2024
Can you believe it?
It doesn’t seem like it’s already January 1 but here we go.
Just like everyone else I am full of plans and goals for the new year.
But let’s take a look back first.
Recapping 2023
Last year I managed to cultivate some great habits. Over the course of the year I slowly added one goal a month and built up to 12 yes, 12 awesome habits that are good for me, my family, and my home.
Those goals were:
- Working out 1 hour a day
- Straightening the house (picking up toys, throwing out trash, etc.) daily
- Practicing Spanish 30 minutes a day
- Writing 3,000 words a day
- Reading 30 minutes a day
- Writing in a journal daily
- Progressing with my work (applying for new jobs, gaining skills, etc.) daily
- Spending 20 minutes a day outside
- Using my phone less than 2 hours per day
- Drinking 40+ ounces of water daily
- Sleeping in my bed 5+ hours per night
So … as you can see, that’s a whole lot of goals. And it’s been great getting through each of them and adding something new each month.
But it means that I’m doing a whole lot of things every single day.
And this year … I’m not going to keep that up.
Or rather, I’m not going to keep adding new things to my day in the same way.
I actually like these goals and I’m going to try to keep doing them each day and keep tracking how well I’m doing, because tracking … is really what keeps me motivated.
So, those are the starting goals for the month and I’m not planning on going through and adding in 12 additional goals for this year.
But I do still have plans and goals.
Setting Up 2024
My goal for this year is to keep doing those things each day. And to try one new skill each month.
So, the plan is going to be picking a new skill (like drawing, sewing, and I don’t even know what else yet) for the month and work on that each day. And then, at the start of the next month, I’ll try a new skill.
So each month will have a new skill. But I won’t be adding constantly and getting up to 24 different habits by the end of 2024. I’ll have 13 habits each month to work on.
Starting out in January we’re going to try drawing.
Now, I am not an artist. Not by a long shot.
In fact … my art skills are … abysmal.
Yep, I’m going to go that far and say they’re abysmal.
But I’ve got a book about drawing every day and some about drawing cute Chibi figures and I’m going to start with those.
I think going with those step-by-step guides is going to be the best way to go for me, and it’s going to keep things simple as I get going through the month and hopefully build some halfway decent skills by January 31 … but we’ll see, right?
Of course, there are other things that I want to work on as well.
Like our finances.
Setting Financial Goals
This coming year we have some pretty big plans and that means getting our finances in order right from the start.
We want to go to the Super Bowl event (not the Super Bowl itself, but the events and the location where it’s being held).
We also want to go on our first big trip out of the country! (We’ve been to Canada but that’s not actually far from where we live.) We’re going to be heading to England for about a week and a half to celebrate our anniversary.
Now, both of those trips are going to cost a lot of money. And we are … not exactly in the best financial shape right now.
What that means is we’re going to have to make some big changes on the way we spend and save money so we can afford the trips we want to take and not totally blow our finances.
My husband works a traditional job where he’s at work Monday through Friday from 8am-5pm. So … there’s not a whole lot of change that he can make to his finances (though he is doing some side things for fun that are bringing in a little money).
That means that I need to start increasing my overall income. See, I work from home, and I have for over a decade now. But not in a traditional work-from-home setting. I actually do freelance writing from home.
I write things like articles, blog posts, eBooks, reports, etc., for different clients and on a variety of different topics. It’s a whole lot of fun, and it means I get to stay home with my little one, but … it also means that my income is variable.
It’s dependent on me getting out there and finding work and getting it done (with the little one running around) and also on there just being work available.
For our plans to work out this year, however, so that we can go on our two big trips and pay down some other expenses we’re going to need to buckle down our financial situation and that means making sure that we’re bringing in as much as possible (without sacrificing our lives and time as a family at the same time).
This year, I have intense goals and I’m planning on making some big changes to make that happen.
Preparing Yourself for the New Year
So, are you with me? Are you ready to see where this year goes? Are you ready to set your own big goals for 2024 and create a life that you want for yourself and your family?
Take a look at your current situation financially, personally, professionally, and wherever else you like and then look at what you want to achieve for the year.
All too often people set huge, audacious goals that are nearly impossible to meet and then get frustrated and annoyed with themselves when they don’t achieve them or when they ‘fail’ within the first month.
That’s why last year I decided that I was going to do one goal a month and slowly build up to all of the things I’d like to accomplish for the year.
If I had set all of those from January 1, 2023 … I never would have achieved them all. But by going for one a month and adding them up slowly … I achieved some amazing things.
My advice to you is to do the same.
You don’t need to set a new goal and build up to new habits every month. You don’t need 12 new things in a year.
But you should start small and give yourself a chance.
I set my first goal to workout 1 hour per day.
And that was it.
And I had a full month to get the hang of it. It didn’t happen immediately. I had some slip-ups and days where I didn’t get to it. But I would get up the next day and try again until I mastered it.
Then in February my goal was to keep working out 1 hour per day and also to straighten up my house every day.
I didn’t set a goal to clean my house every day. Instead, I decided I wanted to straighten it up. To me that meant the little things like picking up the toys from the day, making sure dishes were stacked neatly in the kitchen, and other little things.
And I got a full month to get the hang of that one too before I added something else.
What about you? What small goal would you like to start with this year?
What’s one thing that you could do every day, starting today, that would set you up for success and feeling motivated by the time you get to the end of the month?
Because that’s what it’s all about.
When you can achieve a goal that you set you’re going to feel better about yourself.
You’re going to feel motivated to continue. And you’re going to feel ready to set new and bigger goals as you go along.
Set yourself up for success today by setting just one goal that is important to you and will help you build toward the future that you want for yourself. Even if it seems small. Even if it seems pointless.
Setting a goal that you can achieve is going to be huge in getting you somewhere amazing by the end of 2024.
So get your goal, write it down, put it somewhere you can see it, and make every effort to do it each and every day from here on out.
But if you miss a day or two or however many days, just brush yourself off, pick yourself up, and get back to it as soon as you can.
Mistakes make us human.
Don’t consider yourself a failure for making them.
Instead, keep moving forward (just keep swimming).
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