Ok So I Lied…My Goals for 2020

How To Wear A Tunic Sweater
By Jess
2 Jan 2020

A few weeks ago someone asked what my goals were for 2020, my answer was a combination of I don’t know and I’m not going to worry about it. It was somewhat of a knee jerk reaction in the moment. At the time I was exhausted from my work schedule in Q4 and overwhelmed thinking about having a baby in a little over a month. The truth is, I’m thinking about goals all the time (I’ve also realized the importance of recognizing accomplishments and not just dwelling on how something can/should be better). My goals tend to evolve and change over the course of a year, but I find it helpful to put them in writing at the beginning. When I recently looked back at my goals for 2019 I was pleasantly surprised by what I had achieved. I typically check in on my goals every few months, but this year took some unexpected turns and a lot of my normal routine went out the window.

Taking some time off over the holiday gave me some space to reflect and think about my goals for this year. Some of them are an extension or a next step from a 2019 goal and a few are new. If you’re thinking about your goals for the year, one tip I have is to attach actions to them. If you can come up with realistic everyday actions to get you closer to your goals you’re more likely to achieve them. For example, if you want to exercise more, think about how you will do that. Maybe it’s signing up for an at home workout class and scheduling those times in your calendar. Do you want to save more money? Creating an actual budget and making a specific financial savings goal every week or month will help get you there. As much as I used to HATE doing this exercise at my old job (had more to do with the job than the method), using the SMART goals approach is actually really helpful. SMART goals help you set them in a way that’s achievable, measurable, and trackable. Here are my goals for 2020 and if you’re willing, I’d love to hear yours in the comments too.

Personal and Business Finances

Every year I get a little bit better about my/our finances but with a baby on the way I have a new sense of urgency to get laser focused about how we spend and save money. I handle most of the finances in our household because a) I’m a control freak and b) I actually really enjoy it. I think one of the key success factors in our relationship is that Craig and I recognize our strengths and weaknesses and we respect and leverage those differences. All that said, I also grew up believing I was not good at math and never would be. I could go on for too long about why (let’s just say one high school math teacher in particular played a big role).

I’m saying all of this because often times it’s our own belief of what we can or can’t do that gets in the way of achieving our goals.

If something doesn’t come naturally or easily it doesn’t mean you can’t find the right tools and people to help you understand. Over the last few years I’ve hired people I trust (an accountant and a financial advisor) to help set me up for success, and now that a lot of the pieces are in place, I’m ready to take a deeper dive into our finances.

I’ve never been great about keeping track of a budget or paying close attention to our spending. While neither of us are big spenders, we could benefit from being more aware of how we’re spending money. Last year we focused on saving and did pretty well. We also ended up starting a renovation towards the end of the year which kept us from putting away as much as we could have, but we’re putting sweat equity into our home so it’s something we were willing to do.

This Year

My goal is to put more money away for retirement, set aside enough money to purchase a fixer upper, and track our personal and business finances weekly so I know exactly how and where we’re spending money. I have a meeting next week with our financial advisor to discuss retirement savings (check out this interview I did with him last year it has a lot of great information).

I’ve organized my Freshbooks account (where I track all business finances) and have a weekly reminder to go in and allocate all income and expenses. And I’ve set up an account with YNAB where I created a monthly budget, set savings goals and I can track our personal finances weekly (will do a review of this soon). Also, I created a Personal Capital account (this is more for retirement/wealth management). It’s free so I’ll likely check in on it from time to time as it gives a nice overall picture of your finances, but I’ll be using the other two platforms for actual tracking and budgeting.

Meditation & Movement

I’ve been putting meditation in my goals for years now and up until a few weeks ago I’ve never done it. I think the word meditation just made me overwhelmed because of what I envisioned it to be. So I started using Headspace about a month ago as part of my partnership with them and I love it. It makes meditation so accessible and enjoyable, it even has a specific course for pregnancy which is what I’ve been doing. My goal is to meditate for at least 10 minutes everyday.

