Goals for 2021: What I am working on this year

It is time for me to share my goals for 2021 with you! Years ago I would sit down and write out my goals on this very blog. It was cathartic for me to write it all down. It was also before I started using the PowerSheets Goal Planner. Once I started writing my goals down in my PowerSheets, I didn’t feel the need to write them here anymore.

However, writing out my goals for 2021 is still important. It is also one of the things that you have asked me most for. I know that it can be helpful to see how others write out and then accomplish their goals. That is why I have been sharing my prep work and word of the year with you. Obviously I am a little late getting up goals here, but I believe that January 1st is just another date on the calendar, and goal setting can be done at any time and you will still be successful!

Goals for 2021: Life-giving as a Guide

I talked in my word of the year video and post about how I am using my word life-giving as a guide for my goals for 2021. It is important to me to use that as a lens to look through while working on my goals. This keeps what is most important in front of me at all times.

When I thought about what I wanted my goals for 2021 to be, I knew life-giving was going to be the central part. You will see this as we move through the different areas that I am planning to work on for this year.

Sharing my goals does not mean you need to also have these goals

I don’t want you to look at my goals and think they are applicable to you. This is something that is incredibly personal to me specifically. I know that it is easy sometimes to watch a goals video, or read about what someone else is doing and think “hmm, I think I ought to be doing that as well.”

Now, you may come away with some ideas from this post, and that is what I am hoping! But, I do not want you to think that you need to work on what I am working on. I want you to go back through your own PowerSheets and if there is a similar thread, and one of my action items makes sense to add, then go ahead. But, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater if you see what I am working on and think you ought to as well.

You can watch my entire 2021 PowerSheets Goals Series below!

My Goals for 2021

As I share my goals with you, I will explain my why and list some of the action steps and tasks that I have written down as well. This is to give you an idea of the big and little things that I am planning to accomplish my goals.

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I do not write out all of the action steps in my PowerSheets. Instead, I have a small notebook where I have listed different categories on two-page spreads. This is where I will add and cross off action items, tasks, and ideas as I go throughout the year.

I use this notebook because I am a list maker, and having the space to add things as I think of them is helpful to me. Then when I sit down to work on my PowerSheets for the month, I can look at my task list and see what may be a good thing to work on in the month ahead, or if something no longer fits in that goal, or I have already accomplished it and it can be checked off.

These goals are not in any specific order!

Goal 1: Create a Life-giving Home

The first on my list of goals for 2021 is to create a life-giving home. As I said above, my word for 2021 is life-giving, and this has been at the front of my mind since we moved at the beginning of 2020.

We are in a new home. I want it to be life-giving for my family. There are a lot of things that I put off in 2020 because, well, it was 2020 and things have been crazy around here. But, 2021 is the year that I am going to get good rhythms in place, get my home set up so that it works for me and my family, and to breathe life into our routines and experiences here together.

Some of my ideas around this goal:

  • 2021 Home Organization Challenge
  • Cleaning index cards
  • Weekly rhythm for personal/homeschool/family
  • Toy organization
  • Setting up my home management notebook
  • Seasonal Rhythms
  • Dinner rituals
  • Candles & Bible reading at night
  • Simplified Challenge
  • Decluttering & de-owning
  • Create a Cultivated Calendar

Goal 2: Creative Hospitality

The second goal for my goals for 2021 is Creative Hospitality. If you are reading this at the beginning of 2021, you know what a crazy year we just went through. Hospitality was something that I had hoped to work on for 2020. It is part of the reason that we purchased this new house. I wanted to have a home that was open and welcoming to our friends and family.

However, that did not work out as I had hoped. In fact, pretty much as soon as we moved in, the entire world shut down. And unfortunately it doesn’t seem like it is letting up anytime soon.

Creative hospitality is what I have come up with instead. This means that we are going to try and think outside of the box to still have community, and still be able to work on and build relationships. I’m not entirely sure how this goal will work out in the long-run. But, I am hopeful.

Some of my ideas around this goal:

  • Bringing meals to our friends
  • Sending cards and letters in the mail to friends near and far
  • Creating outside space at our home where we can entertain without worry

Goal 3: Grow Townsend House

The next on my list of goals for 2021 is to grow Townsend House. This is the 10th year that I have been writing at Townsend House, and my 6th year sharing on YouTube. Now, I haven’t been as consistent on YouTube as I would like to be, so I want to work on that this year. I do love the community that has been built over the years, and I want to continue to grow that.

