I love the energy of a new year in the same way I love Mondays. Fresh starts. Purposeful focus. Renewed energy.
2020 was a challenging year for us all. Personally I feel like there were several months of 2020 I struggled to just keep my head above water, something that I often don’t notice while I’m going through it, only in retrospect. I said goodbye to both my dad and my grandma, and had two contracts on our house fall through. Those are life altering events on their own, so on top of a global pandemic, it was heavier to carry than I let myself know at times.
While a new year does not rid us of challenging situations or emotions, it’s still a fresh start, a chance to take control of my focus and redirect my energy.
2020 was one of the biggest growth years of my life. I learned a lot about myself, about boundaries, and life in general. I gained more compassion, perspective, and confidence. I am taking those, tucking them in my heart, and moving forward.
Ironically my first step in moving forward is spending some time contemplating the past year. Where did I thrive? Living out my priority of family time. Consistency with exercise. Where did I struggle? Setting boundaries on social media. People pleasing. With a thorough picture of strength, weaknesses, and lessons learned, I feel I can launch into the new year with purpose and intention.
So, 2021. Here are my thoughts.
Daily delete. Someone help me and tell me who came up with the concept, because I heard it somewhere on the internet. The original concept is to go through your camera roll once every single day and delete pictures that aren’t worth keeping. Some suggest even filing the ones you want to keep into categories. Personally, I will delete the ones I don’t want, then upload the family album contenders to Dropbox.
I plan to take the concept a step further and remove one thing from the house every single day. Clutter drives me insane, so everyday one item will either be donated or tossed. I have a huge bin of kids clothes waiting for me to post on Kidizen. I’m starting with that, even if it means posting only one per day.
Reading. For me. For the kids. For David. I was inspired by this Wellness Mama podcast in which she talks about how their book budget is the only budget line that doesn’t have a limit. Every single year I want to read more but this year I’m going to make it happen by joining the girls daily for 30 minutes of reading (built into our daily charts), keeping the living room coffee table littered with books, keeping a book with me at all times so I pick it up instead of my phone, and tracking them on Goodreads. I’ve already finished my first book of the year- The New Rules of Aging Well– an easy read with solid and actionable tips on how to live healthier and age gracefully. Yesterday I began my second book – The Lazy Genius Way – a book I’m finding to be a great one to start the year with!
In-person community. I know we are all probably aching for this on one level or another; I’m no different. While things certainly aren’t back to normal, a group of girlfriends and I are talking about implementing a monthly coffee date in the driveway, complete with hot coffee and camping chairs. Another girlfriend and I went on a long walk yesterday and I hope to do much more of that. It’s never easy to coordinate getting together with friends, but I it is always worth it.
Time blocking. The concept of budgeting your day like you do your money, and giving every hour a name is a habit that worked for me in the past. I fell off the wagon and never got back on, until now. While it sounds intense, it actually is really freeing for me and allows me to prioritize and fit in the things that are important to me. It does not mean every hour is jam-packed; as sometimes I budget an hour for folding laundry and listening to a podcast. Time blocking just guarantees I make it happen.
Less stuff; more experiences. In our State of the Family members Facebook group we talked about how lack of experiences in 2020 led David and I to spend money on things that are not important to us. Call it retail therapy, but buying things to try and fill the experience gap left us feeling incredibly unsatisfied and annoyed at our wasting of money. This year we are bringing experiences back. On the books we have a ski trip, a camping trip, a family girls’ mountain getaway, and hopefully our first dude ranch experience with my family.
Develop a new hands-on skill. Contenders include sewing (now that I have my Nannie’s sewing machine serviced and ready to go), gardening, crocheting, or canning. Maybe all of them, but I’m not going to set my expectations too high.
Part of me wants to continue listing stuff I want to bring into my life (like meditation, journaling, etc), but I don’t have concrete plans to include those, so I’ll keep them floating around in my mind as options to pull into my life, but I don’t want to overwhelm myself in the first month of the year (something I have a tendency to do).
And with all of it written out, I feel like I’m ready to step forward into this new year! We started homeschool back yesterday and was really pleased with the girls’ overall positive attitude with it- maybe I wasn’t the only one ready to get back to a routine?
Share with me- do you an intention, a goal, or a word for 2021?
Rebecca says
This year I want to get back to the gym (a young baby and then pandemic made last year a no gym year). I also want to work on sewing projects. Put down the kindle and phone and spend some free time sewing. And get the baby sleeping all night in his crib! ๐
Laura says
Since I know you’re working toward early retirement (my husband and I are on the same path!) forego the book budget altogether and just get books from your local library! ๐ My son and I go to the library every Friday to get a batch of books. I usually put in hold requests for my books so I can just grab them off the hold shelf versus trying to browse with a kid in tow. It’s kind of fun, too. I always get a little thrill when I get an email alerting me a book is ready! I read over 50 books last year, and am going to keep track again this year (tracking my son’s reading, too, for fun!).
I recently read “Atomic Habits” by James Clear – you might enjoy it! He provides concrete steps and examples of how to reduce your bad habits and build your good habits. I’ve already implemented a few of his tactics, and they work! His website has a lot of good content, too.
