2020 Word of the Year and Goals

Happy 2020! Doesn’t that sound so futuristic? I feel like my childhood self would have predicted flying cars and teleportation by this date. She definitely would not have envisioned my old Camry, but what can you do?

While many people see January 1 as just another date, I am not one of those people. Count me in the “woohoo fresh slate let’s make all the goals!” category. I love planning and goal-setting, and I get almost as excited for New Year’s Day as I do for Christmas. #nerdalert

For the past couple of years I have chosen a word of the year, and then set monthly goals around a theme (inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project) instead of choosing bigger goals at the beginning of the year. That worked well the first year, but not as well last year, so I’m trying something different this year.

Always in search of the perfect planner, this year I’m trying the Cultivate What Matters Powersheets Goal Planner, which thoughtfully, carefully walks you through the process of choosing goals to focus on for the year.

I’m going to talk more about planning and tracking in an upcoming post, but for now I’ll share what I’m focusing on this year.

Photo by Denise Karis on Unsplash

{2020 word of the year} abundance. I chose this word for its multiple meanings. I associate this word with money of course, and that is an area I hope to grow in this year, but also I want to focus on the abundance (of material and non-material things) I already have in my life. Finally, I like the idea of telling myself I have an abundance of time. I tend to hurry from one thing to the next, and too often have the mentality that I don’t have enough time to do everything I need or want to do. This year I want to slow down and remember I have plenty of time.

{focus one} planning. I tend to be great at planning the details and focusing on the day-to-day. However, I struggle with big picture and future planning. This year I’m focusing on looking ahead and planning not just daily–but quarterly, monthly, and weekly–so that I can feel prepared and excited for upcoming holidays and events.

{focus two} decreasing debt. In the past few years we have had some very large, unexpected home repairs and expenses that, because of the timing, urgency, and cost, we have had a lot more debt than we feel comfortable with. This year I am committed to reducing that debt.

{focus three} marriage. This year I want to be more intentional about having quality time with Aaron. Life is busy, parenting can be hard (3 year olds, man), but we can still make our relationship a priority.

{focus four} blogging. This year I want to focus on creating content I love, and find a schedule that works for me. I’ve never been great at planning and writing posts ahead of time, but (going along with my first goal) I hope to get better at that this year.

{focus five} reading and tracking. As you probably know, reading is a huge source of joy in my life, and I want to continue to prioritize reading time. I have experimented with different ways of tracking my reading (beyond Goodreads, which I do use), and I would like to find a system that works for me and that I will actually stick with.

{focus six} health. This year I want to create sustainable habits that help me prioritize my health. Last year I discovered that I love yoga, so I want to keep that up and add additional healthy habits to my life.

I know these are all pretty broad, but within each of these focus areas are smaller, more specific goals to work towards. I felt like this post was long enough without sharing those details. 🙂

Do you have a word of the year for 2020? What are you focusing on this year? 

If one of your goals for the year is to read more, be sure to check out my free guide!