Happy New Year <3

It is so helpful when I write out goals and resolutions so that I can look back on them every so often. It helps me stay accountable and keeps me on track throughout the year.

Every year I get a little more personal with these as I continue to grow this online community that feels more and more like a group of friends.

10 Resolutions for 2021

1.Start Each Morning with Intention.

What I mean by this one is I want to wake up an hour before Callen (he is up at 7am and Miller is up at 8) for some ‘me time’. During this time I would love to grab a coffee, do a quick devotional (I got The Better Mom Devotional that I cannot wait to start), and plan out my day. When I say plan out my day I mostly mean that I want a short list of things I DEFINITELY need to get done that day. Have you ever heard of The One Thing book? It is all about finding the one thing that if you did it, it would make everything else so much easier to do. It is a great approach to both work and home. Cluttered home=cluttered mind is a thing for me, so sometimes if I can just get my living room and kitchen cleaned everything else just falls into place throughout the day. It may sound silly but it actually works!

2.Make Healthier Decisions.

You guys already know I started working out again. 2021 isn’t going to be about losing weight for me. It will be about making healthier decisions. Now that I have two kids I want to live longer for them. This means I need to work on how I treat my body (and that includes what I put into my body as well.) I want to focus on workouts that help me tone and improve my flexibility. I want to work on eating less sweets, less meat, and drinking less soda. I also want to find some vitamins that will improve my overall health.

3.Reduce Carbon Footprint.

In 2020 I stopped using water bottles and I never looked back. I hope my decision and influence have lead more of you to stop using water bottles as well (I know my parents and in laws have stopped since!). This year I want to add to that and stop using plastic grocery bags and straws- which is more common in CO but was NOT really a thing in Dallas when I left. I will link what I plan on using instead below in case you would like to join me! I also want to reduce my carbon footprint by buying more locally grown produce and adding more plants to the inside of our home. I also want to eat less meat (like I said in the previous resolution) and find ways to drive less (do all errands in one day so I am not constantly driving to the same areas/places throughout the week!)

4.Prioritize Family.

In 2019 I remember getting so caught up in the hustle and bustle of things that I just constantly put work first, and family second. 2020 showed me how different life is when you ‘leave work at work’ and are present in the moment with your family. This year I want to work at leaving my phone hidden away during family time and making sure my time is focused JUST ON THEM before and after work hours. My job often requires being on my phone constantly. When you guys message me on Instagram I usually always respond quickly because I am constantly on my phone checking my dms. I want to start setting hours that I work each day so that the other hours in the day are devoted to family. I also want to make sure I am putting family first in all of my decisions. Instead of jumping at every opportunity to travel, I want to first ask myself ‘how will this affect Troy and the kids?’

5.Be Happy in the Place I Am In.

This one is a little hard to explain. I have a zest for traveling and feel like I constantly need to be somewhere else other than at home. I think in 2020 not being able to travel often led to me actually moving states so that I could be in an area I frequently traveled to. I get super antsy being at home for too long and feel like I always need to be on the go to be happy. In 2021 I want to find peace in just sitting still. I am happy in general, but I want to work at finding comfort in just being at home.

6. Work With More Focus.

In 2020 my blog was all over the place, could you tell? It was messy, unorganized, and hard to follow. This was due to lack of focus, planning, structure. Procrastination at its worst. It was just so easy to fall into a serious rut with COVID, pregnancy, and then a newborn+toddler combo. I am going to plan better and make sure my blog has more focus in 2021.

7.Delegate.

A lot of the things above require TIME, which I do not have right now. In 2021 I plan on hiring a full-time assistant who I can delegate a lot of my work tasks to. Right now we also have a part time nanny (which we plan on having until Miller goes to preschool this Fall) that I have a hard time delegating tasks to. When she asks us how she can help more, I never have anything to give her. She will ask if we would like her to wash the dishes, or do the laundry and I always say no. I think it is the mindset of ‘I can just do it faster myself’ or ‘I like things done my way/the way I have always done them’ so it is hard letting go of that control with life and work. This year I am hoping to delegate much more, work on that control impulse, and hopefully this will all open up more time for myself and my family.

8.Find More Ways to Give Back.

Remember @millermission? I started in in 2019 in hopes of giving back to multiple families and organizations in 2020 and haven’t posted in it in a year! I couldn’t even tell you why. I guess I was just too busy with myself and my own family? Definitely going to work on that in 2021 and find more ways to give back! It makes me so happy to help others. I will definitely continue to bring you along with me and give you opportunities to help as well!

9.Money Management.

Do you handle the bills in your household or does your husband? Do you invest your money? Does your husband? I have a minor in finance and can basically recall NOTHING about investing. I want to increase my knowledge of money management and make smarter financial decisions. I have been telling myself to make a cash flow/budgeting spreadsheet FOREVER now and just haven’t gotten it done. I am going to focus on getting that up in January so we can have it for 2021. 2020 was such a crazy year for retail so I probably couldn’t have predicted cash flow anyway, but I am excited to get it done! I will share the spreadsheet with you as soon as I finish it so that you can use it too!

10.Devote More Time on my Marriage.

My marriage is doing great, don’t get me wrong! We are so in love and are both happy. But, it could definitely be better. I could be a better wife for sure. The problem isn’t with us, it is with the time we spend together and the time we spend for each other. What I mean by this is that we need to spend more intentional time together, not just cuddling and watching tv. We also need to spend more time doing things for each other (things that we know will make the other one happy!) This is why I use the word DEVOTE. We may have precious time left in the day after work and the kids, so it takes devotion to intentionally spend that time on/with one another. I think if we think about this each day it will be a little easier to make it happen. Cook together more, dance around the house together, strike up conversations with one another, plan fun date nights together, etc.

Do you relate to any of these resolutions for 2021? Add them to your list and let’s work together on making them happen!

xox Amanda