There is something special about starting the new year with a fresh blog post filled with my hopes and dreams for the year ahead. We can all pretty much say for certain that 2021 won’t be as bad as 2020, here’s hoping. However, it is safe to say that for the foreseeable not much will change, but we have to look to the future. I learnt a lot about myself last year, more than normal, maybe it was slowing down, going out less, more time to reevaluate and plan, but it has made me more optimistic and excited about this coming year. There is something powerful about coming out the other side of a challenging year.
I tend not to do resolutions, generally because I don’t stick to them and beat myself up about it. Instead, I set myself a Word of the Year, which aims to act as a focus for my endeavours, alongside some key goals and dreams for the year ahead that are generally geared towards work, my blog as well as personal.
Deciding on my Word of the Year has become an annual ritual, last year was Belief (in myself) to focus myself on becoming more confident in my writing, my opinions, as well as generally in life. The challenges of 2020 may have scuppered my plans, somewhat, but on the other hand, I did start listening to my own voice rather than everyone around me.
Word of the Year – Growth
Growth: [noun] The act or process, or a manner of growing; development; gradual increase.
For 2021, I’ve gone for Growth. I want this year to be a turning point to focus my aspirations towards growing. Whether that’s in my writing, my confidence, my creativity, my blog, or my garden. This is the first time that a Word of the Year literally talks to all aspects of my life – work, blog and personal in a realistic and measurable way.
Growth can mean so much to so many people. For me, it is about ending the year with a firmer footing than I started. I want to be able to reflect and say, yes I did grow. I did gain confidence, I did write 50,000 words towards my novel, I did hit my goals. As well as be able to say I grew my own flowers, vegetables and fruit. But most of all I want to say I grew my life for the better.
Challenges – of course, they will be challenges, but really I’m the only person that can stand in my way. I have to realise this year that it’s my fears, self-doubt and overthinking which is stopping me from growing. Overcoming these means that growth can be guaranteed.
Goals for 2021
When it comes to my goals for this year, they generally span from my Word of the Year, but more tailored to allow me to focus on them. I have also made them realistic. One thing I have learnt over the years is that goals that are widely ambitious leave the biggest whole when they can’t be realised. I’m not saying don’t reach for the stars, instead, just put lots of mini growth steps to get you there.
- Be more present. This actually spans from 2020, I spent the whole year being disappointed with everything being cancelled or postponed. It meant I didn’t stay in the moment and I may have missed something special as I was letting my anxiety take over.
- Not overthinking things I can’t control. I’m a worrier and an over-thinker. This year I’m going to try not to worry about things that aren’t in my control.
- Write more. This might seem a little silly, I literally write for a living. But what I’m talking about is writing more for me, more creatively, whether in my journal or my novel. But unlike previous years this is writing with no pressure attached. If I finish the year with the first draft of my own book – I will be ecstatic. If I’ve penned just one journal with my creative feelings, I will be just as happy.
- Share more of the things I love on here. I’ve loved creating content for It’s A Danielle Life over the past 12-months, actually, since I rebranded away from Fashionista Barbie. I feel like I’ve been sharing more of what my life is now, it is filled with baking, movie watching, tea-drinking, vintage furniture, interior plans, journalling, and generally sharing a more mindful lifestyle. I’m going to do a separate blog on plans for the blog for 2021, but I’m excited to expand on subjects that are part of my everyday life like journalling and starting a cut flower garden.
- Do more photography. I love capturing my life on camera, whether digitally or on film and 2021 I’m going to make it more of a priority to be more creative with my photography and share it on my new Instagram account @ASlowCountryLife.
- Grow my own flowers, vegetables and fruit. I have bought a greenhouse, plotted out my kitchen garden, decided on what seeds to sow, and which cut flowers I want to grow. The garden has become one of my favourite places to be and I am planning to spend a lot more time in it this year.
- Invest in myself. This one might sound a little silly, but I want to look into some courses to improve my skills, whether writing, SEO, photography or Lightroom.
Stepping away from social this year
You will notice there are no social media goals. If 2020 taught me anything it is that social media has had way too much control over my life. I’m done with doomscrolling, comparing myself to others, hoping for growth and setting myself unrealistic follower targets when really it doesn’t bring me joy.
Of course, social media will still be a part of my life. I share my blog posts on Twitter and Pinterest, I will even share images on Instagram. However, I will be limiting my time on it. I won’t be setting myself unrealistic like goals of posting every day or keeping up with every new feature. On Instagram alone there is the feed, stories, reels and IGTV – I don’t have enough time in the day to make all that work. Instead, I will be focusing on sharing and engaging with content that gives me joy.
I spoke about why I decided to start over on Instagram last year and this is an extension of that. Like I won’t be posting or scrolling after dinner. Yes, this might mean I don’t grow, in terms of numbers, I might even miss something special, but you know what my mental health will thank me. I need to set myself boundaries to grow in other parts of my life and that mean more to me than pushing for more followers and likes. Right now, social media is very far down on my list of priorities. I think a blog post on social fatigue might need to be added to my content schedule.
Have you set yourself any goals or decided on a Word of the Year for 2021?
Disclaimer: These images were taken in February 2020 before Lockdown 1.0 with Kirsty from Labels for Lunch. I never used them but loved them, so thought why not include on this blog post because obviously with Lockdown 3.0 I haven’t been shooting new content.
