2021 New Years Goals
I’m pretty sure I set goals for 2020 but if I did, I don’t remember them. What a wild year it was. As someone that loves lists, tasks, and having something to strive for, setting goals as we head into the new year (after such a wild previous year) is something I’m excited about.
My 2021 Goals
Goal 1: Pay off $25k of debt
With minimum payments on our debt, we are set to pay off around $15,000. That leaves us with an additional 10k to pay off in 2021 to reach this goal. With a new baby, I’m not certain what other expenses might arise during his first year, so 10k feels like a manageable goal, in addition to the minimal payments.
We’ve been using the debt avalanche method (paying off debt in order of the highest interest rate) for the past year and a half and plan to continue to use this method in the new year. Through sticking to our budget and paying additional amounts each month to our debt with the highest interest rate, we should be able to knock out the additional 10k by the end of the year!
Goal 2: Read 12 books
Growing up I absolutely loved reading. It’s something I haven’t done much of the past few years but want to get back into. Personally it feels like a better use of time during this season (not that free time is something that exists with an infant lol) than mindlessly scrolling through social media.
I’ve talked about the Libby app before and it’s still my very favorite way to read books. I have a handful on hold currently through my local library, but feel free to leave a comment on this post if there’s a book you’d recommend!
Goal 3: Two training classes with Ravioli
When we first started seriously talking about getting a puppy, I was so excited for obediance classes to help with training her. With COVID entering the picture, this didn’t happen quite the way we were hoping. We did get to do one puppy socialization class with her which was great, but in 2021 I am hoping to do at least two more.
Ravioli is very kind, loving, and good at reading emotions. Someday I think it would be great to work on training her to be a therapy animal and making sure she’s trained well will be an important part of that.
Goal 4: Keep Mac on breastmilk for one year
This is an important goal for me because the first two months of breastfeeding have been more difficult than I thought they would be. I developed mastitis twice in the first month, I pumped exclusively for five weeks or so and we bottle fed Malcolm, and then we busted our butts to reintroduce nursing so I could cut back on pumping. Major props to moms that exclusively pump because that is exhausting!
After the second bout of mastitis, I was ready to throw in the towel and acknowledge that if I would have that would have been totally fine because we would still ensure that Malcolm was getting all the nutrition he needs. Now that we’ve moved back to nursing and limiting bottles until I go back to work, I’m realizing how proud I am of Malcolm and my body for making it to this point.
All of that to say that the breastfeeding community is very special and one way or another I want to work towards Malcolm being nourished by breastmilk until he’s at least one year old. If you’re choosing to not use breast milk to feed your little one, that’s perfect too! There’s no right way to feed and this is just the way we are choosing and shooting for currently.
Goal 5: Family trip
We didn’t have any trips planned in 2020 that were cancelled due to COVID. We actually went to Cancun for our honeymoon at the very beginning of March, right as things were coming to light about COVID. I’m grateful that we were able to go as we spent the remainder of the year without much in-person contact or travel.
Now that we have Malcolm and Ravioli, we’ve been talking a lot about taking a trip with all four of us. We are hopeful that COVID restrictions will ease and numbers will decline as vaccines become available and that we will be able to get out of the house somewhere fun with the whole family.
I’m curious as to how others enter the new year in terms of what they’re wanting to accomplish. Do you set goals for the year? Do you set new years resolutions? There are so many ways to do things and they are all great. After last year, having a goal to just survive and get through 2021 is probably a good place to start for most of us.