Happy New Year! Like everyone else, the beginning of the year is a time to reflect and create new goals. Every year, I make goals for all areas of my life. I created an excel doc (I know, I’m pretty nerdy) a couple of years ago to keep track of my goals. Each tab holds a new year’s goal with a column for all areas of my life. I look back over what I’ve accomplished or postponed over the years to see how I’ve progressed. I realized the last time I shared goals for the year was in 2021. To be more transparent and another way to keep myself accountable for my goals, I wanted to share my goals for 2023 on the blog.
GOAL PROGRESS OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS
The last two years have been a lot. I have made lots of progress in my life, but it also feels like I haven’t done anything. One of the goals for 2021 was to read 25 books. While I didn’t accomplish that goal until 2022, I’m happy that I can finally cross that item off my list. I’ve always been an avid reader, and I’m happy I got to focus and achieve that goal last year.
Additionally, I wanted to grow waist-length hair. The more my hair grows, the less I want to achieve this goal. Looking back over the post I wrote, all I could see, and hear, were my insecurities and societal norms about long hair on Black women. Let’s be honest; I’m a lazy natural and really only do my hair out of necessity. Having waist long hair would be an item that I could check off my life goals, but it’s not really what I want. I love having manageable, healthy hair that doesn’t require a lot. For now, I’m going to keep focusing on keeping my hair healthy, no matter the length.
Fitness-wise, I wrote an entire post for my running goals. While I was able to incorporate more weights last year when I joined Planet Fitness and finally joined a pilates studio – a 2022 goal – I dealt with many injuries throughout the year. This impacted my goal to start feeling my best finally and limited the exercises I could do.
While the last two years have seen me achieve some and postpone other goals, let’s get into my goals for 2023.
MY 7 PERSONAL & BLOG GOALS FOR 2023
READ 3 BOOKS A MONTH
I had a lot of time last month to read books. I read a total of 8 books – which boils down to 2 books a week – and could have read more if I wanted to. This made me realize that I have been procrastinating and making all the excuses for why I haven’t been reading. Basically doing myself a huge disservice by putting off one of the few things from my childhood that I can still enjoy. To achieve this goal means scrolling and watching less tv. This is honestly something that I have been able to achieve last year, and I will continue to put that into action so that I can reach a goal of 36 books. I’ll be keeping track every month of the books I’ve read.
TAKE A TRIP AT LEAST ONCE A QUARTER
Before the pandemic, I wanted to focus on traveling more and visit some of those places on my travel list. Of course, everything didn’t quite work out the way I planned. Now that I have unlimited PTO with my job, I have fewer restrictions on how often I can take time off. Because of this, it will make it a little easier to travel somewhere – even if it’s somewhere in the states – at least once a quarter. This will allow me to create new memories and experiences that I can relive forever.
PAY OFF THE LAST OF MY DEBT BY THE END OF THE FIRST QUARTER
If the pandemic taught me anything, I must do everything I can to be financially secure in case anything happens. With rumblings and predictions about a recession for the year, I’ve been focusing more on living by a budget and paying off unnecessary debt. I’m happy to report that I’ve been able to pay off a significant portion of this debt and should be debt free by the end of the first quarter.
CREATE VIDEO CONTENT
Video is the reigning queen on every platform. So, to follow the name of the game, I need to create more video content. I want to ensure that the content I create is relevant, helpful, and uniquely me.
INCREASE MY MONTHLY BLOG REVENUE
I’ve been making, consistently, the same amount from the blog every year. This year, I would like to break that and expand that amount which will require me to step outside of my comfort zone and promote myself a little more. Timidity is not going to get me where I would like to be. Achieving my goal of creating more video content will, in turn, increase the revenue.
STRETCH EVERYDAY
Pilates has humbled me in the best possible way. It has revealed how tight I am ALL. THE. TIME. As I get closer to 40, I find myself aching more and more every day. When I have made the conscious effort to stretch, I notice how much easier it is to run and move throughout the day. Building a habit takes time and discipline, but I’m optimistic that I will be able to stick it out this year.
LEAVE MY HOUSE MORE
Since moving back to Cincinnati, I find myself in the house a lot. While this has been great for my reading goal, socially, it’s not ideal. Every time I leave that house to be social, I feel like I’ve been living under a rock with everything I’ve missed or didn’t realize was a new thing here. So, I plan to be intentional about going to new places around the city and nurturing my relationships.
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR 2023?
