I’ve noticed another trend, looking back on the various goals I’ve set for myself over the years. I’ve always been one to have big aspirations, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I’ve also noticed how year after year, some of the things keep getting listed over and over as my goals. Maybe you can relate? It’s certainly not a lack of passion hindering me from accomplishing them, but it’s easy to say you’re going to do all these things, but then life happens, and you wonder where to even start.
That’s why this year I wanted to take a slightly different approach in how I came up with my goals. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with setting goals; I’ve never been a believer in resolutions, but I do find the new year is a good time to reflect on what’s working, what’s not, and to evaluate your priorities and direction in life.
This year, I’m not so worried about “big” goals. Sure, I want to finish my novel. I want to write another one, too. But they are a good example of things I list every year that haven’t gotten done yet, and I wondered to myself why that is. Sometimes, in my efforts to shoot for the moon, I place a lot of unrealistic expectations on myself, which could be some of it (yeah…one year I wanted to rewrite a book and write three other novels in addition to that…like, I don’t think so—I’d love it if that were doable for me now, but it’s totally not at this stage of my life). But I know I’m capable of writing a book in a year because I’ve done it before. I really think sometimes, with all these goals, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Like, it’s pretty easy to want to write a book, but then halfway through the year, you’re like, what were my yearly goals again? I guess what I’m saying is that it’s easy to make your list of goals and then forget about them once the hustle of life begins again. That’s why I want to take a new approach.
My mom recently got this new planner that’s all about intentional living, and I think that’s such an important word to describe the changes I plan to make. I want to be PURPOSEFUL about the goals I’m setting and know what I’m capable of and how I can fuel that to ultimately reach my greater purpose. As an example of this going back to my books, instead of saying I’m going to write a novel this year, I’m going to try writing 500 words daily. This way it becomes a habit, part of my daily routine of things I do, the same as I made working out, showering, or any other thing a part of my life. Otherwise, it’s just too easy to push it off, like this summer, I’ll write the book, or on my next break, I’ll write the book. While the goal of writing 500 words daily doesn’t specify completing a novel, guess what? If you make that your routine everyday, you’re going to end up with a finished novel.
With all that being said, I’m trying to be a bit more realistic when creating these goals. Will all of these things happen this year? I don’t know; I’m sure some of them won’t, and that’s okay, but I’m going to focus more on the everyday changes I can make, more of the “little” steps I can take along the way rather than the destination, because those “little” things are what actually make up your life and create “big” changes in the long run. Another blog post idea I have for the future is actually about my fitness journey and how little changes I made have blown me away by the results they ended up having.
I’m excited to share these goals with you all in hopes this will help keep me accountable, another thing I find vital for success. Also, in the past I remember I used to write monthly posts for my goals, where I would set new goals for each month that all tied into my yearly goals. I think that helped me a lot, so that may also be something I do in the future, but at the very least, I’m going to try and check back in and update you all with how I’m doing with these. As always, I would love to hear your new year goals, too, so make sure to leave a comment below!
First things first…
Recap of 2019 Goals
See, this is actually a good example of what happens when you don’t check back in with your goals because up until a few days ago, I didn’t even remember that I had posted goals for 2019! Nevertheless, I’m curious to see what I was able to accomplish and what I still need to. The list wasn’t that long, but here they are:
Pray more. I did talk to God a lot as always, but I did not journal out any prayers like I talked about. I think that would be a good thing, though, for me to do, BUT I did do tons of journaling this year where I wrote out thoughts I had and then would revisit those with the truth, so I don’t think this goal was incomplete by any means. I do think one thing I need to work on, though, is going to Him first and not playing games. I have for whatever reason gotten into the habit of just stuffing negative emotions inside instead of just venting them to Him as they come. I don’t know if that just seems easier or what, but I also realized that this year, so I am growing. I’m going to continue journaling this year and try to write just as much about my negative thoughts as my positive ones, if that’s how I’m feeling, because it’s that honesty and authenticity that ends up showing you where you need to improve.
