Happy New Year! So happy to be in 2021. Like every new year, I plan out my goals. Will I achieve them? Possibly. No matter what it's fun and I love doing it. I'll be talking about my bookish, blog, and some personal goals. I'd love to know your goals as well. I'm focusing on what I want to accomplish in the first quarter of the year. The idea is to look back at my goals at the end of the quarter - adjust and make sure I am focused on my goals.
My bookish goals consist of my challenge goals and special projects I want to complete in a year. I may have lower expectations this year, what with not having a yearly number of books I want to read, however, that doesn't mean I don't have big plans. This is not a surprise. I'm a dreamer and a planner.
My reading challenges that I've created for myself are focused on genres I really want to read. I do also have my Bible Yearly Reading Goal (read the bible every day) and my goal to read books in Spanish.
Quarter #1 Goals
- Series: 1/4 series
- Sci-Fi: 1/4 books
- Foodie Reads: 2/5 books
- Adult Fantasy: 1/4 books
- Hispanic Books: 2/6
- Spanish Books: 2/6
- Mystery/Thriller: 1/4 books
- Nonfiction: 3/12 books
- Shelf Reads: 1/5 books
- Horror: 3/4 books
- ARCs: 3/12
I want to focus on reading older series this year because I feel like it's such a waste to start a series that I really enjoyed and just not continue on because there are newer books out there. I have been getting into sci-fi again which isn't something I've done since the dystopia years of my teen/early twenties years. I want to read outside of my comfort zone by reading more sci-fi, adult fantasy, mystery/thriller, and horror genres. Adult Fantasy is an area in my reading I've completely ignored. I read the Book of the Ancestor series and that was it. It was like nothing I've read before and I think I'll be challenged more by reading adult fantasy. I also love fantasy in general so it's a shame that I only limit it to YA. My mom loves mystery/thrillers and I just am like meh about them. But, I do think I know generally what I like in that genre so I want to give it a chance. I am slowly starting to fall in love with the spooky side of horror. I'm not a gore type of horror person. But, I put horror on the back burner for some reason. Now that I've found some that seem very me, it's time I put it in the forefront. The same thing with foodie reads which has been really difficult to find ones I am interested in so any ones you recommend will be greatly appreciated! I really enjoy nonfiction and this year I want to focus on some very me nonfiction and some religious ones too. I want to read own voice books by Latino/Hispanic authors. I read 12 last year which I'm proud of however, it was after realizing I have read so little throughout my life. I want to keep that momentum going in 2021. I also don't want to force reading diversely but I do want to seek out those one or two books I might see through a search that sounds amazing. So I want to read more diversely in general but this year I am planning to read books with the thought in the back of my mind that I will fall in love with this story. That I am sure this will be a four or five-star read. My unread books on my shelf are calling out to me. I am so bad with reading books on my shelf so I want to put in the effort to at least take a look at my shelf at some points in the year and pick up something I haven't read before. ARCs are a new addition to my goals. I got to 80% on my NetGalley so I feel comfortable now asking for books one at a time and confident that I will review them before they are published. I want to hype books up so I am looking forward to reading books ahead of time.
Of course, this is the best-case scenario. I'm trying to take it easy but I still want to plan out for the most I can do. I'm doing a Top 5 list of books I want to read every month and they may not all be from this list. But this list will keep me focused. I kind of want to do a reading journal and be creative with it so that might help me keep track of these goals as well.
How Will I Achieve These Goals?
- Read Bible in the Morning
- One Physical Book Read Over Work Breaks/After Work
- One Book Read over the Weekend
- Check Back After Every Month to See How I Have Progressed (Adjust Reading Plans If Needed)
Special Projects
I want to complete at least four Special Projects throughout the year (one every quarter). The goal is to challenge my comfort zones with reading. Read genres or themes that I am neglecting essentially.
How Will I Achieve These Goals?
- Prioritize the Special Project Books in your Top 5 list.
- Read the Special Project Books over a long period of time or through an audiobook to make it easier to work on.
- Check Back After Every Month to See How I Have Progressed (Adjust Reading Plans If Needed)
Lastly, I am pretty close to reaching 400,000 views for the lifetime of my blog and it would be cool if I can hit that. I think I can do it. Focusing on my blog more will help me get there.
