Reader! If you are from the US, I hope you had a great, wonderful, and safe Thanksgiving. If you are reading this and you are not American I still hope you have been doing swell and thank you for being here and listening to my blog rants. I truly don't know if anyone does read this because I haven't really told many people about it. I like to view this blog truly as an outlet, so in a way, I don't want to know because then it keeps what I write authentic, genuine, and truly for me. Regardless, if you take time out of your day to read this, thank you! I hope it provides something for you like it does for me. 
If you have been following along reader, you know that I've recently been talking about making changes to live my best life. I'm stuck at home because of my ankle injury and I'm attempting for fulfill my time with more positive outlets. While these are great first steps in building consistency and positivity, the only way to inspire real change is to develop goals. A person needs something tangible to work towards for legitimate growth to happen.
The past few days, I had been thinking hard about what exactly I want to accomplish and what habits I want to build. One particular night, I was either dreaming or my stream of consciousness wouldn't let me sleep because I started a note in my phone of things I wanted to do in the upcoming year. After getting sleep and going back into this note, I realized that I could break down my goals into stuff I wanted to accomplish each day, week, month, and for the year. I took this information and broke it down into four lists. I then wanted the lists for each category to be the same length, so I brainstormed (sometimes with the help of my trusty friend  Pinterest) 10 goals to work towards in each grouping. 
I'm using this post (as you may have guessed) to share the goals I have set for myself in hopes that it will help keep me on track, to make this commitment real, and to possibly inspire someone to set goals for themselves.  So, without further ado, here are my 2021 goals:

 DAILY GOALS
1. Exercise for a minimum of 15-30 minutes.
2. Journal and/or blog.
3. Identify at least 3 things I'm grateful for.
4. Say a minimum of 5 positive affirmations.
5. Spend less than 1 hour on social media (specifically Facebook and Instagram)
6. Clean for a minimum of 10 minutes. 
7. Make my bed.
8. Give someone a compliment.
9. Walk a minimum of 10,000 steps.
10. Drink a minimum of 60 oz. of water.

WEEKLY GOALS
1.  3-5 Cardio workouts.
2. 3-5 Strength training workouts.
3. 3 Yoga sessions.
4. 1-2 'Me' Nights.
5. 5-7 Days of Meditation
6. Write a letter.
7. Read a minimum of 3 chapters. 
8. At least 1 self-care activity.
9. Bringing a lunch from home for 4 out of 5 workdays.
10. Laundry including putting it away.

MONTHLY GOALS
1. Plan 1 social outing/activity.
2. Save $60 each paycheck (2 per month).
3. Recap the positive things that happened during the month.
4. A minimum of 3 blog posts.
5. Read at least 1 book.
6. Call at least 1 long distance friend.
7. Host friends for dinner.
8. Organize 1 room in my house. 
9. Try 1 new recipe.
10. Buy 1 life improving object.

2021 YEAR GOALS
1. Explore 10 new hiking trails.
2. Visit 5 new cities.
3. Play softball again.
4. Run 2 miles under 20 minutes.
5. Sign up for 1 college class.
6. Participate in Bloomsday (an annual race in my area).
7. Read 20 books.
8. Go on 1 fun 'for me' trip (without any other purpose).
9. Volunteer.
10. Have more good days than bad.

What do you think reader? :) Do you think these are achievable? Do you think I'll be able to accomplish all of this?

To help keep me on track, I've ordered a white board which I will write all of these goals on. I will add check boxes on them and track them accordingly. At the end of each month, I will take a picture of the board to see how I've progressed. I've also purchased a monthly whiteboard calendar to help track my accomplishments, as well as, schedule my adventures in a timely fashion. 
I honestly feel really at peace, confident, determined, and calm by making these plans. It feels good to have guidance. I've always hated questions about the future because I never knew what I wanted. This gives me things to work towards. I feel like I included a fair amount of balance between achievable and challenging. I don't initiate, but the goals I've made will force me out of that comfort zone if I wish to achieve them. The goals I selected are also meant to help build healthy habits and to maintain structure in an everchanging world. Do I expect to always check everything off my list? No. Do I not expect life to throw a wrench in my plans here or there? No, I fully do. However, I am placing my bets on me and taking control of my decisions so as to make the best choices to make things happen. 
Thanks again reader (if you're there) for being my sounding board. I look forward to getting started with these goals and will try to implement them into my life as I can in the following month before the new year begins. I hope, as always that this post inspires positivity and maybe gives you ideas for things you can commit to, to become your own best self. Much appreciation reader and make someone smile today.
Until next time!

​Jordan 

Hey, hey, hey there reader. I'm baaaccck! Is it sooner or later than when you thought you'd see me again? It is a little sooner than I thought it would be if that makes you feel better. What brings me back to this lovely forum so soon is the fact that my personal favorite holiday is coming up and I think it is important to take any/every opportunity to you can to identify what you are grateful for. 
To address the first part of that last statement, yes reader THANKSGIVING is my favorite holiday. Not Christmas. Not Halloween. Thanksgiving. I am also one of those people who loathes when others jump the gun and celebrate Christmas the instant November hits. So if you are one of those Christmas lovers well, I can say that your decision to celebrate holidays non-chronologically annoys the f*** out of me, there is nothing I can do about what you do in your own home and if it makes you happy, you gotta do you.
The second half of that statement speaks to the benefits of gratitude and identifying what we are thankful for. I may or may not have mentioned before I work in mental health. That being said, the emotional and mental benefits of displaying gratitude are plentiful. Enhancing empathy, decreasing aggression, better sleep, improved self-esteem, healthier relationships, reducing stress, and increasing resiliency just to name a few.  To regularly identify things we are thankful for can build a basis of positivity for one's life and produce long-lasting benefits to one's overall health. For more information on this topic, please follow the following links to articles backing the science of gratitude. 

positivepsychology.com/benefits-gratitude-research-questions/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier
greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_gratitude_changes_you_and_your_brain

If you decided to ​further educate yourself then welcome back, and if you couldn't care less about the legitimacy of