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Don’t know what goals to set this year? I spent all of New Year’s Day brain dumping every single goal down that I had!
This year I’m focusing more on mindset, lifestyle, side hustle growth and a few financial goals sprinkled in between.
Don’t forget to visualize yourself working towards in addition to achieving the outcome. Scientific studies show that it is paramount that you remember to consider the journey towards reaching your goals.
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Tips For Setting Goals
Everyone’s goals will be different based on an overarching theme. Are you hoping to get out of debt? Create new income streams? Improve your relationship with money? Choose an overarching theme for your goals and it’ll be easier to come up with a few.
This year my theme is to “stay in my lane” and focus on my personal development and progress. I want to continue to improve my relationship with money and grow my businesses and income streams.
Here are 5 hacks for goal-setting:
- Give yourself 15 minutes to jot down as many goals as possible. Is there a theme?
- Brain dumping is such a useful tool. Our minds are cluttered with thoughts that are crying out for attention. Dump them all out with pen and paper and then review. Is there a particular pattern about what you want to achieve this year? Prioritize those first.
- Stay realistic. Don’t set overwhelming goals that you will give up on in a few weeks time.
- Ex: You want to lose 50 pounds this year. Instead, set a goal to exercise 3 days a week for 30 minutes a day. Once you’ve formed that habit then you can adjust your routine to further your progress.
- What area in your life are you feeling behind on? Fitness? Debt? Self-development?
- Ex: You constantly find yourself feeling like you’re lacking knowledge on investing. Take 5 minutes and buy The Broke Millennial Takes On Investing. Read 30 minutes of it a night and you’ll find yourself feeling more comfortable with investing.
- Write your goals down and announce them to friends.
- How can you track your progress if you don’t know what your goals are? It is extremely valuable to jot your goals down and reference them throughout the year. Many paper planners have a page where you can write your annual goals and that way you always have them available. (I personally am using Write To Me’s Daily Hustle Planner this year. It’s 30% off right now!)
- Prioritize your goals and make a plan to achieve them.
- How will you actually achieve these goals? If you’re planning to Max out a ROTH IRA, you need to open an account first and figure out how much to contribute every month! Give yourself a step by step guidebook to make your goal-setting more effective.
Read on to find out some goals examples that I’m setting for myself in 2021.
Read: 11 Financial Goals To Reach By 30
21 Goals To Set In 2021
1. Spend more money on myself
That was uncomfortable for me to even list as a goal which is why it’s at the top of my list!
I have always struggled with spending money on myself. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been able to save $100,000 in two years. I’m frugal.
But, it’s not always a good thing either. I want to learn to spend money on myself intentionally and guilt-free.
What is the point of earning more if I continue to deprive myself of the things I want?
So, this is the year I will allow myself to spend more freely! In fact, I already bought myself 2 books and a pair of pants so I’m off to a good start!
How I’m doing this: Allowing myself to go shopping when I feel the need to!
Read: How To Be Okay With Spending Money
2. Flip a home
I want to dive deeper into the world of real estate investing and flip my first home. I’m hoping to partner with a more experienced flipper for my first deal and learn from them!
I have already spoken with a friend who can contribute private money which will make it a much cheaper investment than I had already planned.
I feel confident in being able to find a good deal but I lack expertise in the rehab portion hence why I want to partner with someone else for my first one.
My long-term goal is to incorporate flipping homes as one of my 7 income streams. I currently have 3 income streams down and am hoping to incorporate 4 others by the time I turn 30.
How I’m doing this: I am keeping my eyes peeled for a good deal and reaching out to experienced flippers to partner with me. I’m hoping to go under contract on a flip by June so it is ready to sell in the fall.
3. Read 12 books
I love reading but I did not read enough last year. I am setting a goal to read at least one book per month!
I occasionally listen to audiobooks as well but I prefer the physical aspect of turning pages so this goal is about strictly reading 12 books and not consuming them through Audible or Libby.