Go on college visits and consider programs I would like. This one was definitely completed, as I went on two visits to Iowa State, each time visiting one of the programs I was interested in. I also learned about combining the two and how doable that would be, so I feel good about this one.
Finish my novel. My novel is still not done and I’m resisting the urge to have a heart attack about that as much as possible, since I know everything gets done when it needs to…BUT I did get very close. I’m at, like, 90,000-some words right now, and my aim was for 100,000, so it’s definitely close. I have a sheet of paper with the checklist of things I need to write until the end, which is something I will do when I’m close, is ditch my outline and simplify it like that, so we’re getting there! That typing 500 words a day thing really helps, as I did that a lot towards the end of my sophomore year, and I’m not kidding, I think I went from being under 60,000 words to that, so it adds up. You don’t think it does, but it does, and cranking out 500 words a night is SO MUCH easier than saying write this whole chapter or something like that. When a task feels overwhelming, break it down like that.
Write with a more real approach on this blog. I’m always real on my blog, but when I wrote this goal, I said I wanted more of an emphasis to be on my real-life experiences and stories, and I think I started doing that, but once again I fell off the wagon with consistency at the end of the year. I think it comes down to me focusing on trying to get too many things done at once, which is also why I’m trying to incorporate more of a routine into my goals this year so I can purposefully allocate my time as needed. I also just want to write MORE on this blog. So much more. And I’ve been saying that for years, to quit writing such methodical “books” of blog posts and just write shorter but meaningful posts more often. I’ll have to get in the habit of that, though, because I definitely tend to make things way too long, haha. If I write more like I do for my journals, which I’m planning to do, that will definitely help.
Be intentional with social media. This goes along with the above goal, so the same thing happened with this as it did with my blog.
Goals for 2020
My goals for this year may seem like a lot, but some of these are actually already in progress or things I know will get scheduled and completed but have listed on here to track.
Type for an hour daily on whatever book I am currently writing.
I have been doing some research on what authors and writers recommend as far as a target word count goes or just advice about daily writing, and to my surprise, they actually tend to recommend time goals over word goals. This is something I want to do, as there’s no reason I can’t easily dedicate an hour to my book after school, where all I do is write. Since the whole point of the first draft is just getting it down, this will be helpful to get me in the rhythm. Of course, some days it will flow more than others, but that’s okay; I just want to get in the habit of making my book a priority like that. I probably will set some word count goals just to keep myself accountable and ensure I’m not spending that hour distracting myself, but at this point, getting into the routine of writing daily is more important to me than going in a big spurt to meet a word count and then not writing for weeks afterwards.
Set aside one day of the week to help be intentional about posting short stories and to create a routine.
Short stories are another thing I’ve been saying I want to do forever, but these, like anything, without a proper plan in place, are just going to get forgotten when my list of other to-dos comes about. I’m thinking if I set aside a specific day of the week, however, to solely work on these, I can help create a plan for them. The day I’m picking for this is Monday, as I think at that point of the week, I will be glad to have a break from everything else I’ve done to focus on something new, which in this case, would be a short story. I’ve also heard keeping variety while writing a novel is important, so it’s good that I take days to work on another story besides my novel.
Be intentional about setting time aside to make a quality vlog.
Here’s another thing I’ve been talking about doing for years…and I’ve actually tried a couple times, but I don’t know if I really had any idea what I was doing (and no plan), so I would like to be more intentional now that I have done more research on this and am much more confident in my brand. I have a goal of doing this monthly, which I’ll obviously try for, but really I’ll be happy if I even do one video this year. 🙂
Revisit my first novel and decide what to do with it.