Some ideas around this goal:

  • Content Calendar
  • Pairing videos and blog posts
  • Sharing more on Instagram
  • Write the book I have been thinking about for years
  • Expand the Maine Homeschool Network
  • Book Club
  • Think about a paid community platform

Goal 4: Awesome Adulting

When I was thinking about my goals for 2021 I knew that I had some tasks that just needed to be done. However, some of these tasks are emotionally draining, and so I wanted to have something fun to pair them with. I am calling this category awesome adulting for those two reasons: things that need to be done and I can’t keep putting off, and things that I want to incorporate like hobbies I love.

The bottom line is that I want to do something that I need to do, and then pair it with a hobby that I love so that it is giving me a reward for something hard, as well as helping me get back into a routine of doing things I enjoy.

Some ideas around this goal:

  • Creating a will
  • Home inventory
  • Filing Cabinet organization
  • Create a long term financial plan
  • Digital picture organization
  • Knitting
  • Sewing
  • Reading
  • Gardening

Goal 5: A Life-giving Homeschool

Creating a life-giving homeschool is a big part of my goals for 2021. The reason should be fairly obvious – I don’t want our homeschool to become monotonous and not enjoyable. Now, I know that not every aspect of education is enjoyable – there is a lot of hard involved as well. However, I think that we can still be enjoying our education without it becoming a drain on our lives.

I want our homeschool to exciting and I want to share how to live your passions with my kids. Watching them develop and dive into their interests is such an encouragement to me, and I want it to continue.

The reason it is on my list this year though is because we haven’t been in a good homeschool rhythm for a while now. I have shared all the crazy that has been going on in our home since the fall of 2019, and I am ready to move beyond it all and move forward.

Some ideas around this goal:

  • Seasonal rhythms
  • Get back to Sunday Planning
  • 4-day weeks with Friday Fun Day
  • Work on certain subjects with certain kids
  • Monthly conferences
  • Monday meetings
  • Explore interests together
  • Strewing

Goal 6: Lean into Adventure

I almost thought that I would have adventure be my word for 2021. But, as I realized life seemed to still be on hold in most of the country, I realized that it wasn’t the year for adventure. However, I can definitely lean into adventure. And it is something I need to do.

I am a homebody, and I am comfortable in my home. Because of this, I am not very adventurous. Not that I’m not adventurous, but just that I don’t choose to go out to do things as much – mainly because the things I love doing are home activities. These would be things like knitting, reading, gardening – all activities that are conducive to me being at home.

Add to this the fact that we are homeschoolers and I own my own business, there isn’t a lot of time to be out adventuring. Instead, I end up using my weekends to catch up on chores and errands and working on my business and to also take a breather from all the peopling I do throughout the week. But, I do want to get out with my family more on the weekends.

Some ideas around this goal:

  • More nature with the kids during the week
  • Monthly Family weekend
  • Plan a vacation
  • Say yes more

Goal 7: Life-giving Wellness

A couple of years ago wellness was my word of the year. And I loved that year. Each month to 6 weeks I concentrated on a different area of wellness. Over the past year I have let go of those rhythms and routines surrounding wellness quite a bit. So this is definitely one of my big goals for 2021.

Some ideas around this goal:

Goal 8: Continue to Grow my Faith

This is probably the most important of my goals for 2021. It is a goal that I never actually finish. And it is one that I always want to work on. Growing my faith is a daily discipline. It is something that is easy to drop off if you don’t put it at the forefront of your mind.

Some ideas around this goal:

Goals for 2021: The bottom line

This is just a rough outline of some of the ideas that I have surrounding my goals for 2021. You may notice that these aren’t necessarily SMART goals in the traditional sense. The reason for this is because these are areas of my life that I am most likely going to work on every year. But, the action steps and tasks that I list beneath these overarching goals are much more measurable.

I am excited to share the progress of my goals for 2021 as we move throughout the year. It will help keep me accountable, and that is an important part of achieving your goals.

What goals are you working on for 2021? Is there a specific task or action item that you are working on right now? Share it below and I will help keep you accountable!

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