2021: A New Year And A Fresh Start to the Decade

We all know 2020 wasn’t the best year ever, but it was definitely one that showed us what’s important in our lives. While the clock striking midnight on January 1st didn’t make COVID-19 disappear, it did bring everyone the chance to start over with our new normal. And what better way to have a fresh start than to make some new year’s resolutions?

This year, I wanted to make some goals that reflect the person I want to become. Of course, I want to be healthy and happy, who wouldn’t? But this year, I wanted to focus on the things that really got me through the lockdowns and quarantines of 2020.

Finish reading the Bible

Every year, for the past 4 years, I’ve said I’m going to read the Bible all the way through. And every year, I make it to about March. This year, I’m actually going to finish reading the Bible. Even though I won’t be reading it in one year, I will read it all the way through. I found a really great app that has the scripture readings for the day and explains where it puts the scripture into everyday life.

I really enjoy reading the Bible and learning more about God’s word. But, there are days where I’m just not in the right frame of mind, and forcing myself to read wouldn’t give me the results I’m looking for. So instead of forcing myself to read every day, I’m going to read when I feel my heart and mind are in the right place. What’s the point of reading one of the most important books in the world if you don’t plan on learning from it? This year I will finish the Bible and use what it says in my daily life.

Read 6 books total

Speaking of reading, every year, I also set a goal of how many books I want to read. Usually, I go with 12, a book a month. However, being in pharmacy school makes that a little harder than ever before. This year, I plan to cut my normal goal in half and plan on reading 6 books. Now, this doesn’t include the books I have to read for school. These are books I purely want to read for my own interests.

If you’re a Kindle user, you’ve probably heard of Goodreads. This great app allows you to shelf books you want to read, have read, and are currently reading. I enjoy going through the lists they have published to find new books that I may enjoy. This is where I set my yearly goal and keep track of all the books I have read. If you enjoy reading and finding new books, I highly recommend checking it out!

Find a new job to love

This goal is a harder one to explain. I love my job, but as a student, I want to learn more. I’ve gained great experiences through this pandemic that I wouldn’t have found somewhere else, but I’m also not using the new knowledge I’m gaining at school. There are many paths in pharmacy, and right now, I am working at a community chain retail pharmacy (think Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS). Before I got this job, I knew I wanted to work in a clinical setting, like a hospital.

Now that I’m in school, I want to work towards my goal of becoming a pediatric pharmacist. While I fill prescriptions for kids at the pharmacy now, it is a different experience to be hands-on with the patient and teaching them about their new medications. So, while I love the people I work with now, I need to think about my future career and reach those goals I have set in my mind.

Be active more often

In a world that has literally become virtual, sitting has become pretty much all I do. Like I said before, I don’t want to make my goals this year the typical “Go to the gym more” like I, and many others, typically do. Instead, this year, I want to focus on being more active than I have been in these recent months. Living in northeast Ohio makes that difficult this time of year because of the weather, but not impossible. This is one of those goals you can’t just jump into full throttle. So, I’m going to start small.

I’m going to start with being active one day a week. Being active can be anything from going to the gym to playing Just Dance on the Wii with my family. The main thing is to not sit around on my couch all day working on school-work or watching TV. Even though it’s just one day a week, that’s one more day a week than I have been doing, and that’s what matters.

Focus on my blog more often

Last year I had these great plans for how I was going to really focus on my blog. Then COVID happened, and my world turned upside down, along with millions to billions of others. So this year, I’m going to be easier on myself. I plan to have a new post every other Thursday evening. Also, I plan on posting more on my Instagram.

I have so many great ideas for blog posts but never make the time to follow through. Hopefully, making the plan to publish a new post every other week will keep me on track with some of my other goals. The first few posts will be catching up on my pharmacy school journey (which you can read about here), but I promise to limit this to once a month. I also have a new adventure I plan on introducing to you in just a moment that I am super excited about. There are also a few odd posts I plan on sharing throughout the year as well. I really enjoy sharing my adventures with all of you and hope to continue this upcoming year!

Finish my camper

I introduce to you my new adventure! My mom bought this camper a couple of years ago when she discovered all the pop-up camper remodels floating around Pinterest. Once she saw how much work actually needed to go into it, she gave up and opted for a new travel trailer instead. With the pop-up sitting in the garage and most of the materials already purchased, she offered the camper to me this past summer. I have started work on it already, but there is still a ton to do. This is probably one of my bigger goals for the year because of the possibilities it holds.

I at least want to make it functional again, but some cosmetic work wouldn’t hurt either. I will be posting a whole series of posts on the journey this camper has presented. Right now, I am working on fixing the ceiling, so the top of the camper is off and upside down in my garage right now. The camper did not have the canvas intact when I received it, presenting the issue of finding a replacement canvas to make the camper usable again. I would love to go on a camping trip in the camper this year, so getting it done is pretty high on my priority list. This is an adventure I am so excited to share, and I can’t wait to get started on this post series.

Improve my time management skill

Time management has been something I have struggled with for as long as I can remember. I never developed the right tools for time management because I never had to. I was so busy growing up, especially in high school. Between school and dance and working a couple of days a week, I rarely had a minute of the day unscheduled. I went to school from 8-3, then dance class from 4-9 some nights. After dance classes, I would go home, eat dinner, and work on homework. I may have stayed up until 10:30-11:00 doing homework, but it always got done.

Obviously, this wasn’t the healthiest choice, but it made me happy at that point in my life. Now, I wish I would have learned how to manage my time a little better. I have become a huge procrastinator, waiting until the night before to work on some big projects. This year, I will be using my planner more effectively, scheduling everything I need to do with the times I have available to catch up on other projects. I plan to finish projects 2 to 3 days ahead of time to put my best work forward.

Although school is the biggest spot for time management for me, it isn’t the only part of my life where I could benefit from better time management. Everything in life takes some time, whether it be a couple of seconds to respond to a text to a couple of hours writing and preparing a blog post. Time management is something everyone needs in their lives, and I plan on bettering my skills this year.

Be more honest about my feelings

This is my number one goal this year. We live in a world where when someone asks how we are, we reply with something positive, even if it’s the worst day ever. Why do we do that? I want to start a movement to be more honest with ourselves about our feelings.

During therapy sessions (yes, I see a therapist, and no, I’m not ashamed of it), I find myself filtering what I say because I don’t want my therapist to think I’m a mess. Uhh Hello! It’s their job to help you become a more manageable mess! There are so many things I am afraid to say because I am worried about how people may respond. I have had this blog for a little over a year now and still haven’t told most of my family about it.

This year I am going to speak my mind more often. I’m not going to lose my filter completely, but I’m going to be more honest with who I am. If someone asks how I’m doing and I’m having the worst day ever, I’m going to say so. This goal is more about mental health than anything else, and it’s about time for mental health to be as normalized as physical health.

Wrapping Things Up

I hope you enjoyed this post about my new year’s resolutions. Hopefully, it has helped you to reimagine some of your goals as well. I can’t wait to get started on these goals and share my adventures with you all.

As always, if you like this post and want to stay up to date, follow me on Instagram (@averylivinglife) and Pinterest (username: averylivinglife) for news and updates on my adventures!