Clear back in this post here, I talked about wanting to rewrite my first novel, but once my time became divided again, I realized it was too hard to try and do that while also writing another novel, and I really wanted to get another novel done so I could showcase my current writing abilities. Since making the latter my priority, I’ve basically had to neglect my very first book altogether. More and more, though, I’ve had people asking about it and encouraging me to share it nonetheless, and there was something very special about this book, obviously, or I wouldn’t have wrote it as fervently and as young as I did. I’m not sure exactly what the next step with it is yet because there are some plot areas I want to fix up to make the story more relevant, but maybe it’s one of those things, too, where I’m just being a perfectionist and am too scared to actually make something happen with it for fear of it not being good enough…and that’s no way I want to live, so maybe the next step could even look like having someone else read it. Having someone else believe in a project is tremendous motivation to continue with it, though I know that belief has to start with me.
Get the ball rolling with Iowa State.
I am very confident that Iowa State University is the school for me, and I’m ready to start that process. This year, I should be able to actually apply. I’m not sure how long that will all take or what all goes into it, since I know there’s the FAFSA and all that lovely stuff that goes with it, but as soon as I’m possibly able to do any of it, I want to. I have actually narrowed down all of my schools to Iowa State, so I’m pretty certain that’s where I want to be. I just hope everything goes well with applying. I still have to take the ACT yet this spring…which I am SO dreading, but it will be good to just get it done and not have to worry about tests like that anymore for awhile, well, unless whatever college brings about with my programs. 🙂
Go on some more college visits with a purpose in mind.
I’ve already been on a few visits, so I know this is doable, and now Mom and I are already becoming more familiar with Ames and the campus and how it all works. I will go on another visit at least once during my senior year, regardless of how many I end up going on the rest of this year, as that’s what they recommend, but I’m still hoping to get one or even a couple more visits in before the end of my junior year. The first visit I went on was a more general daily visit covering all aspects of campus, and then I also had a more individualized session with my department of interest, but that was still done as a group. On my latest visit, I scheduled an appointment with an advisor in another department of interest, and it ended up just being the adviser and us, which was really nice to be able to talk in-depth one-on-one like that. I would like to at least do another visit like that, except this time, I want to schedule an appointment with the adviser of the first department I visited because the first time I went was more an overview of that whole college, so now it would be nice to ask specifics about the major since I’m confident that’s what I want.
I also conveniently realized right as we were pulling up to campus on my last visit that I had forgotten my notepad where I was supposed to make a list of questions…but thankfully I spend enough time on this stuff that I basically have it all memorized, but now I’ve come up with more specific questions related to the extracurriculars, programs, and other things of interest that I want to learn about. I have a couple ideas for visits yet, and hey, I get out of school for them, so why not go on a whole bunch of them? 🙂 I want to try and schedule them on Fridays, if possible, though, because for one, it will give me something to look forward to at the end of the week, and two, I don’t like having to come back to school the next day after being on campus because it’s always so much fun and ignites in me so much excitement for that season of my life, and then having to go back to school is a bit of a downer, haha.
Continually save money.
This one is already in progress, but it’s something I want to keep doing. I was inspired to do this after reading a bunch of stuff about budgeting in college, and it really freaked me out because long story short, I love to spend money way more than I do to save it, but I realized if I want to keep being able to spend money, I need to start saving it. I also made a list of things I am saving for so I can clearly know what that money is going to be used for and not use it for anything else. I’ve been doing this thing now where with any money I get, half of that amount I tuck away in a different pocket for savings.
Get to the Mall of America for my birthday.
This doesn’t have to happen ON my birthday necessarily since winter birthdays suck for travel, but I would like to do this for my birthday. I had hopes of doing something like this for my 16th last year, but the weather was terrible. I’d like to go with my cousin up here, since this is something we talked about doing anyway when we were on our trip together, but carving out time when everyone works and has school is difficult, too… I haven’t been here in forever, though, and when I did go as a kid, I only cared for the rides. Now, as the true shopaholic I am, I can appreciate ALL OF IT. Kirsten told me there’s like three Victoria’s Secret stores in the mall. Talk about to die for.
