2021 Goals and January

I still love making goals each month.  I know the general consensus is that this is foolish during a time like now when there's so little we can control and so much stress, anxiety, and fear in the world.  But, I think if you don't make a plan of some sort, you tend to just drift along with no real vision, and I don't like that.  

I tend to make broad goals for the year, and then more concrete and manageable goals for the month.  With school in full swing, I've been even more gentle with those monthly goals.  But here are some of the things I'm aiming for in 2021.

For the year, I have more a dream list/  Most of these things I can't really cross off as done, but they're more ideals to strive towards:
-Travel more.  Even if I can't be flying across the country or to Europe, there's still plenty to see that I can drive to, that is outdoors, and that is nearby.
- Send letters and spend quality with people important to me, and encourage those around me.
- Ignore the news and celebrities.  I don't want to live under a rock, but I really don't need to spend time determining who the Kardashians are dating, which celebrity is canceled for saying what, and to some extent even following politics is annoying because this side says this, that side says that, they're fighting.  It really doesn't matter what my view on an issue is.  I'm not going to make my representative feel better if I agree or make them change their mind if I disagree.  This probably sounds a little jaded.  But if I am wasting time choosing sides when I could be spending that time loving those around me and giving them support and care, what's the good in that?  In some sense I feel I have a duty to stay up to date on the issues, but honestly when they're causing strife in my friendships and family, it's easier to just focus on the things right in front of me that I can change.  This isn't the right choice for everyone, but right now I feel like this is what I need to focus on.
- Use what I have: read the books I already own, try to not waste the food I buy, and get rid of those things I don't need.  I've been using a capsule wardrobe since September, which is not very hard when most of your time is spent in video conferencing or wearing a uniform, but I have a lot of clothes packed up that I need to decide if I need to keep or need to let go.
- Fix up things that I can around the house- replace the worn out carpet, fix the flowerbeds, stuff like that.
- Take care of my physical, spiritual, and mental health: get enough sleep, exercise, be joyful and kind and don't lose my cool (which kind of goes back to ignoring the news).  I've also been listening to a ton of good podcasts lately, which really helps.
- Find a nursing job, which really can't happen until I graduate and pass the state exam, but it's a goal for the year.

January Goals
- Exercise five times a week.
- Daily devotions.
- Get outside for an extended period of time at least once a week.
- Read 4 books.
- Read 15 minutes a day for fun (not textbooks).
- Blog four times.
- No buying anything besides groceries.

I did okayish on most of these.  The month started out good, but then once school started, my compliance rate when down.  I got outside a couple times to cross country ski.  I only got through one book.  I exercised most days.  I didn't buy much besides groceries.  I did get some Valentine treats and stock up on greeting cards.  My devotional time got done most days but last week wasn't very good.  I won't bore you with specifics, but I'd say I did better than if I hadn't actually wrote the thing out as a goal.  So by being intentional about it, I did better than just letting myself float along.