Goals for 2020: Being More Mindful

The turn of the year can be such a motivating time, considering it feels like you’re starting a new chapter in your life story. This is why I ultimately started setting annual goals for myself. It’s a great opportunity to evaluate how you can better yourself, whether in big or small ways.

Every year I feel more inspired about my goals. I think that’s because I’ve learned how to set New Year’s goals that actually help, and I’ve seen just how much progress I can make in a single year. It’s given me momentum and drive as I look to the future.

My Goals for 2019 were another great learning process for what works and what doesn’t work for me. I met some goals and didn’t quite reach others, but I stayed motivated throughout the entire year which is what I’m especially proud of. And now it’s time to think about 2020!

For this year’s goals, I’m focusing on several areas for a more well-rounded approach to improving my well-being (i.e., fitness, mental health, environmentally friendly habits, etc.). As usual, I’m coming at these goals with weekly and monthly goals. Some are clearly made so I can calculate my progress, while others are a bit more broad (they’re a general mindset I want to have throughout the year).

1. Work out at least 4x per week, incorporating yoga at least once every week. The more I move my body, the better I feel physically and mentally—but I’m especially learning the importance of the latter. The goal of at least 4 workouts per week has been a good average for me in recent years, so I’m keeping the magic going!
2. Read at least 1 book per month, and journal to reflect during/after each book. As I’ve started reading more, I’ve learned I need to work on retaining the stories/information better. A journal will be more work, but it’ll help me stop and really soak in what I’ve read. Check out the 12 books I read in 2019 if you’re curious about what I chose last year!
3. Nurture relationships by reaching out to friends more. I’ve very slowly started doing this over the past 3 months, and it has been so nice to reconnect with old friends. Considering I’m pretty bad at keeping in touch with people, I’m also hoping to better maintain newer relationships.
4. Try a new-to-me produce item every month. This is a smaller goal that I’m hoping will help me branch out more from my go-to fruit/veggie/produce items. Potential items I’ve probably had before but have never cooked with, myself: turnips, lemongrass, leeks, etc.
5. Reduce single-use plastics and recycle more (and properly). And just for good measure, I’ll say reuse items more. Considering the state of the planet, I’m always trying to make more Earth-friendly decisions. Recycling is one I’ve really been working on over the past 6 months (and making sure I’m doing it properly).

There are at least 3 other goals I want to add, but I’m settling with a list of 5, because I know if I make too many, it’ll be too much of a chore to regularly check-in on my progress. After choosing these 5, I noticed a theme of wanting to be more mindful in my habits—a topic I think about a lot these days. So my overarching theme this year is taking care of what I already have to enhance my overall well-being (i.e., fitness, friendships, the Earth, etc.).

What about you? Is there anything health-related (or another theme) that you plan to work on throughout 2020? May we all be inspired, stay motivated, and see some results from our dedication!