20 Goals To Achieve In 2020 – Setting Targets For Myself!

With the first month of the New Year coming to an end, I am adamant in making this year a productive one. When someone asked me, “What do you want to achieve in 2020?”, I was completely blank as to what kind of aspirations did I even have for this year?

But, with the roadblocks around, I sat down with my journal and a pen in hand and simply made a rough note of the 20 goals that I want to achieve in 2020. To be honest, I have been following this amazing Indian YouTuber, Saloni Srivastava who makes videos related to lifestyle, food and financing and basically everything that a millennial would be interested in.

Recently, she made a video telling 20 goals that she wants to achieve in 2020 and for the first time, I found most of them doable. When I was looking through the tag of “20 goals in 2020”, all the other content creators had goals that I found were intangible for me, I don’t know why but they were.

That aside, with my motivation in place, I was ready to just take it on and set 20 goals and targets for myself that I know I would be able to achieve (well, maybe most of them).

What are the 20 goals I have planned out?

To be fair, these goals aren’t that over the top and something that I know would help me shape my personal as well as professional life.

1. Focus on my mental health

I can’t stress this enough but I have been taking my mental health very casually lately. I wouldn’t say I am doing this just because but mainly because I am not able to make time for myself to sit down, collect my thoughts and just self reflect.

But, with the New Year, I have actually taken out time to focus on my mental health and ensure that it has the same importance as anything else.

2. Try to focus on my diet

Food has always been a quintessential part of my life, and hence the daily struggles with it. Every time that I decide to finally cut the crap and eat healthily, I succumb to my desires. And, while I am not saying that I wouldn’t do that again, I am saying that I would make a conscious effort to not do it a lot.

3. Manage my hypothyroidism

For those who don’t know (which is probably everyone reading this), I got diagnosed with hypothyroidism back in 2016 and have been on medication since then. While I do get it checked every so often, this year, I am going to work even harder to ensure better-regulated results aside from just letting my medication do the work for me.

4. Go to doctor’s appointments

Ever since I moved out of my parent’s house, I have been struggling to keep up with the doctor’s appointments. It’s either that I don’t have time or I’ll wait till the condition is at its wit’s end for me to see a doctor. To be honest, I am not a big fan of visiting a doctor’s chamber. I don’t know, something about that place makes me very scared.

But, this year, I am going to overcome that fear and ensure to get the checkups done on time. And to be fair, I consulted an endocrinologist just a few days back and I am also getting my eyes checked again tomorrow, so, that’s good!

5. Read 10 new books

The year consists of 12 months and my goal this year is to at least finish reading 10 new books from varying niches so I can learn new words, enhance my flair of writing and also have some fun around being in a world of fiction created by the authors.

6. Reach out to 10 new “influential” people every month

This is a goal that I got from Saloni’s video and I found it very intriguing and wondered why did I never think of doing that? Don’t get me wrong, I do talk to thought leaders in the market via LinkedIn every now and then but have never actively reached out to someone with an intent to have a better relationship with them in the long run, ensuring to reach out to them whenever I am stuck with something, and just get to exchange ideas every now and then.

7. Be more confident

When I say that I want to work on my confidence, it is mainly surrounding my struggles with my body image issues. I won’t say that I struggle a lot but there are instances when my mind does go to a dark place when it comes to my body and my appearance. I am working on that this year around.

8. Paint more

I have taken a liking towards painting for a few months and I love how well it de-stresses me. So, this year around, I have decided to learn new skills surrounding watercolour painting and spend some more time in a week to at least get 2 paintings done.

9. Focus on my blog

I started this blog with an enthusiasm of a tiger, posting so many times during the initial days when I started it back in June. But, over time, I found that enthusiasm fizzling away and that is what I am taking charge of this year. I am working on different types of content ideas, trying to bring forth my experiences to the blog and share what it is that I think men, women and non-binary folks of my age would love to read and relate to.

I don’t know how much of it I would be able to achieve, but I think I’ll try and post at least blog entry every week.

10. Save money! (and invest)

I am not that savvy when it comes to finances. I struggle a lot understanding the deal behind taxes, investments and savings in general. But, I have come to know that there’s no point in savings if we don’t invest it. To be honest, I do save some money every month but this year, I want to invest it in a safe way that will get good returns.

11. Step out of my comfort zone

I struggle with social anxiety, and that is something that I have talked about in some of my previous blogs. It is true that being around people, or going to new places scares me a lot but I am planning to challenge that too. I am gradually working on my social anxiety, telling myself that it’s all in my head, telling myself every day that the person sitting next to me who just laughed isn’t laughing at me.

P.S: I would like to clarify that this is what I am doing and doesn’t mean that the same is applicable for you as well. It is on you completely how you manage your situation.

12. Go on ONE solo trip

Solo trip has always been a dream of mine. This is basically an extension of my last goal because I want to step out of my comfort zone and explore a new place in the meantime. I want to save up enough so I can go explore a new place, an underrated spot in the country by myself.

13. Treat me once every month

I have been bound to such a routine life that I failed to realise how little attention I was paying myself. This year, that is going to change. I have decided that at least once every month, I am going to take myself out, and just spoil myself for a day and not regret it.

14. Spend wisely

This is also a part of the “savings” goal that I have for this year but to be honest, this year, I want to save more money than I spend. This is the reason why I want to budget my expenses and set a limit for myself. With the 20 goals to achieve in 2020, I am pretty sure that I can squeeze this one in somewhere.

15. Complete 5-10 online courses in a year

I never like to overestimate my capabilities, which is the reason why I am setting a goal of 5-10 classes in a year which I think is tangible. It is completely on me when I get it done. I could get 10 classes done in a month or even in a year and that is completely on me.

16. Work through my procrastination

This year, as I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I am taking over my habit of procrastination before it takes over mine. I have successfully gotten a lot done, to be honest, so I am proud of myself for that.

17. Declutter once every month

I wouldn’t say I am a hoarder but I do have the habit to keep things around that I don’t need. This year, I have decided to declutter my mess at least once every single month so I can either give away things to someone who needs it or at least, get rid of things that I personally don’t need.

18. Lose weight

I can’t not have a “goals in 2020” and not include this. I do have a lot to go before I attain a healthy weight which is exactly what I am focusing on this year. I am getting into exercising, today was my first day actually, and I am stretching (literally) till I know that I have achieved a healthy weight.

19. Start a gratitude journal

I have always heard about gratitude journals and I never got around to understanding the fuss surrounding it. This year though, I am going to work on that. At the end of every month, I am going to jot down some important pointers that I have been thankful for in the month. It could be a lot of things or it could be nothing – I am okay with either of those two.

20. Have a work-life balance

Even if I work to my wit’s end, I want to come back home and ensure that I have some proper time for myself where I can just sit down, laze around and spend time being alone and in my own company. I want to have a work life balance that works for me and not something that others say is “acceptable”.

We, as humans, tend to never settle and want more and more and more. I know because I have experienced that too. This year though, I am grounding myself and working to be content with what I have. I am working on my flaws, being accepting of them and also ensure to be a little proud of myself with every single day.

These are the 20 goals to achieve in 2020 that I have sorted out for myself. I know that there are chances I might not be able to achieve them all but it’s okay if I don’t, there’s always a next year and a new journey to set on!