Last week I shared my intentions for 2021 along with my plan to make smaller, short-term goals to keep myself on track. Given how January has looked so far, I couldn’t be happier that I let myself start small this year. I very much plan to build on each of these, but small steps that are easy to stick to have helped me begin building the momentum I need to have a great and productive year.

Be Present. Through self-reflection I know that I have had trouble being present because I’ve always been looking to the next thing to make me happy. So I’ve written myself a very simple SMART goal to help me stay in the moment each day. For the month of January, journal everyday. That’s it. That’s the goal. My action plan is to use guided journal prompts so I can’t use the excuse of not having anything to write about. My contingency plan is that I have my journal out in plain sight so I can’t ignore it. And I add “journal” as a to-do item to my daily list every morning. Hoping to build on this practice throughout the year, but starting small for now.

Focus on the essential. As I said last week, I have wasted money on trying to find things that would be the perfect “fix” for different parts of my life. Namely – skin care, hair care, clothing, and home decor. So my January goal is to not spend money on any of those things through the end of the month and to use what I already have. Action planning for this was pretty easy since it’s more about not doing than doing. Contingency planning was a little more involved. I took inventory of what I have in closets and drawers so I’m not tempted to buy something I already have. For home decor, if I start to feel the need to get a new blanket or throw pillow to “spruce things up” I will shop the house instead. Even just moving something from the guest room to the living room or the living room to the office scratches that new decor itch for me.

Stay Connected. After the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, getting time alone in January can often feel like a welcome respite. However, I know that if I let things drop this month, I’ll never get back the momentum of staying in touch with people more regularly. So this month the goal is to have at least two video calls with friends. So far I’ve had one and I have another one on the books before the end of the month! Even just an hour of talking to a person face-to-face can do wonders for my sanity. Action planning for this month was easy, one call was scheduled by someone else and the other is a meeting of a small book club that we’ve been talking about for awhile. So it was a simple as picking a date and putting it on the calendar.

Activate inner SJW. This one feels trickier because I’m still trying to make a plan of action for myself. But over the weekend I realized that if I want to use my voice more, especially on social media, I need to just practice the act of using social media instead of passively consuming it. So my goal for January is to share the things that resonate with me. I follow a lot of really well informed people who articulate social and political issues much better than I can. I often like posts or even save them for future reference, but this month I’m going to start sharing them on my instagram stories! Simple actions to start with, but again, hoping to build on it in the coming year.

I have a few others that I’m working on as well…walk for at least 1 mile every day, write 500 words every week day, read 5 books this month, and keep my inbox under control! But that’s it! Moving the small stones so I can work step by step to move mountains.