44. "Planned Goals for 2021"
- Bianca Blanch
- Jan 15, 2021
- 3 min read
We survived 2020. We felt a lot. We learnt a lot. Now in 2021 we still don't know what the future will hold but I need to set myself some goals!
My Goals for 2021 - Self Improvement
I heard writing down your goals leads to a higher chance of accomplishing them.
Plus, if I write them down on my blog there is accountability, another strong driver of achievement.
This week I have really thought about what I want to achieve this year across multiple life domains. I realised I need to work on myself. I have dedicated many years of my life and headspace to my career through study and degrees. Now I need to put the same energy into myself.
Personal
*To reframe my thoughts to be more guilt-prone than shame-prone.
I am a huge Brene Brown fan. Over the end of year break, I listened to one of her podcasts about 'Shame and Accountability' and learnt a lot!!
In a nutshell, the difference between guilt and shame is. Guilt: "I did a bad thing". Shame: "I am bad". I am shame-prone. My whole life if I make a mistake my internal dialogue tells me it is because I am stupid, dumb, careless, lazy, less than, not enough, etc.
Scarily, if you are shame-prone then you have a higher chance of developing depression and addiction, but less so if you are guilt-prone. I want to stop the cycle of being shame-prone in my family so I will adopt Brene's rule of not calling anyone names, including yourself. This will be hard, but very worth it!
*Daily meditation
I have been dipping in and out of meditation over the past year. I do it when my mind is racing and shortens my sleep. But I want to make it an intentional daily practice this year. I always feel better after meditating even if doing it for only 10 minutes a day. To me it is small investment and big pay off.
Travel
*Go on a local holiday
This one is definitely COVID-dependant. In Australia, COVID has largely been contained, with a few new cases/outbreaks every couple of months. So I am hoping to visit South Australia this year and go to Hahndorf, an old German settlement.
If the COVID situation gets worse, then I will do lots of travel in NSW to see this beautiful state I live in.
Aspirational
*Start writing
Last year I started this blog and realised I love writing. I also read quite a few books on the creative process from writers I really liked 'On Writing' by Stephen King and 'Big Magic' by Elizabeth Gilbert.
They both have the same philosophy, to be a writer you need to write. You need to write consistently. And you should not put pressure on your writing to support you. If it eventually supports you, great. But in the meantime write as often as you can. Be disciplined. Expect rejection, but keep on writing anyway.
I have had a few book ideas and now I want to write them down and see where they take me.
What are your 2021 goals? Do you want to focus on yourself, your career, your relationships? Tell me by leaving a comment below or emailing me at AuthenticResearchExperiences@gmail.com
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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
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