Happy New Year! I was not expecting to post a blog today and if you’re one of my regulars, then you probably already know why. But while I was reading today, I came up with the idea of possibly trying to read one book each month for the rest of the year. If I follow through with this, I would literally have a self-care goal for each month of the year. The idea gave me the inspiration for this blog post. This post will not be like the others; meaning, it won’t be self-care ideas that you can incorporate in your routine for the next 365 days, instead it will be a post that will help you craft a self-care focus for the next year if you so choose.
We all know self-care can be done daily, my Self-Care Sunday blog posts in 2021 proves that. But there are ways that you can set a yearly self-care goal while still engaging in self-care on a daily basis. I think a yearly self-care goal is a great way for us to ensure that we carve out sometime for ourselves. Maybe for some people it’s not so easy to try and do a little something for themselves each day, maybe a monthly option will be more conducive for your lifestyle. The first step to create a yearly self-care goal is to think about what goal/resolution you want to accomplish for the year, once you make this decision the challenge is to try and stay committed. Below are a list of twelve ideas that you can choose from. One tool you can use to help keep you accountable with your commitment is to set aside some time. If you have a calendar that you use to help keep you on track, be sure to pencil your self in each day/week or whenever your yearly self-care focus requires you to.
READ ONE BOOK PER MONTH this is my goal for the year. I made the decision to do this because I use to love reading a lot. I wouldn’t call myself a bookworm but I did enjoy getting lost in a book occasionally. I don’t remember the last time I read a book in 2021 so on January 1st I picked up my book and read a few chapters and today I did the same thing. I also decided that if I finish my book early, I will start the new book early. Additionally, since February is a short month, I will be mindful of how many pages are in the book I choose to read next month. I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew and I would suggest the same for you.
FINANCIAL GOALS I dedicated the month of November to financial self-care so if you’re interested you can search my Sunday blog post in November for a few ideas. There are also a plethora of financial help on the internet that you can google. Everyone’s financial journey is not the same so determine what your specific financial goal is and spend the year working towards it. One easy financial self-care goal is saving, there are a lot of savings challenges that are done on a month by month basis.
SELF-CARE SPLURGE I’m calling this one self-care splurge because there are a few ideas that fall under this umbrella. If you can afford it, schedule something special for yourself each month for the year. It can be a spa day, a massage, leg/bikini/brazillian wax, taking yourself out to a really nice dinner, attending an event (symphony, going to the theatre, concert, etc). It’s your “you time” and the options are endless. Groupon is a great resource for this if you want to save a few dollars.
LEARN SOMETHING NEW this is similar to the above because the possibilities can be endless. If you love to cook and want to perfect your craft take a different cooking class each month for the year, if you want to learn more about finances you can take a new class each month for the year. This also works if you want to learn other things. For example, take a sip and paint class if you’re interested in painting or if you really like to paint.
HOST A MONTHLY EVENT if hosting is your thing, and by this I mean if hosting is your form of self-care. Host an event (i.e. a dinner) every month for the next year at your house. It doesn’t always have to be a dinner. Game night, wine tasting, movie night, and girls night are also other really great options.
YOU TIME if you’re always super busy make sure to pencil some time for you each month on your calendar. This can be a time where you do whatever you want to do. Take yourself to dinner and/or a movie, go out for coffee or drinks, invite a friend out, take a bath, schedule a spa day, or sit quietly and do nothing. Whatever works best for you based on what you have going on at the moment.
MARVEL MOVIE CHALLENGE this one is a little different but I like to create ideas that will work for just about anyone who reads my blog. I am not a comic book nerd but I love the Marvel movies and there is a list that’s out on the internet that list the order that you’re supposed to watch the Marvel movies. All though I’ve seen most of these movies, I am currently engaging in this challenge. I’m not doing it monthly, I try to watch at least two per day if I have time. If you choose to participate, schedule to watch the movies during a timeframe that works best for you.
USE MY SELF-CARE BLOG POST if this is your first time reading my blog, last January I made the decision to write about a self-care focus for each month. I covered A LOT and I mean A LOT of self-care topics. I’m pretty sure I’ve covered just about all of the possible self-care focus and I provided seven ideas for each Sunday in every month. Going through every single blog post might be completely overwhelming so I suggest browsing a few of my blogs and select twelve ideas that you would like to engage in each month for the next year.
DO SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE in addition to taking care of ourselves, sometimes it feels good to do something for others. Make a commitment to do something for someone every month for the year. If it’s hard for you to come up with twelve different things to do for each month, just pay it forward each month for the next year.
SELF-CARE WITH A FRIEND engage a self-care activity each month with a different friend. Most of us probably don’t have twelve friends so there will likely be some repeats lol. The possibilities are endless for this one but some ideas are: getting your nails done together, going to brunch/dinner/lunch, going out for coffee or drinks, wine/whiskey tasting, a spa day, or a girls night.
BE UNAVAILABLE if you are the go to person for everyone and everything schedule at least one day each month where no one can reach you unless it’s an emergency. The easiest way to do this is to not respond to any calls or text. I would suggest turning off your phone but I’m skeptical because I don’t want you to miss an emergency. Do what you think will work best for you in this situation.
SELECT FROM THIS LIST if you’re finding it hard to pick one of these options do all of these for the rest of the year. For example, read a book this month, be unavailable in February, pay it forward in March, host a dinner party in April, get your nails done with a friend in May, etc. choosing to this option will make things creative and spontaneous.
I hope this list was beneficial especially if you were in the weeds about finding a goal for the new year. I thought it was a really unique approach to self-care for the year. Feel free to mix it up. You can choose to do one of these for the next year but it does not mean you can’t incorporate any of the other ideas from the list into your routine (especially if you have the time). If you know of anyone who you think will benefit from this, please feel free to share.
On a different note, to my regulars, there will likely not be a new blog post on Wednesday. I think my goal for this year is to blog when I feel inspired. Last year my goal was to blog on a bi-weekly schedule. This year I’m switching things up and doing what works best for me. Life has shifted and my time is not as plentiful as it was around this time last year.
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