Hello 2021

 

Happy New Year! I know this post is a little late, but the year has been a wild ride already. New Year's is becoming one of my favorite holidays because I love the feeling of starting fresh. I love to sit down, plan things, and get organized. I always set goals for the year, and the past few years I've created a vision board. It's becoming a little tradition for me. I put the goals I want to achieve during the year on there along with some quotes I like and images to set the vibe for the year. Last year, I met almost all the goals on my vision board, so this year I started from scratch. 

I don't want to jinx it, but I feel like this year is going to be a great one, better than the last at least. For one thing, I'm turning 30 this year! I've been looking forward to being 30 for a long time. I've always felt like everything in my life would just fall into place once I hit 30, so I guess we'll see. We have two trips planned for this year. I'm super excited about them, so they've made their way onto the vision board. The first one is a trip to Sonoma, CA for my birthday, and the other is Boston, MA to see the Fall foliage. Hopefully, the world begins to turn again, and we won't have to cancel them. I guess we'll see. As far as health and fitness goals, I want to reach 100 Peloton rides this year. I'm not really into setting dietary goals, but I try to make healthy choices. Plus, I really enjoy spin classes. For my intellectual goals, I plan to keep my GPA up and become fluent in French, well fluent-ish. I want to read a book in French by the end of the year, even if I have to stumble through it. My last goal is to be more charitable. I have a few organizations that are dear to my heart, and I want to contribute more to those causes. Last year I also had a reading goal, and I surpassed it. This year, I don't necessarily have a number, but I do have a stack of books waiting to be read. The books I'm starting off the year with are:

• A Promised Land by Barack Obama 
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• The Witch Elm by Tana French
• I Thought it Was Just Me (But it isn't) by Brene Brown
• The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
• Little Birds by Anais Nin
• The Lucky Ones by Tiffany Reisz
• Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Along with the vision board and the list of books, I always pick a word of the year. This year my word is Flourish. Last year, I picked Action, and I made a huge effort to hold myself to it all year. Even though last year was the hardest of my life, I put in a lot of work on myself and saw a lot of personal growth. This year, I felt it only fitting that I should show the fruits of my labor, so to speak. I want my life to be the manifestation of all the work I put in last year, and the work I'm continuing to do.

I really hope 2021 treats us better than 2020 because we could all use a break. Sometimes life deals us some really lousy hands, but there are other times when life is what you make it. When I'm setting goals for the year, I keep in mind that I still have to live in between meeting them. I always focus on what is going to bring me the most fulfillment once I cross the finish line and while I'm working to get there. Being driven and setting goals are good things, but don't get so caught up in trying to make your future self better that you forget to let your present self live a little. 

XOXO,

Kayla