My New Year Goals!
These are goals to start the year off with, not New Year Resolutions because if I don’t do them… IT. IS. FINE!! No beating myself up. Mostly reading related, of course, but also some health stuff.
It isn't all fun and games; I have chronic pain, with mobility issues (can't walk or stand very long), depression, social & general anxiety. Because of these, it is so easy for goals to go out the window.
I don't have a "workout" plan, or a "diet" or any goals like that. It is all about getting my mental health in a better place and doing small baby steps to gain some mobility back. I just want to be able to move and not be in such pain. If you don't have depression or chronic pain, you might never understand how hard it is to crawl out from the darkness or to push beyond the pain to do a thing that gives you more pain in the moment. It is a vicious cycle and not an excuse or laziness!
The things below are goals, things I wish to keep up with, but I am going in realistically, knowing I'm going to fall and stand back up many times. Depression even makes things like reading and writing hard to do sometimes and not feel fun. No beating myself up when I fall down!
Daily Creative Brain Goals:
Read or write for at least 20 minutes when you wake up, before getting online and at least 20 minutes before bed (Replace with meditation when needed
Daily Healthy Brain Goals:
Meditate:
Monday - 5 Minutes
Tuesday - 10 Minutes
Wednesday - 15 Minutes
Thursday - 5 Minutes
Friday - 10 Minutes
Saturday - 15 Minutes
Sunday - Any length or off
Music:
All the music!!!
Find and listen to a new song/artist
Music is life!
Sing along, hum, chair dance, or wave your arms like you are a conductor
Love:
Think of 1 thing you are thankful for before going to bed, no matter how small, big, silly or weird
Say "I'm worth living, I matter, I'm meant to be here!" whenever death is on your mind
Every time you think something negative about yourself, imagine you going back in time and saying it to yourself as a child; you wouldn't, so why say it now?
Daily Healthy Body Goals:
Stretching:
5-10 before yoga
Yoga:
Monday - 5 Minutes
Tuesday - 10 Minutes
Wednesday - 15 Minutes
Thursday - 5 Minutes
Friday - 10 Minutes
Saturday - 15 Minutes
Sunday - Any length or off
Cardio:
5-10 after yoga
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Monthly Creative Brain Goals:
Read at least 1 physical book I own
Read at least 1 Kindle book I own
Read at least 1 library book (Support the library!!)
Read at least 1 thing you can not track on Goodreads! Be free, you don't have to track everything! (Fan work, an interesting article...etc.)
Write at least 1 short story
Write at least 1 poem
Write a few times a week in a journal
Monthly Healthy Brain Goals:
Research & learn about something new
Read about interesting people
Play trivia games or take quizzes on a variety of subjects
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Overall bookish goals:
Read more diversely, read more “new to me” authors, more authors with different backgrounds than the one I have, read more translated work
The Read Harder Challenge is great, but I won't stress it and think I have to hit every challenge in the year. Reading should not be stressful!
Here are the challenges: (If you have any book suggestions, let me know!)
Read:
1. An epistolary novel or collection of letters
2. An alternate history novel
3. A book by a woman and/or AOC (Author of Color) that won a literary award in 2018
4. A humor book
5. A book by a journalist or about journalism
6. A book by an AOC set in or about space
7. An own voices book set in Mexico or Central America
8. An own voices book set in Oceania
9. A book published prior to January 1, 2019, with fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads
10. A translated book written by and/or translated by a woman
11. A book of manga
12. A book in which an animal or inanimate object is a point-of-view character
13. A book by or about someone that identifies as neurodiverse
14. A cozy mystery
15. A book of mythology or folklore
16. A historical romance by an AOC
17. A business book
18. A novel by a trans or nonbinary author
19. A book of nonviolent true crime
20. A book written in prison
21. A comic by an LGBTQIA creator
22.A children’s or middle-grade book (not YA) that has won a diversity award since 2009
23. A self-published book
24. A collection of poetry published since 2014
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