My 2021 Goals

When I started writing this post a few weeks ago I had absolutely no idea how quickly life would change. I’m sitting here writing this at 3am with red, swollen eyes wondering how it’s even possible to cry anymore tears. For those who might have missed it, I brought Nora to the emergency vet two days ago. And so far the results do not look good. She has a large mass in her nose, we are awaiting test results. I’ll be honest I never ever thought about this kind of possibility. I just felt like Nora would be around forever. I know that sounds ridiculous.

I’m trying not to spiral and I am holding on to hope so I will leave it at that. But thinking about goals right now is not a priority. Except for maybe one, and that is to make however much time we have left with Nora the best time. To make sure she knows how loved she is and to make her as happy and as comfortable as possible. So here are my 2021 goals, but for now, the rest can wait. Because if there is anything that 2020 taught me, it’s that my family is everything.

My 2021 Goals

Personal Goals

More separation between life and work.

I think what I mean here is time management and better boundaries? When I’m working I want to work, when I’m not I want to be PRESENT. I don’t want to be on my phone around Marin, checking my email or Instagram. I want to give myself permission to take breaks and play with her outside, take the dogs for a walk. But I also want to work when I need to and not feel guilty about it. I don’t know that I’ll ever figure this one out but I’m going to do my best.

Prioritize myself.

It still makes me so uncomfortable to write and say this, and that is why I know it’s so important to do it. After a year of being pregnant (and sick for most of it), then having a baby (and suffering from postpartum hemorrhage and anxiety from D-MER), and then Covid-19 happening a month after I had Marin, I was at a breaking point. By the end of 2020 I was so fried physically and emotionally and I knew something had to change. I did not prioritize myself at all and everything suffered (my work, my relationships, my mental and physical health). I am looking forward to doing things for me, taking restorative time for me, and allowing myself to do it free of guilt or shame.

Move my body for fun.

I’ll be honest I really do not enjoy working out. I do it because I want to be healthy and strong but doing workout classes kind of feels like a chore. What I do love is sports. I always have. Being in Vermont this winter has been so amazing to exercise outdoors going cross country skiing or snowboarding (on the rare occasion we have family visiting to babysit Marin). Last summer I did some swim training with my Aunt (a personal trainer) and it made me feel so good. I am going to start playing tennis again too.

SAVE money.

Last year I got really serious about prioritizing my business financials and getting super clear and organized on that front. I also set up a budget for personal finances and did a pretty good job of tracking that but I’d like to take it a step further this year. First, I want to max out our retirement contributions to our IRAs. We set them up a few years ago but have not been taking full advantage and ultimately I know that if the money isn’t there, we won’t spend it. We’ve also set up a 529 College Savings Plan for Marin and will be contributing monthly to that as well. We need to build our rainy day savings fund up a bit more too.

Basically the big goal is save more, spend less. *This has changed a little in the last 72 hours with Nora’s health situation but will do what we need to as the days and weeks go on.

Business Goals

Focus on my blog.

In addition to going back to publishing content 5 days a week, I’d like to increase my pageviews by 50%. That’s going from 2 million to 3 million pageviews in 2021. I’ve never actually set a concrete goal around those numbers and had a plan to execute, but I believe I can do it. I look forward to writing to some more personal essay style posts and articles that look at issues in depth, including incorporating your experiences and voices.

A better and more consistent newsletter.

I am super excited to create more dedicated content for my newsletter subscribers (a weekly email that goes out on Sundays- I might do a poll and ask about what day of the week is preferred). You can sign up HERE.

Moving away from Instagram.

I talked about this more in this recent post but my main goal is to be less reliant on Instagram for my business (especially from a revenue perspective).

A product collaboration.

This is something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time but never found the right brand that I felt was a good fit. Well I am excited to share I have found a brand partner I really believe in (that I’ve worked with before) and we are collaborating on something for fall! I can’t wait to share more about this.

Getting clear on my vision and the future.

I tend to get a little sweaty anytime someone asks “what’s your 5 year plan?”. I’m actually not really a great planner in this way. Not that I never think about the future, trust me I do, but I’ve never been a 5 year plan kinda gal if that makes sense? That said I really want to get super clear on my vision for this community and what that can look like over time. I have a lot of ideas so lots of journaling, ideating (this word is so annoying, haha), and getting my head out of the weeds so I can think big picture. I’ve always seen this blog as so much bigger than me, and I hope to tap into the incredible power of the community we have here.