It’s been a struggle since getting pregnant but I also want to prioritize movement, whether it’s a walk outside, a 30 minute workout or some stretching. Working from home I sometimes realize I’ve barely gotten up from my computer all day. I’m setting aside 30 minutes a day for movement. The obe fitness app has worked really well for me because it’s easy to do at home, takes 30 minutes and there’s such a huge variety of class offerings (including pre and post natal). Use code JESS30 for 30% off your first month.

Read 5 Books

I am here to say I am not great about reading books. I read a lot, especially for work, but rarely do I take the time to just sit down and read a book. My goal is to read 5 books this year and a benefit of achieving that goal will be less time on my phone mindlessly scrolling. I ordered two books to get started, Calypso and Where the Crawdads Sing. I also purchased Mindset which I’ve skimmed through but plan to read that as well.

Reduce Our Carbon Footprint

Craig and I both worked really hard on this last year and want to continue our momentum. I drastically reduced my shopping (which in turn reduced the need for me to constantly get rid of things), we ate mostly plant based and shopped local whenever possible for food, we grew a vegetable garden, started a compost, didn’t buy a single plastic water bottle, and made other small daily changes. This year we want to continue and expand on reducing our carbon footprint (which will be interesting with a baby). I am excited to share the ways in which we do this here on the blog and I’ve already made some swaps that have drastically reduced waste including swapping out our Nespresso machine for pour over coffee with a reusable cotton filter, making our own juice, and making our own almond and oat milk.

Purchase Another Fixer Upper

This was a goal last year and it was a bit naive because we really weren’t ready. That said, we instead focused on saving last year which has put us in a much better position to achieve this. At the same time, this isn’t something you can rush, and we want to make sure it’s the perfect fit for us and our plans for the property, so while purchasing another fixer upper is a goal for this year we know it’s something that has a lot of moving parts.

Document and Share More Renovation Projects

We’ve done so many projects in this house it’s honestly hard to keep track. Craig works so quickly sometimes he’s done before I’ve even had a chance to take a before photo. I know one thing you guys often ask for is more of the process throughout a project, not just a before and after, so we’re going to be sharing the full process behind a project or renovation this year. Of course the biggest project is our master bedroom/bathroom addition and that is already in full swing so we’ll be sharing some videos on our YouTube channel soon as we go through that process.

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16 Comments

  1. Julia wrote:

    Love all of these. Thank you so much for sharing, it’s motivated me to sit down and make my own goal list for the year (something I’ve actually never formally done!) Also, I always struggle to finish books, so thought I’d share two that I couldn’t put down and still think about, even after finishing: Educated by Tara Westover and Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.

    1.2.20 | Reply
    • Jess wrote:

      That’s so great! And thank you for sharing, so many people have recommended Educated I think I need to add it to my list. Happy new year.

      1.3.20 | Reply
  2. Sarah wrote:

    Thank you for sharing! One of my goals is also to reduce my carbon footprint but I find this overwhelming and didn’t do as well as I’d hoped to in 2019. Any tips for how to make small but effective changes? Or good suggestions on where to start? I love not buying a plastic water bottle.

    Another goal of mine is to completely convert all household and beauty supplies to clean products. I did well-ish last year with my skin care thanks to your posts about follaine and necessaire. But again I find the home cleaning/laundry supplies very overwhelming. The “clean” stuff either didn’t work or had misleading labels with hidden toxic ingredients (ESP laundry detergent). For example I tried moving to wool dryer balls but they didn’t remove the static! If you have any tips on your favorite clean household products I’d love your help! This is a major goal of mine since I have a soon-to-be 1yo.

    1.2.20 | Reply
    • Courtney B wrote:

      To remove the static, I’ve had success by not drying anything synthetic with cotton/natural fibers. Three teens playing sports equals a lot of synthetic fibers unfortunately. I hang them to dry.

      1.3.20 | Reply
      • Jess wrote:

        Oh I missed your reply to Sarah, haha just said the same thing! Thanks Courtney.

