Every year I write goals for the next year. In 2020 I shared a whole bunch of mindset goals (read here) and quickly found myself face to face with myself and living what I wrote. I’ve been thinking a great deal about 2021 and what to write or share. I feel like the universe has this collective exhale, this relief of making it through a year that was truly challenging, and yet, yet somehow I feel like we’re all a bit frozen on the inhale.
Maybe it’s because we know that even with the inhale of the new year so much of what we walked through in 2020 we will still be walking through. Maybe we are afraid that if we loosen our grip, even a bit, we might not have the strength to inhale. Or maybe the frozen is because that foundation that seemed so unbreakable crumbled underneath us and here we are, looking for solid pieces of ground to move to next.
And I came to a new realization about this year – that it might be the year of living in the tension of change.
I’m not sure I really liked that truth, but then there was this other truth – in tension comes balance. One doesn’t simply get balanced, but rather, it is a back and forth, fall and stand up, ebb and flow, give and take, try again type of experience.
And that brought me to my word – balance.
I’ve thought about that word for years. It seemed small, in a way, as if great things couldn’t be accomplished if one was living in a year of balance. And yet, I think of it like scaling a wobbly rope bridge, or a tightrope, where micro movements create forward momentum.
Micro movements.
Instead of yearly giant goals I’ve decided to focus on small, daily, grace-filled goals knowing that each day, each micro movement, will bring me to the other side, to new things, to accomplishing the bigger goal.
So here are my 21 micro goals.
- Meditation. Training my brain to be calm and to shut out the chaos has been deeply beneficial for my spirit.
- Water. Seems obvious, but I think I’m constantly a bit dehydrated and thus a bit slower.
- Kindness. My goal is that this is my first response. The lens of kindness.
- Walking. Nothing clears my soul as much as walking in the world.
- Gratitude. A simple list, kept daily. No pressure, just a list.
- Clean living. Less garbage in.
- Less news. Too much news leads to too much fear.
- Health. No longer will I put off until “tomorrow” the health that is a gift today.
- Forgiveness. I tend to hold on, but the only person that hurts is myself.
- Monthly focus. Small shifts for each month, lived with grace.
- Release of control. I tend to be a control-freak. This is the year I want to loosen the reins.
- Grace. For myself, for others, for the world.
- Optimism. Instead of seeing what won’t work, my goal is to see what will.
- Being direct. I tend to waffle around my feelings and end up creating conflict because I’m not straightforward.
- Loving my lane. Less comparison, more contentment.
- Encouraging. Taking time to encourage others, to lead, to guide, to be light.
- Focus. Being aware of the choices I’m making, using time well.
- Find a mentor. I tend to process on my own, this is the year I need a sounding board.
- Less worry. This one is tough for me as I tend to think I was born worrying. But I want to choose trust first.
- Boundaries. Without apologies. For work, for my own time, for family time.
- Joy. Which is different than happiness – instead of being situation dependent, joy is gratitude for life and its gifts.
I suppose if I was to look at the list it wouldn’t seem like small things, but for me, they are truly baby steps of progress. I have big goals – write another book, coach more, write a new course, travel (hopefully), run a 5k – but these simple things above I truly believe are the simply adjustments that keep me, and perhaps you, walking the tightrope of 2021.
Listen, we will get across, we will get to that secure ground again, but for now, let’s love each other, support each other and realize that we are all doing the best we can. And the truth is, there is so much we can learn in this transition kind of years – they are the years that make us stronger, that mold us, that show us our soul. I’m kind of excited, honestly. For so long I looked in the confines of normal for a goal, but now that normal isn’t quite there this is the year where we all, collectively, get to create our new normal.
Happy New Year, friends. Here’s to great things.
~Rachel
ps. my goal is to share each month’s micro goal on my facebook page as well as some tips. If you’d like to join simply go here – > Finding Joy Facebook