Get in the habit of planning out consistent blog content every weekend, with heavy emphasis on short and sweet.
There’s two parts to this goal: (1) Spend time researching, brainstorming, and planning future content for my blog, one day every week, to have content planned months in advance. This is something that needs a whole day dedicated to it as well, is just the planning side of what content is going to be published when. I’ve tried to spontaneously post, but it doesn’t work. I don’t, however, want to stifle spontaneous ideas or that more laidback approach to the blog, which is why I want to have this day to plan and account for new ideas as they come, so it doesn’t take me three years to recap a game I went to or something like that. I have the day set for Thursday as to when I’m going to do this. (2) Dedicate specific days of the week to knocking out and scheduling posts for the blog ahead of time, at least a week in advance. These will be the days where I actually write out and schedule the blog posts. I find this works well on weekends, just because I have the full days, except that sometimes we have things planned for Saturday or Sunday, and in the past, I’ve just not been able to blog then. Instead of letting that happen, I want to be more mindful of working ahead when I know something is scheduled, just like I would have to for a deadline in one of my college courses.
Also, pray for me that I learn the value of “short” blog posts… Looking through my archives, younger me actually had a lot of things figured out, and this was one of them… Now I take, like, a whole month to write ONE post because I think they need to be books or they just turn into books…but I think you all would probably prefer to read shorter content since we’re all busy, and I’d rather be able to put out more content that isn’t as long rather than blog once in a full moon a book-worthy post. You can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think nowadays, the emphasis needs to be on that. Besides, less time to make blog posts equals more time writing what are actually supposed to be my books, so it’s a win for everyone. 🙂
Schedule out quality social media posts to minimize distractions and maximize reach.
This will be done with the above goal when I schedule my blog posts, since a lot of my social media content ties directly back to this blog, but I also just want to be more intentional about the things I’m posting so I’m not feeling like I constantly have to play catch-up or, worse, post things just to prove something and what not. Social media can really be a harmful thing if not used carefully and intentionally, and more often than not social media has been the source of unnecessary stress and hurt for me. I’m hoping that by taking the time to plan out posts and just focus on my content while also interacting with the people I truly do enjoy, I will be more productive and more joyful about it all. I can get in a tizzy about marketing and such, but right now, I just want to let worries of that go and instead focus on putting out consistent, quality content. Marketing changes constantly, but that never will.
Learn how to use Canva to create new graphics.
Something I have neglected for far too long has been my love for design. Some of it was out of my control, though, as the site I had used forever decided to start charging monthly fees even to create something. I’d ideally love to learn the Adobe Suite, and I will in college, but talk about another expensive thing I can’t afford just yet. I did get to design a few new graphics, though, when I had a free trial of it, so that was nice. Canva, however, is a free site I’ve been hearing lots of people talk about, and I’ve had to make a few assignments with it for school. I need to start utilizing this for my blog because I miss designing terribly—that was one of my favorite ways to relax and unwind. I also desperately need to redo a bunch of graphics on this blog and create some new ones, so hopefully I will start teaching myself how to do that this year. It’s not really a hard thing to do, it’s just about making the time to learn it.
Make at least one new connection every month.
I have a list of people I’ve connected with on social media and various bloggers that I want to reach out to or follow up with. This goal isn’t based on a response necessarily because some won’t but more on me making the time to reach out.
Walk Willy everyday in the spring and summer.
The outdoors are good for your mental health. I remember this from way back when I used to actually go outside. They’re great for your physical appearance, too. I’ve been looking back at old photos, and there was a time when I used to be so tan, and my hair was this golden blonde sort of color… I don’t care so much about the color of my hair, but I do care about not looking like a ghost, which is basically what I’ve become. Also, I keep buying these swimsuits I don’t need (still preparing for my beach, though, as I tell Mom), and I keep telling Mom that I’m going to “tan on the deck” with them, so I need to actually start doing that.
