Being pregnant has really forced me to slow down and change plans a lot. For those who have never enjoyed the experience, or who had a different experience than me, my best description is something like when you’re getting over an illness and your mind is ready and willing to do everything but getting up to go to the bathroom wears you out enough for another two hour nap. There’s a lot I would LOVE to be able to do but some days it just physically can’t happen. I’m usually pretty driven so mentally the exhaustion from growing a human is frustrating. At least the kid should be cute!
The term “resolution” seems so absolute and final to me that of course they are going to fail. This year I’ve decided to set goals instead. Goals are more flexible in my mind and that’s important being pregnant. I’m sure actually having a kid around won’t make it any easier. Some days you work on one goal, some days you work towards a different goal. Doesn’t mean you give up on the first completely, just might mean it needs to take a back burner for a bit. (Just don’t forget about it!) Having others aware of your goals can sometimes help you remember to refocus as time goes on so I’m choosing to share my goals AND ask for your help! That’s right, I’m giving you homework!
Goal 1: Be a Blogger
I decided to start a blog and want to see where it goes. If I’m going to do it I need to actually do it so here are my 2020 measures of success for this goal… because goals should be measurable, right?
Measurable Tasks: 1,000 followers on every platform (email subscribers, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest) That should be a good first year start.
At least one new blog post a week and 3 social media posts. I mean, if I’m going to have followers they need something to follow, right?
Steps I’ll be taking: Figure out how to get my social media buttons up on my blog! Calendar (that I’ll check) to track ideas, posts, and numbers.
Your Homework: First, if I’m going to gain followers I need you to follow me! Subscribe to the blog for updates! Follow me on Facebook (@theinventivefox), Instagram (@theinventivefox), Twitter (@inventivefox), and Pinterest (@theinventivefox). Be one of my one thousand!
Second, share my stuff. I will promise to keep sharing with you no matter how many of your friends also follow me. I won’t forget you. I promise. So don’t be afraid to like, share, pin, comment, retweet, reply, etc.
Goal 2: Spend more time as a Family
We have had a crazy schedule since getting married. Ok, mostly me and the crazy commute I did, but still… In the chaos that is life, we seemed to find a survival mode that worked for us. Weeks were for working and weekends were for housework, food prepping, and sometimes catching up on sleep. Pretty much the weekend was dedicated to making sure we could survive the week.
For Christmas I was the cheesy wife and gave the hubby a book of dates to complete in 2020. Not a coupon book, more like a challenge book. Can we get to all of them? (Don’t worry, I made sure the kid can go with if needed.) It seemed like hubby’s response was more of, “when do we have time to do all of these?”
I switched schools where I’m teaching so life could be less hectic yet somehow we are still in survival mode. Weekday evenings are more enjoyable but our weekends are still packed with all the house work, the food prep, entertaining the pup, and somewhere in there spending quality time together??? We need to switch out of survival mode and into a sustainable mode if we are going to get any time together as a family, especially after the kid arrives.
Measurable Task: Complete the 36? dates in the date book
Steps: Cleaning schedule to spread out the regular housework through the week and make it manageable. This will save time and annoyance about the state of the house on the weekends. (Already in place and helping a tiny bit… we just finished our first full week.)
Making a plan for the weekend days of what must be done so we are on the same page and planning our time as well.
Your Homework: Share advice. What works for you to not be in “survival mode”constantly but still accomplish all the cooking and cleaning?
Goal 3: Better Budgeting
Who doesn’t need better budgeting? Plus, as part of survival mode our finances have kind of been on autopilot. It is probably time to stop and take stock of what we have coming in and out. Plus I hear kids are expensive?
Coming from a lone teacher salary I was pretty good at budgeting and sticking to it. Not on a teacher salary, the hubby has a different style of budgeting (there’s a line for “investments”… like what is that?! Lol) and we need to be better about getting on the same page. THEN we actually need to stick to the plan.
Measurable: Monthly plan (income & spending) based on categories that has been outlined and agreed upon. Also, find an app that we can share and track spending
Your Homework: Suggestions. Do you have an app you use and like? Any tips on what we can do to save a little extra? Tips on helping a kid not be so expensive?
That’s it. That’s the list. Now we all need to do our homework. My first step will be to get this post finalized, posted, and shared. (And add dates to update you all on the progress because accountability, duh.) Your assignment is here so be sure to leave your comments and suggestions. And don’t forget to subscribe, like, share, pin, etc!
Hope all of your goals are obtainable in 2020!
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