Hello, friends! Here we are — a new decade and a new year. If you’ve been following me for a while, I’ve been sharing my monthly goals with you here, which often stems from my bigger, yearly goals. This year, after following the company for several years, I finally decided to purchase a set of PowerSheets to ensure that my goals were rooted in what actually matters to me. I’ve been taking most of this month to rest and uncover what is important through the prep work that this tool guides you through. Before we dive into this year’s goals, let’s take a look at 2019.

2019 Goals:

1. Grow my faith with God to unwaveringly put my trust in Him. I wasn’t sure what this would look like at the beginning of 2019, but did I need it more than ever. Between making some pretty big decisions and dealing with a handful of challenges, I’m grateful that I made my faith a more focal point of my life last year.
2. Continue to tend to my marriage with grace and celebration. I feel great about this goal! Jody and I had a lot of things to celebrate last year between him receiving his Master’s degree, spending our second anniversary in Alaska, and buying our first home, we celebrated well. We also learned how to communicate better through some challenges last year, which has positively affected a multitude of areas in our life.
3. Cut down on screen time in favor of rejuvenating my hobbies, quality time, reading and blogging. While I didn’t blog as much as I would have liked, I am proud of the content that I created. Likewise, I did finish reading more books this past year than I did the year prior, but I still wasted a ton of time scrolling Facebook and Instagram.
4. Cultivate a restful and joyful home that helps us refresh and love all who enter it. Admittedly, when writing this goal last year, we had in mind that we were hoping to buy a house and that we did! We hosted friends one last time at our apartment and even more some at our house, where we actually have more room to host! While our home is not completely decorated yet, I proud of what I focused on to make our guests feel welcomed and at home.
5. Take charge of our finances to make upcoming planned (and unplanned) purchases a joyful experience. Jody and I joked last January 1 that it was the year of the money sign and boy, was it ever. We bought a new car last January, went on several trips, including our big trip to Alaska, bought our house and our first “grown-up” couch. In addition, I tracked all of our spending habits of the year, which I am SO proud of.
6. Fuel my body with good food and strengthen myself, physically and mentally. This goal has always been a challenge for me and if I looked at the success at my monthly goals within this category last year, I would probably say that I failed. However, I did join WW to start tracking what I eat, which has helped in more areas than just maintaining my weight, and I curated a summer morning walking routine last summer, where I’d wake up and walk at dawn before it reached the heat of the day. Because of that, I walked 10,000 steps every day for nearly two months straight!
7. Record memories so that we can reflect on these sweet years in the years to come. This is the one goal that I did not progress as much as I would have like last year. I was intentional about taking more pictures throughout the year, however, I didn’t do anything with them, other than uploading them to my laptop once they were taken. I’m planning to tweak this into a more purpose-filled goal this year.

My 2020 goals feel a bit similar to some of the ones above, but I’m excited because they feel more intentional and simplified. Here is what I’ll be working on, along with my vision board for the year.

2020 Goals:

1. Dive deeper into my relationship with God.
2. Love my people well and often.
3. Nurture the activities that fuel me.
4. Preserve our story through photography and curated photo albums.
5. Cultivate a life-giving home.
6. Inspire myself and encourage others by sharing my passions.
7. Pursue focused finances.