Dreams and Goals for January 2021

I can't remember if I started my monthly goal-setting posts last year or the year before, but this I know: I love writing these posts each month. 2020 indeed proved challenging with them, because so much of the year was out of our control entirely, but I still enjoy and appreciate the practice of setting goals and working toward them to the best of my ability each month. And as we sit here on the edge of a brand new year, I want to renew my focus on being purposeful about these goals! Anyone with me on that? 

So here are some of my dreams and goals for January, 2021.

1. Get back to walking 10,000 steps a day.

For years now (ever since I've owned my FitBit), I've been absolutely methodical about getting 10,000 steps a day. I always give myself Sundays off to observe the Sabbath, but the other six days a week, I get those 10,000 steps no matter what. It's always easier in better weather, when I can take walks outside to help, but I've always made it to 10,000. Until we moved here, that is. I did pretty well until the weather turned cold. But even then, there were days I missed. There are a thousand reasons why, and some are valid, but the bottom line is it's good for me to move throughout the day, so I am resolving to find a way to make the time and the space to walk the steps.

2. Read three books.

I used to read a book every week and then I went back to work full time a year ago, and that sort of fell by the wayside. Ryan and I actually have several books we need to read for work, and we have to make time for that in our days. Plus, I just miss escaping into books. So my goal for January is to read three books - between work and pleasure. 

3. Do daily devos together with Ryan.

We already purchased our first devo for 2021, and our goal is to spend time together every day doing them. We've always been good about doing devos individually, but we want to do them together, because we think it will help strengthen us for our jobs. We're really looking forward to beginning!

4. Pack away the Christmas decor and decorate for winter.

Normally I'm adamant about having Christmas down before the new year, but I'm not sure that is going to work in our schedule this week, so if it runs slightly into January, it will be okay. I'm more interested in packing it away well so it's ready to go for next year! I want to sort through what I have and see if there are any decorations we need to part with (or donate to WillowBridge) so I want to take my time with this project, even if it means delaying my timeline. I also want to make the place cozy and pretty for the winter months, which will mean re-envisioning everything I'd done last year so it fits in our new space.

5. Be purposeful about diffusing oils each day.

One thing I've learned about living in community is that germs live in community too. We're working on extra measures to sanitize our common living areas, but I want to be diligent to diffuse oils in our apartment every single day. We've seen that it helps when we do it regularly. One of our diffusers died, so we have ordered a new one and I hope that helps. Moving the one we have from the living room to the bedroom every day/night hasn't worked out so well, so having one in each space will, I hope, help this goal. 

6. Put up the backsplash in Abby the RV - and maybe work on the privacy curtain project, too.

This was a December goal that (spoiler alert!) didn't get done. We've had the backsplash for a few weeks but we haven't had a chance to install it yet. We're also working on a privacy curtain project that will no doubt be more involved than we anticipate, but it would be great to at least get started on it!

And there you have it! Dreams and goals for a new month in a new year. We'll see how reality pans out in comparison to the dreams we have!