2021 New Year’s Goals + My Word for the Year

Well, after choosing a word and setting goals for 2020 that ended up being a complete failure, I have really been struggling with setting my goals for 2021. 

We make plans.  God sometimes has other plans.  It happens.

We get up, dust ourselves off, and try try again. 

And that’s exactly what I’m doing today because it wouldn’t be Lindsay’s Sweet World without some goal-setting!  That said, since there is still so much uncertainty in the world, I decided to keep my goals pretty light this year.

I always choose a word for the year, and after last year’s CONNECT failure, I was just stumped on how to proceed in 2021.  I honestly want nothing more than to choose the word CONNECT again this year since I feel more disconnected than ever right now, but unfortunately, I’m just not sure that will be feasible this year either with Covid running rampant.  Instead, I decided to go in another direction, but just be warned that as soon as this pandemic is over, you’ll probably be seeing CONNECT again!

Anyway, I listened to a lot of Christmas music in November and December, and there was a single word that caught my attention over and over as I listened.  LIGHT.  For the last few months, I just haven’t been able to shake that word from my thoughts, and for that reason, I chose LIGHT as my word for 2021. 

As in…

Let your heart be LIGHT.  (Seek joy.  Be joy.  Choose joy.)

Be the LIGHT.  (Be God’s shining light in the darkness.)

LIGHTen up.  (Don’t take everything so seriously.  Don’t sweat the little things.)

See the LIGHT.  (Give your worries to God… that’s what He’s there for.)

LIGHTen your load.  (Declutter and make space for only things that matter.) 

DeLIGHT in the little things.  (Because this thing called life is one long string of little things.)

See the LIGHT at the end of the tunnel.  (Keep the faith that things will get better in 2021.)

LIGHT a fire in myself.  (Find that spark again after being in survival mode all year.)

Between the pandemic, social injustice, and a very volatile election year, 2020 was the exact opposite of light.  2020 was heavy, y’all.  I cried more times last year than I probably cry in the span of three normal years, and I do not want this year to be the same.

So in 2021, I’m going to try my hardest to let my heart be LIGHT.  And I also want to try to be the LIGHT for everyone else.  Praying that the opposite doesn’t end up happening like it did last year… virtual learning and the recent events in our nation are NOT helping.  You’ll see this reflected in some of my goals for the year, so we might as well “pivot” (2020 word of the year) to those now.

Relationships/Connect

Make it a point to connect with family and friends, even if we can’t get back to “normal.”

Do something special for someone once a week (special text, happy mail, etc.)

Read the Five Love Languages with B and be mindful of B’s love language.

Spend more one-on-one time with each child.

Personal/Health/Wellness/Fitness/Beauty

Meditate every day. 

Quiet time with God every day. 

Start incorporating daily affirmations into my quiet time.

Move meditation/quiet time/affirmations to first thing in the morning.

Continue seeing my therapist.

Take more time to read and relax and not worry so much about being productive.

Take more breaks while I work.  I have a tendency to buckle down and never move.

Read one personal development book per month.

Worry less, be positive, complain less. 

Let my heart be light (choose joy, worry less, more positivity, complain less).

Be present.

Donate blood at least twice.

Drink 64 oz. of water every day. 

Move my body, and find some new workouts to try.

Eat less sugar and more veggies. 

Family/Fun

Teach the kids to not sweat the little things.

Don’t be so hard on the kids.

Continue having frequent, open conversations about social injustice with the kids.

Give the kids more responsibility.

Teach them how to manage money once and for all (save, give, spend).

Focus on hygiene with the kids (better flossing, shampooing, hair brushing, etc.)

Teach Jacob to ride a bike without training wheels, take 84.

Teach Olivia to ride a bike without training wheels.

Use the One Second Everyday app to record our entire year.

Reschedule our Disney World trip if we can.

Home

Clean out the whole house. 

Sell all old stuff, and whatever doesn’t sell, donate by the end of the year.

Organize recipes.

Start working on family yearbooks. 

Be intentional with the things I buy to keep clutter light. 

Cut down my Master To-Do List by 10%.  As of January 1, 2021, my Master To-Do List was 191 lines long, so I need to do at least 20 items to accomplish this goal in 2021.

Blog

Continue blogging as far ahead as possible.

Post more rich, evergreen content.

Post more simple posts.  Everything I do is long-winded and complex, so I’d like to add some random, shorter posts to the mix. 

Start focusing on growing pageviews via SEO and Pinterest.

Discontinue hosting link-ups.  (It can be bad for SEO.)

Start researching a blog revamp. 

Share more projects, cleaning, and organization on Instagram.

Pitch to more brands for holiday gift guides this year.

Work on growing my oils business.

Start treating my blog like it’s a real job, because it is.

And those are my goals for 2021! 

If you want to see my goals from prior years check out the posts below!

 2016 Goals

2017 Goals

2018 Goals

2019 Goals

2020 Goals

“Keep your head up, try and listen to your heart.  Be kind always no matter.  We all grow up and someday we’ll say goodbye, so shine your light while you got one.”

-       Dave Matthews Band

Happy Monday, y’all. 

*Linking up with My Glittery Heart, The Other Side of the Road, and The Sirois Family for Hello Monday.