Alright y’all, if you know me you’ll know that I am a highly competitive person. I love to compete in basically anything, against anyone, and especially competing with myself. Because of this I am a huge goal oriented person. Goals to me are a major motivator and help with my procrastinating personality. Without goals (big, small) I cannot focus and tend to get really complacent. I also find that writing my goals down really help me to stay accountable. I write lists for everything and set Outlook reminders all of the time. As I did last year, I really found that sharing my goals via the blog, helped me to a. remember my goals (lol), and b. to stay accountable. In late 2021 I also started a wellness Instagram account @speakingof_fitness to help keep myself accountable throughout my wellness journey.

---

Before I actually drill down into what my own personal goals, just a reminder that goals don’t have to be major or huge goals. Even simple goals can help you to have a sense of purpose and focus. It’s also important to have a variety of goal types. I tend to have a few big year goals and then some smaller milestones that I still consider to be a goal. Some of my goals are continuations of my goals for 2020 as well. So make sure you’re setting your own goals!

If you need an accountability partner for your goals comment below or on my Instagram!

---

21 Goals to make 2021 the best year yet!

Reading & Book Goals

1. Read 100 Books: I’m keeping the same reading goals as I did in 2020. Even though I surpassed 100 by 22%, I decided I’m going to incorporate more variety into my reading rather than increase the quantity .
2.  Book buying ban for 6 months: I got a little crazy with books last year. I can’t help it, there are just too many amazing books I want to read. I also was swayed by #bookstagram on a lot of those purchases, so this year I’m going to do better about reading what I have first before getting new books. Book of the month subscription doesn’t count though y’all.
3.  Get my Netgalley rating up to 80%: I have a continuous battle with Netgalley. I read about dozen books get my score up to 30-35% and then go on a requesting binge, which tanks my score. I’m really aiming to get this score up to 80% or even 50% would be great. I’m currently sitting at 22% and have about 8 reviews in my backlog at the moment.
4. Reach 10,000 Instagram Followers on Bookstagram: Currently sitting at just over 5300 followers, I’m hoping to hit 10,000 followers so I can get the swipe up feature!
5.  Reach 500 Blog Followers: currently I have right under 300 blog followers. I’ve really gotten use to sharing my writing and work with you all, my readers, and I’d love to continue to increase my reader base. I’m also branching the blog out a bit to more include wellness and my fitness journey.
6. Post 3 blog posts a week: I excelled at this last year and I want to continue with this trend this year as well. This is a minimum of 3 times a week but I would really like to be able to post daily but being realistic is the most important thing here.
7. Write More: Not blog writing, but novel writing. I have a lot of ideas in this over active imagination of mine and I’m working to share them with the world. My biggest problem is being distracting, starting things, but not keeping up with them. Now that I have more free time, I’m aiming to write 2000 words a week for one of my novels. Maybe I’ll even finish one this year!
8.  Read my Book of the Month backlist: Book of the Month is my kryptonite. I have a ton of Book of the Month picks I have yet to read so one of my goals is to read all my unread BOTM shelf. There are maybe 20 unread books there so very doable.
9.  Read my 21 Backlist books of 2021: I have another stack of 21 books I’ve been dying to read but keep putting off. Some are part of the BOTM backlist, and I’m hoping to get through all of them this year. With a goal of 100 books, this back list is half my reading for the year, I feel that it is totally doable.

Wellness & Fitness Goals

1. 75 Hard: My first fitness/wellness goal of 2021 is to get through my very first 75 Hard. I’ve really been lacking in discipline this past year and after the start of the whole pandemic. My goal in doing the 75 Hard is to yes get back into shape but to also just put some routine and discipline back into my days. I’ll have a whole article discussing this up this coming weekend!
2.  Half Marathon pace down to 2 hours 10 minutes: I completely failed at training in 2020. I feel like my running is basically picking up from scratch. I’ll be spending the first 3 months of the year getting back into the running rhyme and then I’ll focus on my time again
3.  Move every day. I use to be so good at working out and moving every day but 2020 got my laying on the couch all the time. Part of the 75 hard is two 45 minute works a day ranging from walking to full on weigh training. I’m hoping to even after the 75 hard, to continue at least one 45 minute workout/movement a day.
4. Eat less takeout & more Whole foods. I did a Whole30 in July and I love the way I feel on it. I’ll be doing the Whole30 again to start the year and I’m hoping to at least keep a Paleo eating habit throughout the rest of the year.
5. Get more sleep: This goes without saying, I don’t get enough sleep. I need to get more sleep.
6.  Lose 25 lbs: This is a lofty goal but I would like to get back down to my college weight of 130 lbs. There isn’t any reason for this other than, I want to stay healthy and the extra weight really puts a strain on my back sometimes. This will just take dedication but even if I loose only 10lbs, I would consider it a win.

Other Goals

1. Get my PMI-Agile: As a project manager I already as my Project Management Professional Certification. I’m looking to expand on that into getting my Agile Certificate too.
2. Pay off all debt: Last year was an expensive year for us. Weddings are expensive, Honeymoon’s are expensive. New cars are expensive. New pupper dogs are expensive. We accumulated a little bit of debt and I’m really working to pay it all off this year, so we can start the decade debt free ).
3.  Start saving more $: We’d like to build our dream house in the next decade and we’re looking to start a family in the next few years. In order to be prepared for this, or at least as prepared as can be, I’m really trying to save more money this year. We’d like to build a nice nest egg while we’re young!
4.  Spend more time being present: I’m the worst at being present. I am a planner, so I am constantly thinking of the future. My goal is simple to focus more on the now rather than tomorrow.
5.  Be kind: do I need to even expand on this?
6.  Enjoy every moment of 2021: 2020 was….well a hot mess. I’m going into 2021 with a positive attitude and even though I know it won’t be a regular year, as the world is still dealing with the pandemic, I’m going to work to make the best of it.

---

---

Thanks for helping me stay accountable with my 2020 goals. If you’d like to share your goals with me please comment below or visiting my Instagram page @speakingof_books. Make sure to follow both my blog and Instagram to see how I’m doing on my goals all year long!