21 in 2021 List
This post originally appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 12/28/20.
Are you making any New Year’s resolutions this year? After the craziness of 2020, I feel like the verdict is still out on 2021 resolutions. However, there is something about the week after Christmas that makes me want to reflect, get organized and dream about the approaching new year.
Today, I’m so excited to share my 21 in 2021 List with you! I first experimented with this idea, inspired by happiness and habits writer Gretchen Rubin, last year when I made a 20 in 2020 List. The list featured 20 things I wanted to accomplish by the end of 2020, and while I had to update a few of my items midyear because #2020, I really enjoyed this style of goal setting. As Gretchen writes, “somehow, this approach makes it more pleasant to think about what we want for the new year—it feels more hopeful and helpful.”
Hopeful and helpful exercises are exactly what I’m trying to seek out this week. If you are too, I hope the below will inspire you to create your own list of 21 things you want to do in 2021.
I’ve decided my word for 2021 is memorable, and the list below reflects 21 realistic things I can complete in this next year that focus on creating memories and adding some more joy and meaning to everyday life.
21 in 2021 List:
- Listen to The Daily most weekday mornings
- Buy a light that attaches to my laptop for better lighting in video calls
- Decide on a note-taking method for nonfiction books
- Write in my new one-line-a-day journal most nights
- Write 12 monthly recaps to remember little things that happened
- Organize photos from college to now
- Read 50 books
- Read for 21 minutes every day
- Go the whole year without mindlessly scrolling social media before bed (see above)
- Help plan a unique celebration of life event for my grandma
- Purchase art for apartment
- Weekly phone call with a friend or family member
- Say “yes” as much as possible when asked to do something by someone for the first time
- Make a meaningful donation to two different organizations
- Join a running group
- Plan a virtual get-together or trip with friends or family members each quarter
- Go on a solo adventure monthly
- Purchase a meaningful piece of jewelry
- Start a new monthly series for the newsletter
- Get a facial and learn more about my skin from an esthetician
- Master baking a dessert and declare it my “go-to” dessert dish
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