Personal Goals
Now my personal goals are a whole other thing. I'm focusing on fitness, cooking, creativity, building a better cleaning routine, and working on my self-care. I also have financial goals but it feels too personal to put on here. Let's just say that I'll be finished with my loans next year which means I got them done in what... four years? It's my Bachelor's and Master's so that feels like a major feat for me. Then I'll be saving a majority of my monthly income to eventually invest it based on the recommendations of my accountant brother.
I mostly put something in the oven or microwave to heat up and then eat it. I am terrible at making food for myself. I used to be really into it. I want to get back to that. I want to create unique dinner and dessert recipes which means I want them all to be different. So 6 new dinner recipes and 3 dessert recipes over a three month period? Seems doable.
I've been saying for two years I want to get into sewing and back into drawing. I am missing that creative side of me. I'm going to be practicing my sewing on some fun projects and learning how to set up my sewing machine. My mom got me a calligraphy set last year but I haven't used it. It's sitting right now in my closet, silently judging me.
Sewing: Sheep Plushie, Book Sleeve, and Machine Sew (first time!) Tablecloth
Drawing: Draw at least 6 items/characters
Calligraphy: Practice 6 pages of calligraphy
I do not have a cleaning routine. Other than doing laundry every week. I let things pile up and then clean them all in one go when I could be working on it every day or once a week.
Dishes: 4 Dishes everyday
Laundry: Every Saturday Morning
Vacuum: Every Saturday Morning (waiting for Laundy to be done)
Put away items when you get home from work: (5 min. interval)
This one's personal but it's basically me working on skin, nails, teeth, and hair care for myself. This is another thing that has gone to the wayside because of my work. I used to have a whole skincare routine and care about my hair but I don't anymore so it's another thing I want to change.
How Will I Achieve These Goals?
Keep a habit tracker. Check on it once per day. Be okay with missing a goal one day and try again the next day.
If you are also a planner, please I want to know your goals!
If you are not, I'm curious what you make of all of this.
I do love making plans and having goals. I need to get better at narrowing them down - like you did here. You have to have little steps to reach big goals. I do want to eat better and move more this year, but I'm taking small steps to get there so I can actually keep it up long term. Right now I really want to focus on food more than anything so I can (hopefully) lose weight. That will make it easier to be active again. Good luck with all of your goals!!!!
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
Yes, the smaller steps are helping but I'm mainly focused on moving and my blog right now. I'll have to add other elements more consistently once I feel secure in my new habits.
DeleteThank you and good luck with your goals too!
I absolutely love your "resolutions" and how you've broken it down and will review and adjust as necessary - that's a great idea! That way rather than feel stressed and forced to try and achieve unreachable targets you can reset them and enjoy your reading.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely bookmarking this post as there are a lot of ideas that I'd love to incorporate myself. I'm aiming at reading out of my genre comfort zone too, though I draw the line at horror! I want to include some non-fiction reading too but what that will be I haven't yet decided.
Yay! I'm glad I was able to help. I've been looking back at this post too. I'm slowly adding new habits and focusing only on two so far. My plan is by the end of the quarter I will be able to incorporate a good majority of them. Slow and steady wins the race (:
DeleteHaha! Horror is a new interest for me. I like more atmospheric horror than anything. I don't particular like gore or anything too weird. A good way I pick out nonfiction is going to my library apps and scrolling to find a good audiobook. It's a great way to see what subjects you are interested at the time as well.
Doing a quarter at a time seems smart. It's like breaking your bigger goals into smaller steps, thereby making them much more doable. I think all of your goals for this year sound like good ones. I tend to be a planner, although not nearly as detailed as you've done here. After this past year, I am keeping things very simple this year and taking it day by day. Too much is still in flux what with the pandemic. I did set myself some reading goals by way of challenges for the fun of it. I wish you the best with your goals!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to take it day by day as well. I don't feel too pressured. Just making sure to keep in mind my goals. And since I get to adjust them later I'm not too concerned. But who knows what's going to happen in 2021. Hopefully good things. Thank you, hope you have a good year (:
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