Oh hey, 2020.
It’s been a rough start to the year here in Australia, with devastating bush fires affecting huge parts of the east coast. Lives lost, homes destroyed and wildlife displaced or killed. It’s almost too sad to put into words. If you would like to donate to the relief efforts, a good way to do that is through Wires, Wildlife Victoria and the Red Cross, who are working tirelessly to help families, wildlife and the environment.
One thing that has been awe inspiring during this disaster has been the collective efforts of so many – to selflessly fight the fires, to raise and donate money for the relief effort, and to raise awareness of climate change as the main cause of these fires. For me this has really set the tone for the year (and decade) to come, and has helped shape how I go about setting my goals and choosing my word of the year.
I think we no longer have the option to be purely introspective, even during this usually self-focused ‘let’s do this’ time of year. There’s a clear need for us to think about how what we do in our daily life effects the planet and the people around us. With that in mind, read on for this year’s printable.
The Goals Workbook
This year I’m bringing you a bigger and better printable than ever before – a workbook to help you set and strategise your goals for the year. These worksheets are exactly what I have done for myself in the last few years, and I hope you’ll find the exercises useful. I sure have!
How has goal setting helped me? Well, in 2018 one major goal for me was to pitch and secure a book deal. I spent months refining and writing the proposal, and finding a way to get it in front of a publisher. After lots of hard work, disappointments and a bit of luck, by the end of the year I had landed a publisher. In 2019, my main goal was was to write the book. Eeeep! Having a 6 month old baby made that a LITTLE bit challenging, but I made it work. My book is the culmination of focusing on my goals, and also an acknowledgement that things don’t happen overnight. But if there’s something you really want to do, setting it as a goal and starting now is the only way to get it done.
This goals workbook is a simple set of worksheets that is all about helping you set and achieve your goals. It includes:
- A Goals Brainstorming Sheet
- An Action Plan for your main goals
- A Word Of The Year printable
- A Planet Pledges worksheet
To get your workbook, simply click on this link.
Planet Pledges
You’ll notice that I’ve added a worksheet for considering some Planet Pledges. These are actions (big or small) that you can commit to this year to walk a little lighter on the earth. The purpose of this isn’t to shame you into any specific behaviour, or to demand perfection. Instead, the purpose of this worksheet is to give you a few ideas, and let you decide for yourself what works for you. Small actions add up to big changes, so if you feel daunted, start small – every little helps.
My Word Of The Year for 2020
Thoughtful
My word of the year is thoughtful, which is a lot less punchy than my words from previous years – ‘grow’, ‘evolve’ and ‘health’. But I think for me that’s going to be a big difference with this year, hopefully getting a chance to think about and be more conscious of the things that I do and what we do within this business.
Conscious Consumption This is at the the top of my my list. I was going to make my word of the year ‘conscious’ but felt that it didn’t quite capture all the the elements of my life. But looking at my impact on the world and sharing that journey with you guys is going to be a big part of my year. You can look forward to much more of that here!
Thoughtful in my Relationships Living as an expat in Hong Kong for so long, I admit we got used to being separate from our families, and having few demands on us. Which, don’t get me wrong, was great in some ways, but I really missed that connection and love from family. It was the main driver for us coming home. So this year I’d like to carve out time to really engage with my family and friends and support them, rather than rushing around all the time being non stop.
Giving Myself Space to Think Some of the worst decisions I’ve ever made have been because I have been moving too fast and haven’t had space to think or look at the full picture. So, this year, slowing down and giving myself space to think is key to a more considered approach. It’s going to be hard with a baby so I’ll have to put in place some structures for this, but hoping I can do it!
Thinking Outside of my Comfort Zone The more you do something the easier it gets, but I’ve noticed that challenging myself is an amazing way to open up pathways in my brain that make space for creativity. My book really challenged me and it has been so satisfying seeing it come together (although stressful at times), so this year I have two other ideas of things I would like to work on that represent completely different challenges.
I’d love to hear what your word of the year is!