Try to print some photos every month.
Photos and remembering are so important to me. It is also important that I don’t lose all my photos should the internet ever crash, which is why printing them all out has long been something I’ve enjoyed. I think this would be a fun thing to look forward to each month, getting a new pack of photos to organize and hang up in my room.
Make it more of a priority to reach out to people I know.
First of all, I hate that I even have to make a goal for this because I think it’s ridiculous that we live in such a world where people are too busy to remember to engage with the people in their life, but we do, and I’ve been guilty of it, also. For the most part, I try to make the people in my life a priority, but I made this goal to shoot for reaching out intentionally to someone about once a week. I have numerous teachers I like to keep in contact with, so I want to keep up with that. I’ve also made new friends that I want to schedule time to hang out with or take time to call them. Kirsten and I used to actually write REAL notes to each other every month, but I’m the one who dropped the ball with that when school got busy, but I need to get back to doing stuff like that. Those things are priceless.
Wear cute outfits to any events I go to, no excuses allowed.
This goal might seem weird, and it probably is, but I’m constantly complaining about how I buy all of these nice clothes and then never have an event to wear them to. I’m realizing, however, that there actually are quite a few things my family does where I could put more effort into an outfit, like hockey games or the races. I usually wear shirts relevant to the teams, but to be honest, most of those I wear to bed, too, and they work better for that, and I also think should the perfect photo opportunity come about, it looks better to be in more of a “normal” outfit. That’s not to say I won’t ever wear those types of shirts and such because I could actually write a whole post about how to make outfits out of them, but I just want to be more intentional about making outfits of the clothes of mine that have yet to really shine.
Get my senior photoshoot done.
This should definitely get done in this year, as I’ve already reached out to a photographer who caught my eye as soon as I came across her website. I’m very excited about this one and will share more when it gets closer. High school hasn’t been the easiest experience, but this is one thing I’m hoping will be the shining light of it all.
Revisit and update my bucket list.
I’ve been thinking more about travel and that sort of stuff, since now, I’m getting close to where “my life” is really going to become “my life,” as in, if I want to go to a beach, I WILL JUST GO. No but really, it’s exciting and a little nerve-wracking to think all the decisions are truly going to be up to me with a few years’ time, so I’m trying my best to make sure I’m choosing wisely with everything: college major, career, money, etc. I think I’m doing a good job, but a good way to prioritize what I want is through my bucket list. I need to go and update it because I’ve saved a bunch of new ideas, and also with college, a lot of those things could start becoming a reality, so I want to know what it is I’ve always dreamed about. I used to have a page on my blog for this, and I may start that up again, but currently I have it all recorded in a section of one of my journals just for this. I’ve also saved the copies of my old bucket lists I had on here, so I want to look at those and see what has changed and what I still want to do.
Practice daily learning to surrender to God.
This is something that is so hard for me and I want to work on. I think I’ve gotten upset like three times today at the time of writing this because I constantly think ahead and think up problems that don’t exist yet. I’m hoping to practice this by continual journaling, as nothing helps me track my moods, thoughts, and insights better than this. This helps me check the rationality of my thoughts with what I know He wants me to believe. And I just want to get better at learning to relax and not care so much about results or obsessions or whatever it may be. I just want to do the things I love and the things I need to do to the best of my ability and let Him have the rest that goes with it, which is what He intended, anyway.
Experiment with a new beauty product once every week.
I threw this one on at the last minute because I read something the other day about makeup and how it gets old after a year…and I freaked out inside because last year, like 2018 last year, my mom got me a bunch of makeup for Christmas, and have I gotten around to using it yet…..? Then there’s also some self-tanners I bought at Victoria’s Secret the spring of 2018….. This is another one of those things I could say I’m going to do forever, but until I set aside a specific time to practice applying them, I’ll never do it. It’s too easy to just forget about it and let more “important” things consume my time. But this is actually a really good thing to do for self-care because I’ve been interested in makeup and GETTING TAN for awhile now (so we have an alternative if I never go outside…or if the sun takes too long to get me my results…you know how it is, with patience and me).
