Goals and resolutions for 2021

 After the unexpected way that this year turned out, I'm a little wary of setting too many concrete goals for 2021! But I didn't do too badly with my ten things to do in 2020 so I thought that I'd still find it helpful to put together a list of things that I want to accomplish this year. Not New Year's Resolutions exactly but just a few changes that I want to make, or new habits that I want to continue.

Lose the Christmas weight. I haven't dared weigh myself recently. I was doing pretty well at losing weight until the beginning of December, when the Christmas chocolates and treats began to appear with the weekly food shop. This last week has been particularly bad, as I've been busy eating up all the cheese, biscuits and chocolate tubs ready for the New Year diet. I'll be making a start today and I'll weigh myself next Monday, to give myself a starting point that hopefully isn't too horrific!

Keep up the exercise. When the children went back to school in September I picked up my running routine again. I designated Monday, Wednesday and Friday as my exercise days and I have managed to stick to it pretty consistently until now. On days when it rains I've been doing a Joe Wicks home workout. We are also looking at buying some home exercise equipment to keep us going through the winter now that we can't depend on the gym being open. So I want to keep up this routine of a decent workout three times a week.

Photo credit Bruno Nascimento via Unsplash

Continue with my reading. I've read so much this year, and it's mainly down to my local library. They shut for several months from March, and when they re-opened they offered a service where you could request a selection of books to be chosen for you, along with free reservations. I was so pleased with the books that the librarian chose for me. When the library opened again for browsing I because a regular visitor, bringing home armfuls of books to keep me going during the inevitable continued closures. They are closed again at the moment and I'm down to my last couple of books, so I've just reserved a few more which I can hopefully collect later this week.

Photo credit Ed Robertson via Unsplash

Start regular blogging regularly again. I love blogging, but this last year I've really struggled. We haven't done much worth writing about, and I've definitely lost my inspiration. It was difficult when the children were at home so much, and I've also been doing some transcription work which has been keeping me busy when the children are occupied. I'm going to aim for two regular posts a week for the time being, and see how I go from there.

Practice the piano more often. I enjoy playing the piano, and when I play familiar pieces I definitely get into a flow state. It keeps my mind busy and also helps with my anxiety. Also I think it will encourage Harry with his practice too if he sees me playing for pleasure. So I've bought myself a couple of new piano books including an easy book of Hamilton songs and I'm going to try and play for a few minutes at least every day.

Enjoy the summer. Hopefully things will be looking a lot brighter by then. We spent so much time in the garden last year, playing, relaxing and eating. It's definitely something that I want to do again this year. I need to make the effort to get out there as often as I can once the weather starts to warm up.

It's quite a simple list and full of things that I enjoy (well, apart from the giving up chocolate and biscuits part!). Hopefully doing these things regularly will also help me to keep my mental and physical health in a good state as we try to get through the next few difficult months!