How I’m doing this: I’m following Reese Witherspoon and Ashley Brooke’s book clubs as well as reading some self-development and finance books that are already on my list. (The ones I recently ordered are: I Will Teach You To Be Rich and American Royals)
4. Grow my Instagram to 5k
Do you follow me on Instagram yet? I grew my community there to 1,000 followers in just 9 months! I’m hoping to expand to 5,000 followers by 2022.
My goal for expanding the community is to monetize it in the future and create another income stream.
How I’m doing this: I’m working on creating more educational and shareable content that my readers are interested in. I’m also collaborating more with other finance bloggers and influencers.
5. Grow blog readers to 5k/mo
I’m going to put my head down and focus more on growing this blog community in 2022. I absolutely love working on it but sometimes it’s hard to make time for it between my job and side hustle.
Since this blog is less than a year old, I need to remind myself to stay patient and consistent and the traffic will come.
How I’m doing this: Mastering SEO, growing my Instagram, and collaborating with other bloggers via guest posts and podcast interviews.
6. Get Featured In Forbes & Business Insider
This is a loftier goal but I would love to be featured in Forbes or Business Insider!
Last year I was interviewed for USA Today, HousingWire and Finder and I will continue prioritizing PR in my blogging journey!
How I’m doing this:I’m reaching out organically to Forbes and Business Insider writers and hoping one of my emails will catch their eye.
7. Finish my backyard
We started working on our backyard a few months ago and it’s almost done! We weeded, laid down landscaping fabric, planted numerous plants and mulched! (I got free fresh mulch from Chip Drop. It took us days to mulch but that’s a story for another time).
All that is left is installing some scallop rocks bordering the garden beds and planting a few more plants. I’ll publish a blog on our final costs when we finish it.
How I’m doing this: I’m giving myself a little break after we did a lot of yard work last month and then diving back into it this spring!
Read: How To Start A Vegetable Garden On A Budget
8. Love everything in my closet
Since I’m incredibly frugal I don’t buy new clothes very often. This year I want to clean out my closet and start working on a wardrobe where I enjoy every article of clothing! I’ve been gradually doing this at the start of every season but I struggle with holding onto things because “they’ll be back in style” or are sentimental.
This is a great goal to set for everyone- it’s easy to hoard clothes and items you never wear. Clear out your closet and donate or sell your clothes!
How I’m doing this: I’m observing which articles I avoid when I get dressed every morning and creating a shopping list for new pieces I’m interested in. (Next on the list is a few more pencil skirts!)
Read: How To Organize Your Closet On A Budget
9. Host a clothing swap
With the clothes I get rid of, I’d love to host a local clothing swap in Tampa to meet other women my age and be more sustainable!
I’ve seen a few finance influencers host them this year (Blonde Broke & Bougie and How To Be Broke In New York). What’s cool is they ended up donating the extra clothes that no one swapped!
Free, sustainable shopping for a cause, can it get any better than that?!
How I’m doing this: I’m waiting for COVID to clear up before hosting a clothing swap. I’m hoping to host one this summer between a few friends and invite some of my Instagram family to join!
10. Shop small more often
I bought a few Christmas gifts at local Tampa boutiques and loved the experience! The customer service is amazing, everything is packaged in such a cute way, and you get to leave knowing you helped someone in your community.
I visited two boutiques for most of my gifts but I want to explore new ones and promote them on my Instagram.
Last year was hard on small businesses so make it a goal for yourself to shop local in 2021.
How I’m doing this: Making an attempt to purchase most of my client gifts and birthday gifts from small Tampa businesses.
11. Find more joy in cooking
Tyler is the main cook in our household but I’d like to learn to enjoy cooking more. I’m going to dedicate more time to trying new recipes and surprising him with them.
