A Checklist of Goals for 2019

I’m not normally one to make New Years resolutions. Most people say things like “get fit” or “be more present”. Those things are hard to measure. Without data how will you know you’ve achieved your goal? That’s why I haven’t made resolutions in the past. If I can’t measure it, I won’t hold myself accountable, so this year I made myself a defined list of goals.

All of my goals are focused on activities I want to carve out time for. I made sure that all of my goals are defined and measurable (uh oh do I sound like some hack motivational speaker?). Anyway buzzwordy or not I know this is what will work better for me than vague lofty statements. I need specifics. And I made a pretty checklist. Lists are my jam. I made two versions, one for Instagram and one for printing. 

2019 Goals

I based my goals on what I want to do each month, and was realistic in what I think can actually happen. Life gets busy y’all and crap happens. There’s no use setting yourself up for something that you won’t actually achieve.

For each month this year I want to:

1. Read 2 books.

   At first I started with 1 book a month. But I upped it because I really do think that if I am more cognizant of my time this is very realistic. The 15 minute chunks of time I spend scrolling through my phone throughout the day can be used to read instead. (While I love physical books, I also read on my phone because it’s so dang convenient. My local library allows you to borrow books through the OverDrive app which is pretty much the best thing ever.) I joined Goodreads in December and am pretty excited about the recommendations and ability to see what friends are reading.  If you have any book suggestions, send them my way!
   
   

2. Explore 1 new place. 

   I’ve lived in Richmond for 5 years now and have not explored near as much of it as I want to. Somehow we always end up going to our same old haunts. I intentionally left this goal a bit vague (I know, I know, I’m a hypocrite and said I wanted specific goals.) But my idea is that this could be a brewery, restaurant, or just general spot in the city. And I’m not limiting myself to Richmond. This could be a new spot anywhere, but I figured my focus is in Richmond. We started the year exploring Raleigh, NC and it was a blast!
   
   

3. Craft – make 1 project. 
   

   Just like with reading, I really enjoy crocheting and cardmaking, but I don’t always make the time for them. In 2018 I wasn’t very good at sending out birthday cards, and want to get back to that. When we got our Gimli boy life revolved around him for a few months and crocheting was impossible. Now that he is older and a bit more chill I’ve gotten back to crocheting some evenings. This year I want to make time for me to complete a craft project of some sort each month.
   
   

4. Fitness – a variable goal!
   

   You knew it was coming because everyone makes resolutions about fitness. As I thought about this one, I didn’t want it to be the same every month. A friend of mine pledged to run at least one mile every day last year, and he did it. I wasn’t sure the same goal for the whole year was for me, so I decided I would make a challenge for myself each month. While I eat fairly healthy, I’m not in very good shape. As we were hiking outside of Raleigh I got winded pretty quick. I want to be able to do more things like that with less effort. My intention is to start somewhere. Because right now I’m not doing anything fitness related. #realtalk

Each month I’ll wrap up how that month went across my 4 goals and share my fitness goal for the following month. For January I plan to do a 30 minute work out once a week, for all 5ish weeks in the month.

| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |

What are your 2019 goals?