2021…a Brand New Year…Thank Goodness!

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I have never been so excited about a brand new year. That’s an impressive statement from me because New Year’s Eve/Day is my favorite time of year. 2020 was rough for so many reasons, including some health issues, lost loved ones, and financial struggles. 

I’m optimistic that 2021 is going to be a better year. Some big things on the personal front for us is that Michael is moving to Indiana for a new job opportunity and Nick is set to graduate from WKU in May. Work will hopefully slow down a bit if I can make it through my crazy busy January and I will be able to devote some serious time to my goals. So here’s what I plan to accomplish in 2021…

Finances

Always have to start with the money, don’t we. It’s what makes the world go round and honestly if you don’t have your money in check then it’s hard to accomplish a lot of other things.

• Increase my emergency fund by 50%. I would love to increase this by more but I think my bigger focus this year needs to be on reducing my debt.
• Decrease credit card debt by 20%. This will be tough but it’s a noose around my neck that I want to start getting rid of. The sad part is, most of my debt on these isn’t even the result of something fun or frivolous like vacations or toys. It’s medical debt or car repairs or fun stuff like that.
• $7500 in extra income. This can be pay raises, side gig, blog or writing. The more I can make in extra income the more I can throw at my debt so hopefully that’s some serious motivation for me.

Blog/Writing

This was my most disappointing part of last year. I was aiming for 48 posts and only had 21. I had less page views than I did in 2019 by 9%. This is the year I start showing some serious improvement or I might have to reconsider if the costs are worth it. I need to do some serious evaluating on what I’m doing and maybe “throw some spaghetti” on the wall to see if a different approach works better.

• Still really want to get to the point where I’m posting weekly on a consistent basis. Setting a goal of 48 posts, which technically gives me 4 weeks worth of leeway.
• Want to more than double my page views this year. I am aiming for at least 3,000 page views, which means I need to get more eyes on this little blog.
• Increase my subscriber list. I have a measly 20 subscribers on my mailing list but to be fair, I’ve not figured out the logistics of the mailing list so I need to find time for a deep dive on learning the ins and outs of that before I can expect to increase my subscriber list. End goal is to get up to 100 subscribers by the end of 2021.
• Continue to submit my writing to other places for publication. 4 submissions at least.
• Create my legacy binder this year and sell it through my website. This will be a printable product that you can print out to have all your important information in one place for your loved ones in case they need to take over your finances/estate, etc. for whatever reason.

Self-Care

Can’t neglect taking care of yourself during the year. 2020 was the year I really started feeling my age. I need to do better about taking care of my health.

• 100 ounces of water daily. Let’s be honest, I’m never going to give up my diet coke. I love it! But…I can add more water to my diet.
• Lose 20 pounds for the year and 10 of those pounds I would like to see gone by my birthday. That’s roughly a pound a week I need to concentrate on for this first 10 weeks or so.
• I want to read 24 books again this year, at least 10 being non-fiction.
• This is going on the list again this year. I’ve got to make it a priority to fix the little stuff in my condo. Hang the stupid pantry door, fix the bath towel rod in my bathroom, get my home office put together, at least get a quote for two new bedroom windows and hardwood floors or new carpet for the bedrooms. Oh, and I’ve got to figure out how to at least work on the shower tiles in my bath, they’re gross and need re-grouted or caulked or something. 

2021 is going to be great!!

If you say it enough times and loud enough, then it has to be so, right? I think that’s plenty to keep me busy for 2021. Next year this time I’m confident I’m going to be able to write a fabulous post about how great this year was and how much I accomplished. 

What about you guys? Do you set resolutions? What do they include? I know a lot of people prefer to pick out a word for the year but I feel like that wouldn’t be specific enough for me. 

As always, if you haven’t signed up for my email list, please feel free to do so. I’m going to try to be better about sending out notifications to my list this year. I wish blogging we just as simple as writing a little post like this but there’s a lot of back end stuff you have to learn as well if you want to grow your following. It’s been a slow process for me and made me realize I’m not as tech savvy as I thought I was (and my tech guy is moving to Indy, sigh). Also, please feel free to share with your friends if it’s something you think they might be enjoy. I would love to get more eyes on my site.

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