Hey everyone! Long time, no see. These new year, same me posts are quickly becoming a way for me to apologise for a period of inactivity following a post I made in September😂 So before we move onto this year’s goals, let’s take a look at what I’ve been up to since I spoke to you last.

So I “graduated” in July 2020 (and by graduated I mean I got my results sent to me during lockdown). Following my graduation, I went on to mini-breaks here in the UK, bought a kitten (she’s called Toast, and she is so cute), and started applying for jobs.

As you can expect from the fact that we’re in the middle of a pandemic, my job hunt was pretty unsuccessful to start with. I was rejected from supermarket jobs because I’m “over-qualified”, and I was unable to find any companies hiring in the field of my degree. That was until September when I stumbled across a job advert for a content writing position. I jumped at the chance of this job and sent off my application. Long story short: I GOT THE JOB 🙌 And as I started to write for work, I fell out of love for writing on this blog and became obsessed with reading again.

But I’m back. It’s a new year, and I’m determined to get on top of my time management and start posting on here more. And what better place to start than with a post all about my 2021 goals?

As you probably know by now, I’m not one for the whole “New Year, New Me” bollocks. I’m tired of making unrealistic goals and never hitting them, which is why I’ve decided to go into 2021 promising to stay true to myself with goals which I have a chance of achieving. I’ve decided this year that I’m going to spread my goals into categories.

Some of my goals are more like guidelines because I know I’ll be able to achieve them, others are a lot more ambitious but still fairly realistic. So if you want to find out more about my 2021 goals, keep reading.

Reading Goals

• Read at least one non-fiction a month
• Read a Paperback, a Hardback and an E-book every month
• Complete the Popsugar 2021 Reading Challenge
• Complete the Bookstagrammer Globe Challenge.
• Make a big dent in my TBR pile

Reading is my main hobby, so it’s only fair that I dedicate a section of my goals to reading. These goals are my realistic goals, and I do genuinely believe that I can do everything on this list in 2021.

Financial Goals

• Put £1 aside for every book that I read in 2021 and only use this fund to buy new books (I have a slight addiction to buying books and this is how I plan on tackling it)
• Continue to save a large portion of every pay slip and divide between different savings pots (house fund, sink fund, etc.)
• Create a 2021 budget for monthly outgoings and actually stick to it (stop treating myself to books and takeaways every single week)

Everybody’s financial goals are different, I don’t want to make any unrealistic financial goals, the main thing I want to do is make my current spending/saving habits even better.

Personal Goals

• Write a blog post at least once every month
• Start uploading book reviews onto Booksta and onto my blog
• Spend more time working on my bullet journal and doing things that make me happy
• Improve my diet and possibly complete the couch to 5k challenge (huge emphasis on the possibly)
• Introduce regular self-care days to my schedule (because every girl deserves a soak in the bath with a fancy facemask every now and then)

Every year I find that personal goals are difficult to set. I always end up putting too much pressure on myself, but this time I’m taking it easy with a set of goals that I should be able to reach.

Travel Goals

• Take regular walks and explore the local area that I call home
• Hopefully book a mini-break somewhere in April for our 2 year anniversary
• Potentially visit Scotland again at some point in the year, it it is safe to do so
• Visit some of the incredible beaches we have here in Wales
• Go to a sunflower field (my Boyfriend and I have tried and failed to go for 2 years now so I’m determined that 2021 will be the one😂)
• Maybe travel abroad at some point (the thought of travelling abroad makes me anxious -as well as excited- anyway, and I’m finding that after 2020 I suddenly feel very anxious about travelling abroad during the current situation)

Obviously, travel is one of these areas where goals are potentially going to be unrealistic. I wanted to travel lots in 2020 and it didn’t happen. There are much worse things that have happened this year, and travelling isn’t everything, but at the very least I’m hoping to explore Wales even more in 2021. All of my travel goals have been specifically been worded in a way that ensures I don’t feel guilty of I am unable to reach them. The key to goals is not putting pressure on yourself, especially when the situation is out of your control.

Big (maybe unrealistic) Goals

• Buy a house (My Boyfriend and I would like to get a house in 2021 if possible. Obviously, there are a lot of things that can affect this, and we won’t be buying a house for the sake of it. That being said, we are hopeful that 2021 will be the year we become home-owners)
• Convince my Mam to buy another dog (in the mean time, I’m going to keep trying to convince my Mother to get another dog to add to the tribe. I’m 99% certain that I will be able to achieve this goal)
• Read 100 books in 2021 (I was about 30 books short in 2020, however I didn’t settle down and start reading properly until mid-way through the year. So I’m hoping that I’ll be able to achieve 100 if I start in January)

As I’ve said, these goals are my unrealistic goals. There is a good chance that they won’t happen, but I would be really happy if they did. It’s always good to aim big, but I like to segregate these goals so that I won’t feel like I’m letting myself down if I don’t achieve them.

But more so than anything else, I want to go into 2021 remaining true to myself. I want to continue to grow as a person, become kinder with every moment, and do more to make the world a better place. I don’t want to sound cringy, or like I’m giving a speech at the Miss World competition. But after the year that 2020 was, I’m determined to make 2021 a better one. All in all, I had some pretty good times in 2020, but I know that it was very bad for many people. In some cases, 2020 has brought out the worst in some people, so here’s hoping that 2021 will bring out the good in everyone.

Now, I want to find out more about your goals. What are you aiming to do in 2021? Do you want to exercise more? Eat healthier? Binge watch a TV series? Apply for university? Eat your body weight in chocolate? The opportunities are endless, and nothing is too difficult if you put your mind to it!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post! And that you’ll stick around for my next post whenever that will be💗

Stay safe and stay healthy!

C x