Cheers to 2021! My Focus + 12 Quantitative Goals

Happy New Year!

Hello! How are you? I am… okay. It’s finally 2021! But I’ll be honest with you, I seriously considered not writing this post / publishing my goals for this year. I felt very overwhelmed by all the goals I set for 2020, and also underwhelmed by my progress. But it was 2020, right?

While I weighed the pros and cons of sharing my list here this year, I realized that the problem was the vagueness of my goals. By vagueness I mean that the goals were without quantitative parameters that would clearly delineate completion of said goal. So I decided for this year that I would set a focus (that would have some vague outlines, plus actual benchmarks to hit) and I’d also set 12 goals that I could without a doubt say I achieved, or that I did not.

Ya ready? Let’s go!

My Focus

This year my focus is on HEALTH! It’s long overdue that I prioritize my physical and mental health. I always say I need to do it, or that I’m going to do it, but I always flake. I have decided to not go into the specifics on the blog though, because it’s a deeply personal, and deeply anxiety inducing subject for me. So while I want to be an open book here, I don’t want to bring on any unnecessary burden to my mental state, especially because mental health is one of the areas I need to focus on. That being said, I probably will check in from time to time to share my progress, with as much specificity or vagueness that I feel appropriate at the time. I hope you can understand and respect where I’m coming from.

12 Quantitative Goals for 2021

As is probably expected, I have categorized my 2021 goals into several sections. And in all transparency, I got a bit obsessive about having the same number of goals in each category so they would have comparable attention throughout the year, but part of my mental health focus is to worry less and be less consumed by those kinds of details that really only have merit in my mind. All that to say, the goals are not equally spread out over the categories. And without further ado, let’s jump in!

Art

• Make and/or Consume Art Every Week
  This is a rather generalized goal, but it does have a measurable result. Make art EVERY WEEK. I have a large collection of art supplies that have been collecting dust for years. I want to make it a point to dig into my bins every week and play around with a different medium. It doesn’t have to be a finished piece of work, it can extend over several weeks, there are no hard rules here. And at the moment my art consumption is on Instagram, YouTube and Patreon and until the world opens back up fully (hopefully soon, as long as it’s safe), that will be the extent of it.
  
• Learn Hand Lettering
  And now a more specific art goal! This has been on my list for quite some time. I have the pens, I have a workbook. I even have a sheet with my mom’s perfect Catholic school handwriting as a guide for letter forms. I just have to do it, and without perfectionism creeping in and preventing me from even starting. The hope here is also to perfect my signature as a result of this new skill I am aiming to achieve.

Self

• Read (or Listen to) 10-12 Books
  I didn’t make as much progress on my book list last year as I had hoped to. I had read 12 books in 2019, but only got through eight in 2020. One of my 40 x 40 Goals was to read 60 books between ages 35 and 40 (so 12 per year) and then I changed it to 40 instead (so 8 per year), so I guess technically I’m on track… right?
• Revamp my Style/Wardrobe
  One of my goals last year was to take a photo of my outfit every day, which I got pretty close to achieving (I missed a day here and there). One of the unexpected side effects of this task was that I found I actually don’t like the way I look in what I thought was one of my favorite style formulas: skinny pants/jeans and a loose top/sweater. It might just be the state of my body, or the shoes I was wearing… Nevertheless, I want to feel good in what I’m wearing on the body I have now, and I also want to think I look cute if I look back at pictures. So I’m going to be tweaking my style. And as an extension of my Living With Less journey (which is still a work in progress!), I still want to simplify my wardrobe overall. Hopefully this will be two birds, one big stone.

Home

• Bedroom Closet Buildout
  I have a lot of goals for my house this year (stay tuned for my Project Punch List post coming soon!), but this is the main one I want to achieve. Since I moved in 5.5 years ago, the wire shelving that slopes down toward the center has been the bane of my existence. I’ve tried several configurations using different organizational pieces, but it’s not working for me. Once I pare down my wardrobe, I want to get a built in system in there to keep everything nice and tidy, and hopefully level.

Work

• Launch Etsy Shop
  This is a carry over goal from 2020, though with some modifications. The plan is to stick to home decor related items, at least for now. First up, downloadable/printable art prints!
• Launch YouTube Channel
  The more I watch art/studio vlogs, the more I feel I’d like to chronicle my art journey. This would be my weekly art goal, my hand lettering journey, my printable creation process, etc. I’d also like to hone the craft of video editing. I love a well produced/edited art/studio vlog. I also hope to showcase room tours and other decor/home projects on my channel too.
• Weekly Social Media Posts
  Confession: I failed miserably at this last year. My goal this year is just one post per week. I might even go so far as to say one post on only one of my social media platforms, not one post on each. That is Instagram and/or Pinterest, possibly Facebook…
• Write An E-Book
  This one is scary, particularly because I don’t know what it will be yet. But the goal is just to *write* it this year. This is a 40 x 40 goal, so I have three years to get it done. Gotta start somewhere!

Other

• Catch up on Yoga Girl Podcast
  I am about 2.5 years behind on this weekly podcast. So that’s about 130 episodes… and if my calculations are correct, I will have to listen to 3-4 episodes a week to catch up by the end of 2021…no problem!
• Clear Out Mom’s Loft
  Since my dad passed last year, my mom has been on a mission to clear out years of clutter that had accumulated in their home, so that when her time comes I’m not left with the mountains. How morbid, right? Anyway, part of the clutter problem is the loft, where I used to have my studio space when I lived there. When I moved, I left A LOT of stuff behind. I had told my dad I would clear it out years ago so he could use the space for something fun… I never lived up to that promise. My goal is to do it this year, whether that be by donating stuff, throwing it away, or moving it to my house.
• Keep A Bullet Journal
  I wasn’t sure how to categorize this goal. First I had it under Art, then I thought maybe Work. But it’s actually a mixture, so we’ll put it here. I have made half hearted attempts at Bullet Journalling before, but as with many things, perfectionism struck me down. I’m hoping to be a better planner and that having a bullet journal will help that, while also being an artistic outlet. And maybe it will help keep track of what I have to do and progress I make in achieving all of these goals!

Honorable Mentions

Since coming up with my focus for 2021 and writing out my 12 goals, I also thought of a couple of extras that if time and desire allows I’d also like to achieve:

• Go through my bin of clothes that need fixing (hem, replace a button, etc) and repair
• Continue to declutter and streamline alllllll my possessions in my Living With Less quest
• Use up what I have first before I buy more, or something different
• Make progress (finish?) crocheted blanket
• Get a new washer and dryer
• Help my mom more

Are you making goals for 2021? I’d love to hear them!

Many thanks and much love,
laf