Rebecca says
I started a daily delete too, & Iโve gotten so much junk off my phone. I believe the idea originated with Miss Freddy the professional photo organizer. Anyone wanting to go through their pictures this year, should follow her. Itโs strangely life changing.
Brittany Dixon says
Thanks for the info; I’m going to go google her ๐
Laura says
I really liked the observation of how lack of experiences (2020) let to more unnecessary purchases. This can be so true! I also like the part on strengthening in-person community. I’ve been so lucky to have my neighbors become my best friends (after leaving a good community of friends when we moved out here 9 years ago, leaving a void that I was only recently able to fill). I find it is hard to make friends as adults; like good friends that you regularly see, and would travel with. Most friendships at this age seem to form out of convenience (which is totally understandable!) like neighbors, or school/ sports. This is the first neighborhood we’ve lived in that has a real community feel, and we chose to continue to freely get together with two families (kids and parents) regularly in 2020. Meeting up for happy hour or dinner (in our homes), hikes, and weekends at the cabin with these families has been invaluable, and it is rare to go more than a few days without seeing our neighbors and/or their kids. 2021 visions- survive this school year, with fingers crossed we are back to some normalcy for the next (for teaching and for my own boys), continuing to spend time exploring the great outdoors (a given for me!). Working for me: a mix of cardio (trail running) and HIIT/ strength training (currently Boot Camp on Amazon Prime), cooking at home mostly every day, no smartphone with limited laptop time. Struggles: getting kids to bed so my husband and I get kid-free time at home, and all the crazy that comes with two rowdy-ish young boys ๐
Torrie @ To Love and To Learn says
Ooo, you’re on Goodreads? Do you accept friend requests? I’m always looking for people to follow because it’s one of my favorite ways to source my next read!
Brittany Dixon says
I just signed up for it and didn’t even know you could do friend requests- haha! I’m totally open to it though! ๐
Amber Lee says
I signed up for Good Reads a few weeks ago and have really enjoyed it! I love having an easy place to track my books and it gives great recommendations based off what you are reading! And I just friended you ๐
Brittany Dixon says
Oh that’s great! I can’t wait to understand the platform more ๐
Torrie @ To Love and To Learn says
This is me: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5912677-torrie
I seriously find soooo many of my next reads through Goodreads, so if you’re getting a lot into reading this year, it’s a great place to be!
Brittany Dixon says
That’s so great!! I just liked seeing how people were able to track their reading and share it so I joined, but I love hearing that there is more to it. I’ll friend you ๐
Megan Rymon says
My goals are very similar to yours. My husband and I are closing this month on a piece of land to build our dream home. I find myself looking around our house, annoyed with the stuff we’ve bought and wishing we had that money saved for our home. I’m really hoping to simplify this year.
If it makes you feel any better about Kidizen, I did some research when I first started selling on there, and it says you’re actually better off to post often instead of all in one day and not for a while. Maybe takes some stress off of you and how quickly you post!
Another way to clear out, which has helped me sooooo much, is my local Buy Nothing community group on Facebook. It’s so amazing. Instead of just throwing things out, you can pass them on to others. I have gifted everything from winter coats (usually to people who truly need them) to used candles that I didn’t like the scent of. It’s so much easier to get rid of things knowing that someone else will use them. People are usually so excited to get things as well. It’s not for people to resell either, it’s really to build community and keep things out of the landfill. It’s been really amazing, and I’ve met some really lovely people. I’d look into it. It’s obviously a little more work than just throwing things out, but it brings me a lot of joy to find new homes for things I don’t want or need any longer.
Brittany Dixon says
Thank you SO much for the buy nothing recommendation; I’m going to look into it today. Sounds like a brilliant concept!
Also, that is helpful to hear about Kidizen. I listed two yesterday and felt good to take a small step forward, even if there is a whole bin waiting for me. Ha. My hope is to sell those then use that money to buy the girls’ spring and summer clothes.
And lastly, CONGRATULATIONS on your upcoming land purchase; I’m sure it’s going to be incredible to watch it come to life!
Kelli H says
I tried finding you on goodreads but wasnโt able to! Feel free to add me if youโd like: Kelli Holtzinger. I should be the only one. I agree with the library comment someone mentioned. I used our old library all the time. Since the pandemic Iโve been using the apps Hoopla and Overdrive to read library books on my kindle app for free.
I love cleaning up my camera roll. Throughout the year I upload photos to make a family photo album. I already finished my 2020. I think I got the family yearbook idea from you. They are some of my most prized possessions now. So much better than looking at pictures on your phone or laptop.
Happy new year!
Brittany Dixon says
I’m so impressed you finished your 2020 book! I just finished my 2019 book in December and want to get on my 2020 book soon. It was such a hard year, I’m kind of dreading it, but know I will want it took look back on.
I’ll search for you on Goodreads!
Kelli says
I try to upload pictures throughout the year so a few months at a time. It will be hard for you but maybe itโll be therapeutic too? Youโll definitely want the book in the future. ๐