Happy 2020!

I am blown away by all of you (1000 people!) who took my survey over the holidays. Your answers helped me map out what this year will look like for Lemon Stripes and I’m so grateful for that. It often feels like a one-sided conversation over here so hearing what you liked and didn’t like was really helpful and wonderful.

There was an overwhelming request for more sustainability and fitness/wellness content… and less unattainable fashion content. Noted!

Anel and I talked about it and since he’s not planning to expand again this year, he is open to creating more workout content for you guys. I know I said that last year but we had some major business shifts for Countdown.

But I’ll get more into that tomorrow when I review what’s coming up on the blog this year.

Today, I want to talk about my personal, professional, and financial goals for 2020 which is something I spent a lot of time thinking about over the break.

For the last 4 years, I’ve made a list of goals to complete by the end of the year, divided into categories. It’s a list that’s both achievable and aspirational so that I feel good about completing it, but it doesn’t feel stressful. Instead of resolutions, these tangible goals actually get done instead of being forgotten a few months into the year.

I keep this list on my phone under the notes app and look at it whenever I think to do so. Halfway through 2019 I added monthly calendar reminders to check out my goal list which helped me achieve a lot more in Q3 and Q4.

I like to use the word goal instead of resolution because if you don’t hit it, that’s ok. It’s just a goal!

2020 GOALS: PERSONAL

Put Fair Play into action. If you’re in a relationship and haven’t read Eve Rodsky’s book, Fair Play, do so immediately. The way she talks about domestic tasks and emotional labor completely changed the way I look at my marriage. Anel and I have started to put her suggestions into action, but we’re ramping it into high gear this month. If we succeed, I will share how and what we did to make it work.

Decorate our house. We are slowly but surely buying furniture and decor for our new house, but it still feels like we have so far to go. Our goal is to complete the living room, family room (almost done), our master, Amalia’s room, and my home office by the end of this year. We also have a lot of work to do on the exterior (landscaping, siding, trees) and will be tackling that little by little over the next two years simultaneously. I love this stuff so much, it gets me so jazzed up!

Start a garden. Anel grew up on a farm and almost completely lived off the land as a child. He and his dad have grand plans to create a vegetable and herb garden in our backyard and, although I have zero green thumb, I’m excited to see how it turns out and cook with whatever they grow.

Go back to therapy. Last summer, I “graduated” from therapy but over the last few months, I’ve realized that it’s time to get back on track because I’ve been feeling some breakthrough anxiety symptoms and they don’t feel great.

Grow our family. We are finally having real conversations about the next step for our family and Anel and I both agree that we’re ready to grow our family in the next year or two. It’s exciting and scary at the same time but I finally feel ready for that next step.

2020 GOALS: WORK

Accountability. I make a lot of promises. This year, I intend to keep them. I can start by being more careful and thoughtful about what I promise around here.

Sustainability Challenges. I will be talking more about these tomorrow but it is the one thing I’m most excited about for Lemon Stripes 2020.

Time management. Working for yourself is awesome for many reasons, and one of them is the fact that your schedule can be flexible. But sometimes I take advantage of that too much and end up scheduling in too many things during the day which means I’m up late or up early working. I’m totally ok with that, but when I start getting antsy to work when I’m spending time with Amalia, it’s not good for either of us. So this year I’m hoping to be better about managing my time during working hours so that I’m totally free to be with her in the mornings and at night.

Build my marketing practice. I’ve been blogging for 10 years. That is a longgggg time and not at all what I expected when I started this thing! While there are aspects of it that I still love, I need another outlet. In 2019 I started building up my marketing consulting business BTS and have felt so fulfilled doing that work. This year, my goal is to grow that even more to see where it can take me.

2020 GOALS: FINANCES

Donate regularly. Instead of donating money only when there is a crisis or during the holidays, this year I’m setting up recurring monthly donations in small amounts for causes that I’m passionate about. It’s something that will make me feel good throughout the year, and ensure that the charities I love have my support year-round.

Spend more mindfully. Last year we tried to set up a strict monthly budget (one of my 2019 goals) and after trying in a few different ways, it ended up stressing us out more than it helped so we ditched that plan. We know exactly what we spend on monthly bills and generally how much we need for food, diapers, dog food, etc, but where we get tripped up is on random (unnecessary) Amazon purchases, home decor items, and impulse purchases on Target runs. Anel and I are both committing to cutting way down on impulse purchases and things we don’t need this year.

So there you have a handful of my many 2020 goals. What are some of yours?