We’re also trying out HelloFresh next week (P.S Rakuten is offering $20 cash back right now on HelloFresh subscriptions!). They deliver only the ingredients you need for the meals you choose. Our coupon is only costing $60 for 10 meals (5 meals for 2 people!)
We’re going to try it out and see if we like it. Look out for a full review in the future!
How I’m doing this: Looking up recipes more often and not just cooking something easy and bland! Trying out the cooking subscription, HelloFresh.
12. Try Whole30
Not going to lie… we wanted to start this in January. But, with the holidays and a few big events we have in the next few months I don’t think we’ll get to try this until spring.
I want to try it to see if I have any food intolerances that I didn’t recognize. I’ve heard great things about this diet from friends who’ve done it.
How I’m doing this: Talking to others who’ve done it in the past as well as researching recipes and what foods are not allowed on Whole30.
13. Master SEO
I’ve read a few books on SEO and have been implementing the tactics as I go but there’s still so much left to learn.
The difficulty with SEO is that it takes a while before seeing any progress. It really tries my patience at times but I am staying consistent and continuing to implement the tactics!
How I’m doing this: I have plans to read two more SEO books this year as well as potentially enroll in an SEO course.
14. Sell Digital Products
I have a few ideas for digital courses that I would like to launch this year. My goal is to create more passive streams of income.
I have released an ebook in the past but I want to focus on courses since they are more profitable. I have some Realtor focused course ideas and am working on some for my blog community too.
How I’m doing this: I’m going to start with some market research, then prime my audience for my course later this spring with hopes to launch in the summer. 
15. Propagate More Plants And Host Plant Swaps
I have so many plants at home and want to propagate them and do plant swaps! This will be a fun way to meet more people as well as get some free plants!
How I’m doing this: My mom and boyfriend got me a few propagation vases for Christmas so I’m hoping to do some later this month.
16. Take 1+ Day OFF/Week
I’ve been pretty good about doing this in 2020 but I want to continue to enforce this for this year. Being a Realtor, weekends are prime time for showings and open houses but I love getting that full day off to spend with my boyfriend.
How I’m doing this: Booking all of my showings for weekdays or Saturdays and taking Sundays off. Focusing my lead generating efforts on social media rather than open houses to free up a huge chunk of my weekends!
17. Stop Having Money Guilt
I want to learn to ditch money guilt and enjoy spending money.
I grew up with the notion that spending any money is bad and I should only buy what’s necessary. As I grow older I realize I want to live my life more intentionally and spend money on quality things and experiences rather than save as much money as possible.
How I’m doing this: Telling myself it’s okay to spend money and that it’s not inherently bad. Going shopping more often will start to normalize this for me too.
18. Stay In My Own lane and not compare my success to others
Whether it’s real estate or in blogging, I find it very difficult to give myself grace. I often catch myself comparing my success and journey to others’. I’m going to try to focus more on my own progress this year.
How I’m doing this: Reminding myself that I don’t know the full story when I see people’s progress. We only ever see the tip of the iceberg and not all of the work and struggles that it took.
19. Say “NO” To More Things
Are you a people pleaser like me? I find it nearly impossible to say “no” to things! I’ve gotten better over the years but it still plagues me.
How I’m doing this: Literally saying “no” to plans that do not bring me joy!
20. MAX Out 401k & Roth IRA
I want to continue saving for retirement by focusing on maxing out these two accounts!
The maximum contribution limit for 2021 for a 401k is $19,500 and for a ROTH IRA is $6,000 (please check these to confirm).
How I’m doing this: Despite my plans to spend more, my goal is to do so in a way where I can still max out these retirement accounts.
21. SEe my parents every other month
Last year I went 11 months before seeing my parents! It was far too long and I’m hoping to see them every other month at least. (I live a 9 hour drive away)
How I’m doing this: I already have plans to see my parents 3 times in the next 6 months! With international travel still being iffy, seeing them more often is easier.
What goals do you have? Was this helpful in helping with your personal goal setting?
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