Okay, I realize I’ve already ruined the goal of me keeping my posts short and sweet, but now while we’re at it, I’m going to throw a couple more things on here. This is part of the “being purposeful” about my goals part in that I created a rough sort of weekly calendar for when I’m going to do these things, especially the recurring goals, as well as check-ins for the ones that are weekly, monthly, etc.
Every Day
✧ 500 words on current novel (this is my goal for each hour of writing time and how I will measure it)
✧ Once finished with daily writing, I can work ahead on scheduled planning for my blog or check up on another goal and work on that (I have daily to-do lists I got from this amazing Iowa State bookstore that help me track what I want to do each day)
✧ Walk Willy on spring and summer days
✧ Certain days of the week also have certain goals I have time set aside for after my daily writing, which are Mondays (short stories), Thursdays (blog content brainstorming/planning), Saturdays (blog), and Sundays (blog)
Weekly Check-in
✧ Experiment with one new beauty product
✧ Reach out to someone I know
Monthly Check-in
✧ Make a quality vlog
✧ Make a new connection
✧ Print photos
Potential Bucket List Items
I also did have a look at some things that have been on my bucket list forever, that might be a possibility for this year. These are things I don’t have much control over as to whether they happen or not, but of course I’ll do everything in my power to make them a reality. At the very least, I have them on here to consider and check up on:
Adventureland
I think this would be soooo fun for a date…but unfortunately I’m still so single, so that’s not happening yet. I went with my family such a long time ago (I wrote about it in my THIRD BLOG POST EVER). I keep trying to talk Kir into coming down and going here with me… Ughhh Kirsten you know you want to… 😀 I also have never been to the water park side of it, and I want to do that, too.
Go to an Okoboji beach or hang out on a boat
I’ve been to Oboboji numerous times, and I’ve set foot in their beaches but have never actually gone swimming or dressed for the beach. I’m also dying to hang out on a boat, like rent one and just party and take pictures. ***KIRSTEN!!!!!*** Again, I have so many swimsuits (okay, I actually have like three, with one hopefully coming in the mail tomorrow….which, as I’m reviewing this to publish, IT DID SO NOW I HAVE FOUR)…I’m dying to put them to use.
Go to an NHL game
Save the most impractical one for last, but I can dream, right? We were actually “humoring” the idea of going to one in March by looking at seats and stuff. Now I can’t let it go… I’m dying to go to my first NHL game and see Zach Parise… I was actually blessed to be able to see him once, but to actually see him with the Minnesota Wild would still be a dream, and I failed at life when I saw him because I literally was down by the glass, recording the whole time during warm-ups, except for the five second break I took in between videos where he waved to a kid right next to me… Now, getting him to wave to me, that is going to be our next goal! 🙂 I also think seeing them when they’re playing the Blackhawks would be amaze, which the game we were looking at was against them, because my brother has liked them, and we are familiar with lots of their players as well. It’d definitely be a great bucket list experience, but here’s the thing: I don’t want to settle with seats. If I’m going to see these players, I want them to see me, too—er, be up close to the game—because I’ve been spoiled at the Iowa Wild games in always getting to be right there, up close and personal. It’s a whole new experience like that.
Now, with all this being written, you can all congratulate me on the book of a blog post I made a goal not to write…but hey, I did tell myself none of these goals would go into effect until I actually published this post, so… No but really, if you actually read all this, I can’t tell you how much it means. I pray you all have a great 2020 and that hopefully, some of this rambling can be helpful to you all in making your goals and prioritizing and going after what you want in life. I’d love to hear your goals, too, and how you plan to stick with them! Happy New Year to everyone!!
