Typically, when it comes to New Years resolutions, I'm all over it. No one loves to make a HUGE list of ways I'm going to improve my life more than I do. I love it an abnormal amount. But this year, I'm not feeling it in the way I usually do, and it's no mystery why that is. If I'm feeling lackluster about setting goals in the New Year, I'm sure the idea of it is downright repulsive to most. Nothing takes the drive out of a person like a pandemic am I right?
So why then, am I writing this post? Assuming you've set aside your distaste long enough to actually read this, (Thank you by the way, your support is amazing. Seriously.) you know that even your resident "goal girl" almost dropped the ball when the ball dropped (I really hope that joke lands. Ok. Moving on). The thing is, and we're getting serious now, as an extrovert and a human being, having nothing to look forward to is more mentally draining than I ever imagined. Yes, I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I know this will end, and I know we will do fun things again one day when it is safe to do so. But not knowing the next time I will see my friends or go to a concert is hard. Extrovert or not, we are ALL feeling this.
For the sake of my mental health and yours, I put together a small, reasonable list of altered goals that could fit within my quarantine lifestyle to give myself something to hopefully look forward to. This is a similar list, created to give you some inspiration. We're not here to berate ourselves for not making leaps and bounds of progress during quarantine. I have had my own ups and downs of productivity and that's ok! This is just here to potentially give you something to work towards, and add a little bit of spice into your days going forward. I encourage you to take some of these for your own, and then once we're all vaccinated, we'll party 'til the sun comes up!
Mental
1. Check in with a friend at least once a week
I know how exhausting those Google Meets can be, but it's worth it for both of you to do some socializing. It's too easy to forget to do this, and it will mean a lot to both of you! It can be a different friend each week, or the same one for a support partner. The catch is, you're not allowed to talk about the pandemic.
2. Write down your gratitude every day
This one is actually proven to make you move positive. It can be done in a few ways, some suggest writing down 10 things you're grateful for in the morning, but if that seems like a lot, just do 3! Or do one when you wake up and one before you go to bed. But make sure you write them down, and read it over after. It's a tiny thing that makes a huge difference.
3. 1 Date every week
If you aren't in a relationship, this can be done with yourself or a roommate, or combined with your video chat with your friend. Believe it or not, there are a ton of dates that are possible to do from home! In fact, I made a list of over 50 of them, organized by level of effort/activity in my most well loved blog post ever! Over 16,000 of you have seen this one so far, so if you're not one of them, what are you doing?? Check it out!
4. Start a list of "Cool things" for the year
This is something I've done every year for the last 4 years. I create a working list of "cool things" that happen all year. This ends up including a lot of things that I never anticipated, or that I may have otherwise forgotten about had I not written them down. At the end of every year I ALWAYS am shocked by how big that list gets because I definitely would have forgotten about most of those things and not given myself the love I deserved for actually accomplishing a lot! I fell off this habit in 2020, which was a huge mistake, and I believe that this year will be an important one to do this (last year was even more important but it's too late for that now). Anything can go on the list if you feel it qualifies! Mine had things like "Graduated post secondary" and "learned calligraphy", but also things like "Propagated my first succulent" and one year, "tried parkour". Sure, I didn't continue, but I tried it and that's cool enough for the list!
Physical
1. Move everyday
Find a way to move for 20 mins a day. It doesn't even have to be a workout, but you will feel so much better for it, I promise.
2. Meal prep your snacks
When I'm feeling snacky, the last thing I want to do is make something complicated. When you reach for the easiest thing, it's likely not the most energizing thing. Junk food is great in moderation, but when I'm home and relatively bored, I cannot be downing chips all the time. When you ARE in a cooking mood, meal prep some long lasting, easy grab snacks for the times when you aren't. I personally love hummus and pre-cut veggies (carrots and celery last a long time in a bit of water), and I made a batch of protein balls recently that lasted C and I for 3 weeks of snacking! Oranges and grapes are easy fruit to have around, and air popped popcorn, boiled eggs, string cheese, and canned tuna on crackers. All of these are actually tasty, easy to keep around and grab, and will make sure you still feel good after you ate them!
3. Reset your skincare routine
This might be more of a personal one, but sometimes I just feel like I want to throw everything away and start over. And sometimes, that might be the best thing! I'm no dermatologist, but Dr. Dray is, and she has some of the best advice I've ever heard! Brb, on my way to the drugstore to stock up on CeraVe!
The Rest
1. Learn about finances
Take this time to learn about money in a way that's actually fun, by watching YouTube! One of my favourite YouTube channels is Patricia Bright's the Break. She gives some of the best advice, delivered in a way that's fun and engaging to listen to with her lively personality, and easy to understand. She even has a great one on passive income, which would be another great thing to work towards!
2. Learn a new skill
Use a platform like Skillshare (not spons), or even find free videos on YouTube to learn something new. And it doesn't even have to be useful! Pick something that will be fun for you, that you're going to want to go back to without it feeling like homework. I have a friend who is committed to memorizing every country's flag! Some more suggestions: calligraphy, Adobe Lightroom editing (free on mobile), acro yoga, a fancy type of braid, hacky sack, how to pick a lock, how to bake, self defense, how to crochet, I don't know! Anything!
3. Organize/Purge your home one category at a time
This one feels so good I literally do this every year. I suggest reading Marie Kondo's The LIfe Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy. Both really helped me do a BIG purge that totally reset my life.
4. Read 5 books
Or what ever number feels right to you. 5 gives you 2 books/month plus 2 months of extra leeway, so that felt good for me. It doesn't have to be a self-improvement book either. Read what will make you want to pick up the book again and again. If that is a self-improvement book, that's awesome! But it took me a long time to learn not to feel guilty for reading something that wasn't centered around mindset. So if you're in the same boat, here is your official permission to read fiction. Enjoying yourself isn't a waste of time, and not everything you do needs to be productive. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Here is a list of books in multiple categories that I've loved (and I am still working on fleshing out my fiction!)
If even one thing on this list inspires you, that means I've done my job, and I want to hear about it! That makes it worth it to me, so comment if you decide to try any of these, or if you have more suggestions! I'm always looking to add to my own list.
Happy 2021 loves!
XO
Tara
IG: ItsTaraDelaney
YouTube: ItsTaraDelaney