has come and gone, and we have a fresh year ahead of us. It’s a new year, a new decade, and that means a new you right?

With the fresh start the new calendar gives us, the hardships of the old year in the past and the wishes for a great year ahead comes that famous question that makes everyone groan:

“What’s your new year’s resolution?”

Ugh!! I don’t know about you, but I don’t think anyone sticks to their new year’s resolutions. Maybe it’s just because of the term, or because everyone else is setting them, so why not? I think the real problem though is that we are blinded by the bright prospect of a clean slate year, so we set ourselves these resolutions that, while noble and fantastic, are quite hard to accomplish when reality overrides the optimistic dream.

So I say let’s scrap new year’s resolutions and instead use that rekindled motivation to achieve reasonable goals. Instead of the resolution to go to the gym every day, instead set the goal to become more active, and start with the gym once a week. That way, you are still achieving the same thing (improved health and doing more exercise), but you are less likely to struggle and more likely to succeed long-term. I’m all for wanting to change positively, I strive to it every day, but I also know how crushing it is to not achieve your goals and usually, the reason for not meeting them is setting the bar too high. Let’s instead set reasonable goals that we can achieve, and then push further so we can give ourselves the opportunity for maximum success. So, in that spirit, here are some of my New Year Goals!

Go to the gym more

Oh my gosh, the cliche!! I can practically hear the eye rolls through the screen. Yes, saying that you want to go to the gym more is something everyone says, and then after two weeks, the couch starts winning the argument more and more often until you can’t even remember where the gym is. Well, last year I made a significant effort to go to the gym at least three times a week, and I kept it up so, because I want to keep up my fitness and continue my long-set dream for health, my goal is to try to get my gym count up to five times a week. Thankfully my gym is super close to my house (a five-minute drive or 20-minute walk), so that does make my goal a little easier.

Eat balanced and healthy

Another predictable one! But hey, these goals aren’t predictable and clichéd for no reason. They’re reasonable goals to have! I tend to eat pretty healthily, but my problem is that I don’t eat in a balanced way, which means I’m then more prone to be naughty and eat something unhealthy. I tend to skip breakfast or take looonnggg gaps between meals, and I know that’s bad. So now I’m going to make myself a meal plan every week and tick off my meals and snacks – because I can’t resist lists ticking things off in any way. That way, I can take my healthy eating to the maximum and minimise opportunities to be naughty (not that I’m going to stop eating things like pizza because pizza is just too good to give up).

Read just one more book

I actually forgot how much I enjoyed to read. How surreal it is to get so wrapped up in a story that you fall into that world for a little bit. But, during my trip to the beach with my family, I read almost a book a day, and it made me feel so relaxed that I decided I have to make more of an effort to fit reading into my busy schedule again. So, starting this year, reading is not just reserved for holidays. I’m going to try to read one book a month and to do that, I will have a book on my bedside table and try to read at least one chapter at night. Knowing me, I’ll probably get into the book and end up staying up all night to finish it, but hey that still counts as completing my goal right?

Spend time every week writing

I’ve always loved writing. In fact, my most aspirational dream is to hopefully write a best-selling novel one day (big dreams, right?!). However, due to school, all the courses this year and in general, just my busy schedule, I never make time to actually sit and write. How on earth am I ever going to produce that best-selling novel if I don’t make the time to write it? So, I will be blotting out a little bit of my week in my schedule for uninterrupted writing time. I’m never going to get anywhere unless I force myself to start so this year, enough procrastinating. That best-seller isn’t going to write itself.

Photo by Startup Stock Photos on Pexels.com

Drink enough water

Who doesn’t want to drink more water? I think most of us don’t drink nearly as much as we should, myself included. However, for a few weeks last year, I was really good with drinking plenty of water, and I can’t tell you how much better I felt. So, I want to feel like that again. I will be leaving a water bottle in my car and in my bag, and my goal is to try to drink at least three full bottles (they are 500ml) a day. It’s a small thing that has so many health benefits, and considering I’m trying to be healthier, might as well throw in an “easy” one.

Improve my french

French was one of the subjects I took in school, and while I didn’t fall in love with the language, I did enjoy it. Plus, I’d love to be somewhat fluent in another international language, and I know that being able to communicate in French can only have benefits. Now it’s been a while since my matric finals which means I’m a little rusty, but to brush off the dust and get better, I’ve downloaded Duolingo and will be doing 20 minutes of French every day. It doesn’t have to be a lot, or incredibly hard, it just has to be consistent. (Oh my word I sound like my dad!)

Focus on self-care

I’m an anxious person. I also tend to get so wrapped up in the tasks I want to complete that I forget about basic needs. Like eating, drinking, sleeping or taking time out to chill. But, I’ve had enough people “shout” at me and had enough short bursts where I actually do balance work and relax to know that I need to pay more attention to self-care. What I mean by that is adding snippets into my day where I do things that relax me. Like the reading thing I mentioned, or going outside to garden a little, or even playing with my cat or my dogs. You only know how much you’re missing out on when you try it out and then go back to your old ways, and personally, I preferred how I felt when every second of my day didn’t revolve around work.

Prioritise eco-friendly choices

You can’t escape the huge problems being caused by climate change. The news is rife with stories of how bad it has gotten, and I’ve watched so many documentaries that it brought tears to my eyes what we are doing to our beautiful planet. I wouldn’t say that I am not eco-friendly, but there is always room for improvement. Thankfully, my whole family agrees, so this year we are transitioning to being as green a household as possible. We live on such a fantastic, awe-inspiring planet and if we don’t start doing the small things we can to make it better, we’re going to lose it. So this is my way of doing my part.

Finish my door

My boyfriend and I redecorated my room in January of 2019, and one of the new additions was to paint the back of my door with black chalkboard paint. I then proceeded to draw a few things on the back of it, expressing my doodly side, but unfortunately, I never finished it. I’ve still got about 3/4 of blank chalkboard door. I’ve been thinking about it a lot on my holiday, and it is just such a waste, plus I actually find drawing very therapeutic (which also ties into my self-care goal). It’s time to finish my door!

Photo and drawings by Blondey on a mission

Get out more!

The only negative part of my gap year is that I ended up spending quite a bit of it alone (as making stable new friends was quite difficult when I was overseas for months at a time). While I love alone time, I also love spending time with people and being away from home so much made me think about how many opportunities were wasted to see people I care about. So, I’m going to try to get out more. I plan to make more of an effort to go out and spend time with friends, family members and more quality time with my boyfriend. Not only is it a great way to keep in touch with people and stay connected, but it also gets me out of the house or away from work, so that’s two goals in one! Hooray!

And so there you have it! These are my goals for 2020, and while some might sound clichéd or simple or even too much as a whole, I plan to act on them because, with the right planning and mindset, they are all totally achievable. Wish me luck though (because we all know how much that motivation dies down towards the end of Jan).

What are your goals for this year? Are you aiming for productivity? Health? Whatever it is, please share with me and maybe we can keep each other on track and motivated? Because it is always a little bit easier when there is someone else bugging you too.

Anywho, thank you all so much for reading. I wish you an incredible start and rest of 2020 and that you all achieve your goals! Please don’t forget to hit that like button, and subscribe, so you don’t miss out on future posts. Have a great year, everyone!!