After coming up with my theme for 2020 as being the Year of Discipline, I started thinking about what I wanted my goals to be that I have not been able to achieve because of the lack of discipline. I looked through my list of goals that I wrote throughout 2019 and as a looked at every month and every quarter, the same top 4-5 goals were always written but never crossed off.
So, to keep the momentum of putting myself out there and making an outward commitment, here is my goals list for 2020 (in no real order of priority):
- Run my Erika Bellido blog consistently
- Workout at least 3x a week
- Become a morning person
- Read 12 books this year
- Make more $$
I do also have separate professional goals for work, but I’ll keep that list to myself.
Of course some of these goals seem very lofty like “make more $$” and “become a morning person”. It doesn’t really give much details on by when and how. But each of these goals will have smaller goals under it that are broken out into action items that I would need to build habits for with very specific due dates.
Let’s break each of these goals down on how I would achieve them:
Run my blog consistently
I gave some details about this in my previous post, but how I plan to achieve this is to write for 20 mins every day and post once a week. By writing for 20 mins everyday, I know that I will build a pool of content to post by the time I get to the end of the week. I expect some posts won’t take as long to write as others.
This helps me stick to a consistent schedule and be more timely in my posts when a new idea comes to mind or a life event happens. As I get into a rhythm of writing and posting consistently, I would take this goal to the next step by looking into how I can market my blog by leveraging social media.
Workout at least 3x a week
This one so far has been a lot easier to accomplish because I have an actual accountability partner, Jesse. We go to the gym three days during the week together after work. We mark which days and times we’re going on our white board calendar in the kitchen where we spend a lot of time, so it’s easy for both of us to see when we have to go.
I am also using Anna Victoria’s Fit Body app which helps me follow a fitness routine so once I get to the gym, I start working out right away. There’s a ton of fitness apps out there that are great, so I definitely recommend using one if you’re not sure on how to start your fitness journey.
My specific goal that will keep me working out 3x a week is to complete the first round of the Fit Body app by the end of March. It’s a 12 week program and I started in January, so if I keep up at the pace I’m going now, I’ll definitely reach that goal. And once I do that, then I’ll move on to the next goal which is to finish the second round by the end of June.
Become a morning person
Honestly, this goal has been the hardest for me to achieve or even do consistently. I wrote a post about my journey on becoming a morning person, and it’s embarrassing to say I have not followed that through. I know it’s not the most specific or what’s considered a S.M.A.R.T goal, but what this is really saying is that I want to spring out of bed and enjoy an hour of my morning before getting ready, EVERY morning (yes, including the weekends).
I have a few action items here that need to be done consistently in order for me to say at the end of this year that I am a morning person. I have 2 alarms to get me out of bed by 6:30am (lately I’ve been physically getting out of bed at 7, so I want to physically get out of bed the moment my alarm rings).
I do have things to look forward to in order for me to wake up and enjoy my morning. I make my coffee and breakfast, I will journal, read and write. What makes this goal a bit challenging is that I’m “mood based”, meaning I do whatever that matches the mood I’m in instead of following the order of things I know I want to do everyday. This behavior is what makes it okay to not do these things at all. So I’m working on doing these things every morning even if I don’t feel like it. This should pretty much apply to every goal, but this is the most important for this goal.
Read 12 books this year
I love reading. I love reading different books in different genres to really keep me entertained. Honestly, I feel so good on days I read. It keeps my mind at peace and it feels amazing when I actually finish a book. So, this year, I am aiming to read one book a month. I am starting small because I know if I put more books to read, it’ll be harder for me to achieve that goal. At this moment, I am a bit ahead. I finished a book in the 2nd week of January, and I started a new book right away, which I am almost done with! I do have a reading list for the full year so I don’t have to think about what to read next, I can immediately pick up the next book. I’ll share my 2020 reading list in another post!
Make more $$$
This is a big important one for me this year because we are planning for a wedding that we are paying for out of pocket. The job I have now is a full time career-based job, so it takes up a lot of my time. So, I want to think of ways I can make money on the side on days where I’m most free, which is usually the weekends. There’s a few things I have on my list to look into: providing some sort of dog watching service or selling my clothes online. Stay tuned for more details on what I come up with, I will definitely be blogging about my experience here.
It’s still very early in the year, so I’m sure over time new goals may be added as I start accomplishing the ones on this list. Or, maybe the ones on this list will transform into completely different goals. But, for now, I want to focus my time and energy on making each of these things happen. At the end of each quarter, I’ll keep you up to date on the progress I’m making on my goals and cross them off the list here once they are reached.