20 for 2020 : My Goals for the New Year

Are you a goal setting person? Here are my 20 for 2020 goals. Let's motivate each other this year!

I've never been as ready for a new decade as I am for 2020!

In the last decade I got divorced while having a baby . . . TWICE. And honestly, it's only now that I'm finally far enough away from it that I'm really able to see all the effects of that trauma. It was a decade stuck in survival mode and it was really, really rough.

There were, of course, so many beautiful moments over the past 10 years. It's been the greatest joy of my life watching my babies grow and become wonderful little people. I love being their mother, more than anything else I've ever done in my life. I'm so grateful for all that joy during such difficult and painful years for me. But at the same time, I put so many of my own dreams on hold and closed the door on my own feelings so that I'd have the energy to cope with parenting young children on my own.

It's how it needed to be and I'm proud of what I've been able to do for my kids, despite the difficulties we've all been through. But while being their mom is still number one on my list, we've finally reached a stage where there's a lot more flexibility. All of my kids are in school this year, which opens a door wide with possibility for me!

So, here's to 20 for 2020. A new year and a new decade!

May 2020 be a year of dreaming, a year of planning, and a year of healing. I'm preparing for a decade of good things. (Check out last year's goals here)

I love Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Podcast, which is what originally inspired me to start my own goal lists each year. Here's the 20 for 2020 that I came up with.

20 for 2020 Goals

1. Focus on Friendships: This is something I haven't been very good at for many years. Being stuck in survival mode for so long meant that by the time I'd met all my kids' needs in a day or a week, there usually wasn't much left over for friends. I haven't even seen one of my favorite friends of all time for 13 years! This year I'm going to put a lot more time and effort into friendships.

2. Organize the Garage: If there's one thing I've learned in the last decade, it's that there will be many BIG difficulties in life which are often largely out of your control, but managing well all the little things that cause frustration in life can give you a big happiness boost. The messy garage is a small, but frequent, annoyance to me and I'm excited to tackle it. I already bought new metal shelving, I just need to get to work.

3. Green Smoothie Breakfast Everyday: I'm making this goal because I'm so bad at eating breakfast. I skip it more often than not, but that comes back to bite me later in the day. A green smoothie is so easy to make, I like them, and I think this will help me feel better in the long run.

4. Grow a Big Garden: Gardening was on last year's list too and I did an okay job of it. I grew a few amazing crops of kale, lettuce, and spinach, and a lot of herbs. This year I'd love to go bigger and grow a lot more things: cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic, squash, melons, etc. And I'd really like to grow flowers this year too. I have big garden plans!

5. Hire a Photographer: I'm never in any of the pictures! I worked as a professional photographer and wedding photographer for years so I am capable of taking fantastic pictures of my kids, and we have so many! But I'm never in any of the photos. I want to get some family pictures done this year, but I'd also love to get some photos taken for this website of myself.

6. Walk for 20 in 20: I'd like to set a goal to run a race or something like that, but if I'm being realistic, this is probably the best place to start. When the weather is warm, I love to walk my kids to school (which is actually about 45 minutes of walking), but when it's colder, I don't walk at all. So the goal this year is at least 20 minutes a day everyday (even when it's cold!).

7. No plastic bags: I'm pretty good at remembering to bring my own cloth bags when I go to the store, but I love grocery delivery/pickup and they always bring plastic bags. And I do still end up with all the plastic produce bags as well. This year, I'm going to eliminate all the plastic bags (with the exception of trash bags because I don't have a good solution for that one yet - all ideas are welcome!).

8. Get Glasses: This one was on my list last year and I'm so sad I didn't get it done. So, please, let 2020 be the year. It's been a decade now since my glasses broke and I've never replaced them.

9. Go to the Dentist: I hate this one. But I'm putting it on the list for motivation - I do love to cross things off.

10. Make Videos: I'm going to make some videos for my website. I feel like there's a big learning curve with this one that has been such a barrier for me, but I'm going to tackle it this year. I'd also like to put all the little clips I collect on my phone into some family videos as well.

11. Paint the Kitchen: I already have the paint!

12. Establish a Morning Routine: We have a well established bedtime routine here that really works for us. But mornings are total chaos!

13. Throw 6 Parties this year: We could use some fun around here. Birthday parties for all the kids this year and two other grown up parties. I'm equal parts excited and dreading this one.

14. Take a little trip by myself (or maybe with a friend): It would feel so luxurious to take a day or two to myself. Maybe just a weekend in Santa Fe?

15. Keep a little book about me: #3 on my list last year was to find my Enneagram number and learn more about the Enneagram. This was SO helpful! Knowing yourself better means you can take care of yourself better. I'd like to dig a little deeper this year and write down what I discover so that I can take better care of myself (and in turn, be a better mom too). I'd like to identify the things that upset me, the things that fill me up, the habits that serve me, etc.

16. Go to bed with a clean kitchen: For years I've told myself that I didn't mind cleaning the kitchen in the morning, so I left it every night. But I've recently realized how much easier it makes everything to go to bed with a clean kitchen (see why I need number 15!).

17. Blog 5 days a week: My One Word for the year is CONSISTENCY and the site here is something I'd like to be a lot more consistent with. I look forward to showing up here more this year.

18. Use a planner: I love lists and I make a million of them, but I'd like to plan my time more wisely. I ordered this planner and I'm so excited to be more organized this year!

19. Send a weekly newsletter: This has been on my mind for a long time now, but it feels hard to get started. I'm going to figure it out this year.

20. This last goal is one I set with my kids and we're going to keep it to ourselves right now.