…in with the_________________. I’ll leave you to fill in the blank.
I hope you’ve all had a great festive season and are sufficiently overstuffed with mince pies, mulled wine and chocolates. It was pretty tame and quiet here in chilly Yorkshire. Normally the week leading up to Christmas, I embark on a great journey with my daughter in tow, heading down to the Midlands and everywhere in between, doing my best Santa impression as we deliver gifts to family and friends. Obviously this year it was out of the question, so Mr Amazon delivery guy had to do it for us.
On the one hand it saved me a lot of time, diesel money and mileage on the car, but it also killed my festive vibe. Part of the fun is the socialising and making the effort to visit those who you don’t normally get a chance to see, because it’s Christmas after all, and what better time is there? But, one thing was absolutely certain, I was going to stick with the rules and guidelines as I would never forgive myself if I put our closest friends and loved ones in danger for the sake of a chat over a coffee and shortbread biscuit.
Anyhow, we made the best of the situation, having lots of family playtime, my Mom over for Christmas Day (We are Tier 3 and she’s part of our bubble, so we’re all good), and I did my usual trick of going completely overboard in the kitchen. We always begin with a starter around 2pm and then I space the other courses out throughout the day, which meant we finally sat down with our Irish coffee’s (sans the Irish) about 9pm!
Onto New Year celebrations and they were certainly interesting this year. We normally alternate going to a friends house, or we certainly have since having kids anyway, but this years catchup came sponsored by Skype. We gathered around the iPad at the table and played a few games of Scattergories (of which I was terrible), a game of Catchphrase (of which I won), watched the fireworks and complained that there was no Auld Lang Syne on the BBC coverage.
A great benefit to this new format was the fact that I remained in my pajama’s all day, only had two drinks and was hangover free on New Years Day! This meant I had a clear head and plenty of time to kickstart my new challenges for 2021.
These are a few of the big goals I would like to achieve throughout 2021, there are a few others that I want to keep under wraps for now, but I quickly realised that some of my goals require some kind of learning. This brings me nicely onto a fantastic resource I discovered a few years ago but have never fully committed to, until now.
100 Day Goal with The Business Bakery is a great FREE concept all about getting the big things done by working on tiny micro actions each day. There is a really friendly and supportive Facebook Group, and there are lost of FREE printables to get you started. You can take a look by clicking the video below. Did I mention that if you somehow forget, or aren’t feeling up to it, you will also receive a daily email with a gentle prod to keep you on track? If you want to sign up, don’t worry that you are a few days late, you can begin at any time.
So, if you read my blog last year, you will know I don’t like New Years Resolutions. To me, they are doomed for failure as you end up putting way too much pressure on yourself. I prefer to set myself tasks and challenges and, with the help of the 100 Day Goal, I am aiming to complete 100 days of learning. This will be a combination of workshops, courses, YouTube videos and blog posts on a number of different subjects, aimed towards my big goals of course, that will have me primed and ready to take action later in the year. Think of it as the research phase.
To go with my daily learning, I have also created a daily tasks list in my bullet journal as I want to get into a few good habits, such as regularly exercising, drinking more water and making sure I do certain basic chores around the house.
Something I do really want to start this year is a regular newsletter, which will be full of news, updates and exclusive content. You can sign up below so you are with me from the start!
Have you set yourself any goals and challenges for the year ahead? How do you keep track? I love to see journal spreads and trackers, so feel free to message me on Instagram or Facebook, or tag me in your posts.
Anyway, enough about me, I’ve got to get on with my last few tasks of the day before I can sit down and write.
Take care, Jodie xxx