2020 Goals

In my previous post, I had mentioned that I had worked on defining my goals for this year. I started thinking about them in Dec,2019. This year, I also put a system around it so that I am more focussed on it. Some of my goals are currently high level without much details. This is because, I have decided that not everything needs to begin on Jan 1st. If Jan 1st had life, it would have crumbled by now under the weight of expectations and the number of things people would dumped on it. Anyway, I would be working on some of my other goals, adding more specific details and information as the year progresses. Some of my goals have a strict deadline as well, so I need to get them out of my way by those dates, so that I can work on other goals. This year, I have split my goals into 3 categories:

1. Related to Habit- This is about forming new habits and maintaining existing habits. I will be measuring these but in terms of how compliant I have been.
2. Time-bound Goals- These are goals with a strict deadline for me to achieve them.
3. Self-improvement- While the above 2 categories of goals are also for self-improvement/personal development, this particular category of goals is focussing on development of soft-skills. There is no way to know if I have achieved them but I need to make a conscious effort every day to follow some tips. I doubt that such a goal can come with a deadline, so I have not set any. To me these are for life but I am going to make a conscious effort this year.

With this introduction, I present my 2020 Goals before you. I am going to be as brief as possible with minimal to no explanation, so that this post does not end up being too long. I am not mentioning here which goals begin when and end when as I am working on getting some of the timing right myself and trying out different permutations and combinations to find the best schedule to work on them:

Habit Goals:

1. Write 1 line in my journal everyday: In the past years, I did not have much success with writing everyday. After extensive research, I think this one is easier to keep. Even if I have nothing to write on a given day, I can still say- Nothing interesting worth writing happened today. Just a routine day. :)

2. Read for 5 mins everyday 

3.  No Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest beyond 7pm everyday: This is one of the ways by which I will make some time to work on my goals or just relax.

4. Organize and Clean twice a week: I was doing this once a week, I think, the amount of pressure on that 1 day when I need to work on them could be reduced.

5. Spend 5-10 mins time learning something new or listen, read the news everyday

6. Connect more deeply with my family on a daily basis: I do not want to share the specifics further but there is a list of habits in place.

7. Take a meaningful photograph once a week
8. Eat healthy, sleep well and exercise daily

Time-bound goals:

1. Complete the certification that I was working last year.
2. Write 50 blog posts this year
3. Finish reading my current book and additionally read 1 autobiography/biography, 1 self-help book and 1 fiction book by an Indian author

Self-improvement goals:

1. Be much more proactive
2. Develop a sense of urgency
3. Be a good listener and be polite when I reply to people
4. Build self-discipline and work on my procrastination issues

Other than this, I have prepared a list of things to do this year.
- Look for ideas for a side-hustle
- Be well groomed and well dressed always
- Get back to cooking and baking as I had taken a break in 2019
- Declutter my books
- Plan my finances better
- Plan a vacation/staycation
- Work on a creative project

This is it for my goals this year. In my next blog, I would write about how I have set up my planner for the year. It is very simplistic and so far, has been working for me.