A few of my goals for the new year

I love thinking and planning at the end of the year for the upcoming year and setting goals for the new year has been part of my life since I was a little girl (my parents are MEGA goal setters).

I generally like thinking of them in terms of “goals” rather than “resolutions,” since goals feel like things to be accomplished and worked toward.

At this stage in my life, I’m particularly focused on goals that make my life richer and more fun and meaningful with the people I care about. I like goals that make me EXCITED about the new year, rather than ones that make me dread a dismal January.

Here are a few of my 2023 goals:

A FEW OF MY Goals for the New Year

1. Make 10 things from Baking with Dorie. I got this cookbook last year and I was SO excited about it and now have made . . . zero things from it. This year, my goal is to make 10 different recipes from it. I’ve already started marking some and it’s making me really excited to try some new things in 2023!
2. Get outside every day in January. I work from home and it’s easy for me to basically never leave the house for many days, especially when it’s cold or snowy outside. But I own all the right gear for it and it makes my mood so much better when I get some fresh air and stretch my legs. Most days, I imagine this will look like a walk, but it might be sledding with the girls or skiing as a family. (Is this inspired by the January book for Book Club? You bet it is!).
3. Read every book by two different authors. There aren’t very many authors where I read everything they’ve written, but it’s a delight when I do and this feels like a fun reading goal for me this year. I’m considering doing Katherine Center and Stacey Lee who are both authors on the 2023 Everyday Reading Book Club List, but I reserve the right to change my mind.
4. Watch 12 classic book-based movies with the girls. This past year, we watched the first two seasons of the new All Creatures Great and Small PBS series with our girls and we all absolutely LOVED it. I think they’re ready to start watching some other movies based on classic books – I have the BEST memories of watching Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, and Pride & Prejudice growing up and I’d love to do the same with them!
5. Finish the basement playroom. Our basement playroom is a highly used spot but we haven’t really finished it up – the couch is getting too small for us to all comfortably watch a movie together, there is nothing on the walls, and it could use a little more definition so it’s more usable. I’m hoping to get this done by the time the girls get out of school for the summer.
6. Read 50 graphic novels. One of my not-written-down goals this past year was to read more graphic novels, but this year I want to keep doing the same – they’re such a fun way for me to try new authors, stretch myself as as reader, and get better at a format that’s not as natural to me. I cannot wait to get going on this one!
7. Have a real lunch every day. Because of the girls’ school schedules, it’s easy for me to skip lunch because I’m working and it feels like a sacrifice to get up and prepare myself lunch (am I writing this post at 2 p.m. having NOT had lunch yet? Absolutely I am). But then I’m STARVING in the afternoon and end up eating a bunch of junky foods that make me feel like garbage and then I’m not QUITE hungry at dinner time and the whole thing just messes with my body. So this year, I’m prioritizing spending 5 minutes getting lunch together – it’s one of those things that make a huge difference in my whole day with very little effort.

I’d love to hear what some of your 2023 goals are – what are you hoping to do this coming year? (And if you’re curious about my previous years’ goals, you can see them here!)

if you liked this post about my goals for the new year, you might also like these other posts:

• Why I love setting a FUN goal
• 4 Simple Domino Habits That Work For Me
• My #1 Trick for Cleaning Out My Closet

Photos by Heather Mildenstein