Goal setting for 2020…

Happy NEW YEAR!!!

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but it’s a new year. And, a new decade (although some are debating this. I get it. But we’re not doing that right now, okay?)

Have you set goals for yourself? Are you a resolution person?

I am. Or, at least, I usually am. Maybe I still am.

I don’t know.

Setting resolutions is a very * me * thing to do. But…

I decided to do this word of the year instead. I picked a word of the year last year. My 2019 word was, “CREATE” and I have to say that it was a far more powerful exercise than my usual “lose weight/ get organized/ be a better wife/ mom/ friend” resolutions.

When I picked the word, CREATE, I thought it would be about prioritizing my creative work. About creating worlds and art with abandon.

While it certainly was a good reminder throughout the year about those creative goals, #Create2019 became about much more. I don’t want to get into too many of the details right now but it empowered me to inspect how I was creating my life. How I was co-creating the details of my very existence.

Powerful stuff.

So you can see why I was tempted to re-pick CREATE as my 2020 word. Who doesn’t want more empowerment?

Well, of course I do. But my 2020 phrase came to me in November 2019 and I let it sit with me a while and tried it out and… it’s pretty much the most terrifying thing I’ve ever conceived.

Which means I had to pick it.

But I’m scared, y’all.

HELL YES.

It comes from that saying that’s been floating around blogs and podcast-ville for a while: “If it’s not a HELL YES, it’s a no.”

So what does it mean? How will I be utilizing this word (phrase, I know) (okay, maybe it’s more of a sentiment) in 2020?

It’s already come up a few times in the early days of the year - asking myself, “is this a hell yes?”

Friends, it’s crazy how often it’s not.

Especially during the holidays, when we do so much just… because. Because it’s expected. Because we came all this way. Because it’s the way we’ve always done it.

That’s why I’m scared. I’m scared of discovering that my life has been a bunch of meh. A whole lot of it’s okay, I guess. I don’t want to rock the boat/ expect more/ order the best thing on the menu.

And yes, this applies to my work, too. I’m scared to look down at a first draft and feel like I wasted eighty thousand words on something that I’m not all that crazy about. What if I look up one day and realize that my professional organization wasn’t as helpful/ fun/ awesome as I thought it was? (Well… actually, that’s happened and I’m surprisingly okay with it.)

That’s the part I’m excited about, actually. Yes, this will probably mean that I have some discomfort. That I’ll answer some hard questions. Maybe I’ll be disappointed in myself or others.

But what if… this opens me up to more than I ever expected?

That’s my hope, anyway.

So. What are you looking forward to in 2020? Did you make resolutions? Or did you pick a word? Or a phrase? Or a sentiment? Are you going to live audaciously? Or give yourself some well-earned rest?

I’d love to give updates on how #HellYes2020 is working for me and I’ll probably do it in the secret posts I put in the Inner Circle Newsletter. Make sure you’re signed up to hear all the 2020 tea this year!