Top Ten Goals and Hopes for 2021

Posted January 11, 2021 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 22 Comments

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is about my hopes and goals for 2021. I’ve never subscribed to the idea that a new year means a new me. I’m good just the way I am. BUT a new year is a symbolic fresh start, and I enjoy making small goals and wishes for the coming year because they give me something to aim for. 2020 was hard, so my theme for 2021 is going to be “happiness”. Everything I’m hoping for and aiming to achieve in 2021 will ultimately be for my increased happiness and well-being. Some of these things are bookish, and some are more personal.

1. Learn to sew and crochet! I’ve always loved being crafty and artistic, and I’ve lost that in recent years. I got some sewing notions and a couple project books for Christmas that I’m excited to start working my way through. One of my friends sent me some minky fabric, and another friend is going to teach me how to make a throw blanket. I also got some crochet supplies for my birthday last summer that I haven’t used yet, so I want to learn how to do both of these things.

2. Become an amazing bread maker! I love homemade bread a LOT. I could live on bread and butter alone, so what better hobby to learn than baking bread? And my mom bought me a really cool bread cookbook for Christmas that teaches you how to make all kinds of breads and other bread products like cinnamon rolls and pizza.

3. Set aside at least an hour a day to do something good for myself (non-hobby related). This could be working on my mental or spiritual health, researching natural healing, doing biofeedback for muscle relaxation, going on a walk (even if on the treadmill), exercising, etc. I can do one or a combination of any of these things.

4. Do something that makes me happy each day. This can be reading a book, watching TV/movie, playing Animal Crossing or other video games, talking with friends, working on one of the new hobby I mentioned above, listening to music, working on a puzzle, etc. I don’t spend enough time just being happy, and I know it would do such good things for me.

5. Drink more water. I’m chronically dehydrated, and I know that’s not helping some of my chronic pain and organ dysfunction. I’d like to eventually work up to a gallon, but that’s going to take work. So for now I’d just like to try and increase my intake and see how I feel. I’ve heard that as you drink more, your body wants more.

6. Blog more! I love blogging and have always found it to be a fun outlet where I can share my thoughts. I fell into a bit of a slump in the last year and then got so buried by my backlog of reviews that needed to be written, that I just kind of quit altogether. Blogging is supposed to be fun and for me, so I need to make it fun.

7. DNF faster so I end up loving more books in 2021 than not. 2020 had a lot of great reads, but also a lot of meh or downright awful ones. If I’m not excited to read, I’m doing something wrong. I need to stop reading the books I’m not enjoying faster so that I can read more of the ones I love. I might even read more books this year if I do this!

8. Go through and organize and get rid of my stuff. I want my things to bring me joy, and if they don’t then they need to go. I have too much stuff.

9. Surround myself with good people, who make my life better and happier. Maybe not physically because COVID is still a thing (so hoping that it’s a thing of the past soon), but even just emotionally. I need to embrace the love in my life and move away from the toxicity.

10. Lessen the stress in my life. We don’t always get to pick what we deal with, but sometimes we bring it upon ourselves. I need to really figure out what I need to do to feel calmer and less stressed. Even just a little. If there’s anything I can do to change or reduce my stress, I want to figure out what that is and then do it (or work towards it).

I hope 2021 is everything you hope it will be.
And if all you hope is that you’ll be safe and healthy, that’s 100% good enough.

And I hope it’s so much better for all of us than 2020 was. 

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22 responses to “Top Ten Goals and Hopes for 2021

  1. I love writing and working on my website (even though it is a LOT of work), and so it’s the place where I want to be most engaged. For me, this means I also want to visit other websites more often and find good conversations with people, so hopefully that’s something I’ll accomplish in 2021.

    Best of luck with your goals, Jana! :)
    Rissi @ Finding Wonderland recently posted…NEW YEAR, NEW RESOLUTIONS, NEW MENTALITY

  2. I love your list! I adore crocheting and knitting with all my heart. It calms me down a lot, and it’s such a wonderful feeling when you wear something you made yourself. I feel seen by your plan to drink more water. I am horrible at drinking the amount of water I should, and I hope to get better at it this year.
    Ruby Jo recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books of 2020

  3. Good luck on all of these goals! I hope 2021 brings you lots of happiness. Spending more time on self-care and things that make you happy is such a game changer! I’ve been trying to do that too, cutting out some of the time I spend aimlessly scrolling on my phone and instead being creative, working on a bullet journal and knitting. It has really been a good change for me :)
    Nikki @ Night Full of Books recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday #42 || My 2021 read or unhaul challenge

  4. My goal for next year is to read more books from my TBR pile and to achieve that, I take part in several reading challenges, so I posted that.

    But I love your goals, very good ones. I bake bread all the time, so if you want any hints or recipes … just ask.
    Marianne Maurer recently posted…The World Reading Challenge

  5. I got a bread machine for my birthday last year, and while some people consider it “cheating,” I don’t care. I absolutely love how much fun it is and how easy it is to make whatever I want – bread of all sorts, pizza, pretzels, cinnamon rolls – the list goes on! We’re hoping to try making pasta sometime soon (I got a Kitchenaid Mixer with pasta attachment for my wedding), and the bread machine takes so much work out of the making/baking that I actually have time to enjoy being in the kitchen again.

    I also bought a 64 oz water bottle off Amazon (Simple Modern brand), and it’s helped my water intake a lot. If I don’t have to continuously get up to refill the bottle, I find that I drink a lot more! I bought it in case I have to go back to the office (still working from home for now), since I don’t want to go into public areas any more than I have to, and the water cooler is in the public break room.

  6. These all seem like they’re great ideas for increasing your happiness quotient! It might be hard to do all of them all of the time, but you don’t need to! I was in a real blogging slump for a long time and almost gave up my blog, too. I’m glad I didn’t, too!
    Laurie C recently posted…Top Ten Favorite Audiobooks of 2020

  7. I grew up spoiled–my mom baked all our bread from scratch and it was the BEST! Totally a worthwhile thing to learn! I really want to learn to make my own sourdough. I’ve made regular bread, muffins, pizzas, etc. but never sourdough.