Even though I’ve long favored specific goal setting to traditional New Year’s resolutions, I always love getting new goal ideas from reading about others’ career goals and personal growth goals on blogs and social media at the start of a new year. Today I’m sharing my personal goals for the year ahead and I hope it will give you some inspiration for your own goal setting too!
My personal goals for 2024 borrow heavily from my 101 in 1001 list, which is still my preferred framework for goal setting ideas that fall squarely between my daily to do lists and a lifelong bucket list. I’m about 9 months into my current list and have completed 21 goals so far, which means I have about two years to complete the remaining 80 goals. Many of my specific goals are cumulative (e.g. read at least twenty-five books) so while I intend to make ongoing progress toward those tallies, today’s post will focus on more specific goals that are more project- or task-oriented in nature. You can see more professional goals on my 101 in 1001 list here and I am going to save house-related goals for 2024 in a separate post, so stay tuned for that as well!
Lake Pajamas pima robe in hydrangea (true to size) // Lake Pajamas baby pajamas (size up!)
Quadrille Arbre de Matisse wallpaper // Quadrille Arbre de Matisse Roman shade
Oomph tini table // Hatch sound machine // Wayfair glider (similar)
Serena & Lily diamond jute rug // more nursery photos in this post
Ten personal goals for 2024
1. Find a primary care physician I love.
I have embarked on a number of physical health-related initiatives since having Tucker (more background on that in this post) and it would be obviously and extremely beneficial to have one primary care physician I really trust to oversee my efforts and progress in this arena. I have relied so heavily on my OB-GYN the past five or so years but I am eager to have someone who can order and assess bloodwork and general health trends beyond my pregnancy and postpartum years. Will and I have appointments scheduled for this month with a doctor who came highly recommended by a friend of mine and I’m optimistic about being able to put this anchor in place hopefully once and for all.
2. Eat the recommended amount of protein every day for four separate weeks.
I have been really good about taking iron supplements to improve my energy level in the past year (really since having our third baby ~16 months ago) and I think the next obvious area of room for improvement is upping my daily protein intake. This is a constant struggle for me as someone who 1) doesn’t eat meat and 2) can be picky and rather on-and-off even about the things I do eat, but I know it would pay dividends for my physical health if I could make some meaningful progress here. A nutritionist recommended that I aim for half my weight in grams of protein daily (e.g. if you weigh 120 pounds, aim for 60 grams of protein) but I’ll admit I definitely find it daunting to get to that number even once let alone daily. Here’s to learning some new skills in the nutrition department and stepping out of my picky eater comfort zone a bit in 2024!
3. Walk 10,000 steps every day for four separate weeks.
I gave Will a walking treadmill for his birthday last year and after seeing his success with it, I decided to add this walking treadmill and this desk riser to my little garden house office space at the end of last year. So far I find it’s a great way to get in extra movement when I would otherwise be sedentary and it’s easy to use while I’m reading an article, browsing new arrivals for a blog post, listening to a podcast, or firing off a quick email reply, but I have a hard time concentrating on walking and writing anything longer form at the same time. I’ve definitely been walking more steps than I would be without it, but I’d love to get to the point where I’m clocking 10,000 steps a day consistently without feeling like I need to retire to the couch at the exact moment it’s time to leave my desk and re-engage in mom mode.
4. Wake up before our kids every day for three separate months.
I did this consistently for six or seven weeks in August and September and it was made a noticeable improvement in my mental health to carve out that time to myself in the mornings. (You can read more about it in this post!) I am finding it so much harder to wake up early now that it’s dark past 7 a.m., but I know I will feel so much better if I just commit and make it happen. Implementing new daily routines is always going to feel like a greater challenge than a one-off project or task but they’re also the best way to make sure you’re spending time on the healthy habits that matter most to you, so I’m going to give it another go with a fresh start in 2024.
5. Needlepoint something for each of my parents.
I’ve already completed a needlepoint belt for my dad and I truthfully have no idea if I can finish this ambitious needlepoint project for my mom in one calendar year, but I’m going to try as long as it’s still bringing me joy and not becoming a source of unnecessary stress.
6. Take a trip with Will’s parents.
We are headed back to Rosemary Beach in Florida at the end of March and we are so looking forward to it! We had a great time last year and I’m excited to revisit some places we loved and scope out new places to explore this time around.
7. Get back in the habit of Friday lunch dates with Will.
I think so often our New Year’s resolutions focus on healthy habits we want to develop or career goals we want to achieve, but the start of a new year is also a great time to reflect on how you can improve the personal relationships that matter most to you and make sure your daily routines reflect ample quality time with the people you love most. Last year Will and I started doing Friday lunch dates and found that these daytime dates can feel more manageable and less guilt-inducing to fit in than evening dates where we’d be asking my parents or our nanny to get all three kids to bed, but it’s still easy to fall out of the habit and realize it’s been a month without any meaningful quality time just the two of us, so I really want to make it a priority again in the upcoming year. I think it can be tricky to create specific goals around personal relationships since I know we won’t be able to make a Friday lunch date happen all 52 weeks, but I still think it’s worthwhile to see how many we can fit in and I’m always grateful for the fresh start!
8. Create baby books for each of the kids.
This is one of those personal goals I feel so guilty for putting off as long as I have, but I’m trying to reframe the guilt and taking it as a sign that it’s something I still really want to prioritize moving forward. It’s definitely more daunting to contemplate putting together three baby books since I failed to put together Teddy or Peter’s in the year after they were born, but I love the idea of each of our kids having a baby book of photos and memories to look back on someday and I know I will feel so good once I finally make it happen! I already have these sweet baby books so I think the next step will be to flip through the various prompts inside and print out photos to add to each page.
9. Take mini road trips to other parts of our state.
We have so many incredible little places to visit within a one- or two-hour drive from our home in Connecticut and I’m always glad to have made the effort to spend quality time together on a little weekend road trip vs. just spending most of the weekend at home. This is a great time of year to start brainstorming possible adventures for the year ahead and penciling them into the calendar, which I think is the best way to make sure they actually happen vs. just sitting on a list in your notes app. I have a few places in mind I’d love to explore with the kids this year but I’d also be happy to return to this rose garden, this tulip field, or this charming little town too!
10. Watch a sunrise on the beach.
I included this in the Nantucket section of my 101 in 1001 list but we’re lucky to live in a town with public beaches that are open year-round! This is definitely one of the easiest personal goals on my list because there’s no reason I can’t make this happen in the upcoming year, whether it’s solo with a cup of coffee on a morning I’m up before the kids or as an early family adventure one weekend morning! I am always happy when I catch a glimpse of the sunrise just looking out the window so I think watching the sun rise from the beach would just be a great way to start the day (particularly when it’s not freezing outside)!
I’d also love to find a way to limit my social media usage in the upcoming year, but here I tried to focus on personal goals and overall goal setting that feel generative and positive rather than restrictive, so there you have it! I hope this time next year I’ll be reflecting on a year where I felt I was spending time on the personal relationships that are most important to me and creating daily routines around healthy habits that will support both my physical health and mental health. Definitely check out my 101 in 1001 list if you’re looking for even more goal ideas and cheers to making 2024 a truly great year!
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