I Did Away With Goals in the New Year

I did away with goals this year. And this is a big move for me because I have set goals pretty much every year since I was a list-making preteen, and have subsequently “failed” at them each and every time. Although, you could definitely argue that it wasn’t necessarily a failure to at least strive for healthier habits, even if I didn’t follow through 100%. If you love goal setting, you GO for it. There is something so healthy about reevaluating your habits and looking/moving forward with intention. Even if you don’t stick to your goals through December 31, you’ve at least taken a step in a positive direction. Personally, I’ve switched my mindset from “goals” to developing long-term habits over time (inspired mostly by James Clear and his book, Atomic Habits).

But this year, I’m trying something new: I’m choosing a word for 2020. This allows me to live in a less black-and-white, pass-or-fail way. And instead, I can embody an overall spirit and incorporate it into every aspect of my life.

My word this year is focus (which I must say is very fitting for 2020...AKA 20/20 vision). Especially with the launch of this blog, I am dedicated to remaining focused — on my professional work, blog work, and personal life. I have a tendency to let my personal endeavors fall away in order to chase whatever is happening right in front of me (a spontaneous invite from a friend, house cleaning, a Netflix show, mindless phone scrolling, etc.). Classic Enneagram 9 behaviors. But I am choosing to actively focus this year!

This also ties into one of the categories for this blog: mental minimalism, which includes cutting out distraction and noise in order to leave room for silence, solitude and Sabbath. If I can set healthy boundaries for myself in regards to my phone usage, Netflix, and other mindless, menial tasks, I can create time (or more accurately, use the time I’m already given) to focus on what I care about most. And for me, that’s a combination of rest and action — in the form of writing for this blog. A few of the ways I’m doing this is by carving out an hour every morning for personal writing (that’s when I wrote this post!) and creating a “bedtime” for my phone at night so I can be screen-free during my last hour+ before bed. Plus, I’m also thinking about testing out a kind-of-weird phone rule in the near future (stay tuned for that).

The point is: I’m sick of distraction ruling my life and I hope to focus more in 2020 — on the people and things I value most.

While I don’t expect to be perfect in this area, I do intend to start each day with a focused mindset. And if I fail that day, I have a new opportunity to start over the next day. And that’s the beauty of it! We should treat each day like it’s a new year — a new beginning, a clean slate. We aren’t promised to live through the entirety of 2020 (or even tomorrow!) so treat each day like it’s all you have.

Do you set goals each year? Or do you choose a word or phrase? If so, what is it? I would love to know what you’re focusing on this year.