        1.3.20 | Reply
    • Jess wrote:

      Those are great goals Sarah! Yes I have a ton of tips which I’ll be sharing in the near future and I am working on a post about non-toxic cleaning products as we speak. One thing re: static with wool dryer balls, synthetic fabrics create more static than natural fabrics like cotton, linen, etc. So if you have lots of clothing you’re washing with synthetic fabrics (say gym clothes for example with polyester) maybe air dry instead of putting them in the dryer. I use wool dryer balls and they work really well, but I’ve also eliminated almost all synthetic fabrics from my wardrobe. I only notice static when I’m drying something with synthetic fibers. Just a thought.

      1.3.20 | Reply
      • Sarah wrote:

        Thank you, Jess and Courtney! Looks like instead, a goal will be to eliminate synthetic fabrics from my wardrobe as best as possible! And what I can’t, line dry.

        And Jess, can’t wait to see your upcoming content on non-toxic cleaning products!

        1.4.20 | Reply
  3. Lourdes M wrote:

    I read the Automatic Millionaire when I was 23 (right out of college) it totally changed my perspective about money. Coming from extremely humble beginnings I’m terrified of ever going back. So money is something that I have learned to respect. My husband and I just purchased our 1st home together in July and I decided to re-read the book. I’m so happy I did. It’s never too late to start saving for retirement. The book also has great tips on how to spend less, save more, and still have a life. If you’re curious, pls check it out. Hugs!

    P.S. I was “never good at math either”, but budgeting and watching my spending is so easy and empowering that all that insecurity about math never crosses my mind anymore. Good luck and happy new year!

    1.2.20 | Reply
    • Jess wrote:

      Congratulations on your first home that’s so exciting. It’s such a rewarding (and at times overwhelming) experience. Happy new year!

      1.3.20 | Reply
  4. Isabel wrote:

    Thank you for sharing your goals! I love seeing how similar these are to some of mine, it makes me feel like I am not alone in my struggles. I am also trying to reduce my carbon footprint this year: mostly I am going to focus on buying less (and when I do buy, searching for second had options) and eating less meat. Moving more and saving are also in my list.

    Happy new year!
    Isabel
    https://isabelstories.com/

    1.3.20 | Reply
    • Jess wrote:

      Those are awesome goals! Happy new year Isabel.

      1.3.20 | Reply
  5. Katie Gill wrote:

    Still working on my goals, but right now I’m in the process of launching my first ever online program which has been a big business goal of mine for the past 3 years! But I really like how you break down your goals into categories, so I want to do that too.

    I used to feel the same way as you with reading, and one thing I did a couple years back was commit to reading for 15 minutes every morning (I found if I waited till later it was less likely to happen). It might sound silly, but I put an actual timer on to do it. This way I don’t keep looking at the clock and have no problem closing the page when the timer went off. I started enjoying it so much that I now do it for 30 minutes! This is the only time of day I read, and this one small change averages about 1 book per month, depending on the length.

    1.4.20 | Reply
  6. Jennifer wrote:

    Trying to tap out of the fashion industry so 2020 is all about buying recycled/reused/thrones clothing. It’s going to be so hard but I’m optimistic!

    1.5.20 | Reply
  7. Ivelina wrote:

    I gotta day this is the first year I actually set up goals . New Years resolutions are not this big where I am originally from so I never did it after I moved to the States . Anyhow this year most of my goals are related to the impact I leave behind . I am going to start composting , reduce my trash and reduce the things that I buy ( let it be clothing or other things ) . I would also like to work on my self to be more mindful and try to spend more time with loved ones .

    1.5.20 | Reply
  8. Jenn wrote:

    I really appreciate how realistic these goals are. I know I’ve failed in the past, trying to create life changing goals, but I’ve learned that bite size pieces are often so much more manageable and therefore, actually life changing.

    Last year I had a reading goal and since I achieved it, I’m staying in my lane with another one. I’m hoping to read 12 non-fiction books this year.

    1.7.20 | Reply
    • Jess wrote:

      That’s a great goal!

      1.7.20 | Reply

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