Sitting down to write this post feels indicative of the goals I am setting this year. Now that we are one week into 2020, I finally feel ready to put all my thoughts down on the blog.  It’s not that they haven’t been on my mind over the past few weeks, it’s just that I wanted to take my time and be more thoughtful.  I know the word “intentional” gets thrown around a lot these days.  Everyone is trying to be more present, mindful, and aware of the moment.  I guess that can also apply to me for my 2020 goal setting.  But a little back story on how I got here before I dive into the details.

As per usual, my mind has been swirling with thoughts since Dec 1 on how 2020 is going to be the best year yet. So when I was thinking about my goals, it started off very positive:  Drink More Water! Save the World! Impact People’s Lives! Be Cleaner, Greener, Better! But then I sat down and looked at the goals I set in 2019.  There, I realized, I fell short. Yes, I knew some of them were unattainable and blue sky, some were just fluff, but I realized the year didn’t pan out exactly how I envisioned. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a pity party post. Just reality. We all have good intentions on Jan 1, but we all don’t all have good results on Dec 31.

Now, faced with this knowledge, I didn’t want to take the “Dream it, and it will come” approach.  Or “You’re a badass and just visualize the life you want and it will manifest itself into being” mantra.  Instead, I took the negative route.  I starting asking myself: “What is not working? What should you not do this year?  In what ways do you waste your time, energy, focus, and resources? What would you do and accomplish if you removed these things from your life?  Why are you using so many italics in this paragraph? “

It wasn’t the most confidence building approach to goal setting, but it really made me think.  With my new perspective, here are a few things that I found.  I’m sure we each have our own. So hopefully, it’s helpful to hear mine.

WHAT’S NOT WORKING + THE CHANGES I’M MAKING

The first thing I realized that was not working was my sleep schedule.  It’s funny because in my 2019 goals post, I wrote how I’m not a morning person so I won’t strive to get to early exercise classes.  But here’s why I came to the conclusion that this stance was not working for me. In the last few months of 2019, my typical weekday morning was waking up between 7-7:30 AM.  Jeff would bring me up coffee.  I got ready/dressed in a way that was passable, telling myself that I had time after the kids were in school. Then it was a total time crunch to get the kids out the door in time.  With the small window we all had, I started getting stressed, then came the yelling, followed by the daily deep breathes and just feeling bad that this is how the day starts for my family.

After years of morning wake ups from babies, I told myself that I earned and deserved this later wake-up time. But in reality, it wasn’t doing my any favors.  On top of that, I would come home, read the skimm, write down my to-do list for the day, and basically not accomplish anything until 9:30/10:00.  Then I would want to hop on my Instagram stories or take an outfit picture, but I wasn’t camera ready.  Soon, I was constantly crying about what little time I have to work on the blog and how I have too much on my plate.

Conversely, I told myself that night time was my unwind time.  Which meant I would go down the rabbit hole of social media and not get anything done.  So I was wasting the morning hours, wasting the evening hours, and overdoing it in the daytime.

Solution:  Wake up at 6:30 AM every day during the week

Now, I set an alarm on my phone. We’re only a week in at this point, but I’m determined to keep this up.  I’ve been going to morning exercise classes or getting showered and primped before the kids wake and writing my to-do list or intentions.  Basically, actually checking some boxes before my alone time. I have felt in a better place getting the kids out the door and my days are clear to focus on FBM. There are a few more reasons I want to keep these up, but can’t share just yet.  I promise, once these ideas fully form I will let you all know!

The next step was taking a look at my business goals. Prior to staying at home with the kids, I had a six-figure salary at Revlon. In my mind, that is the benchmark I want to achieve. On the plus side, my revenue from FBM + Beautycounter hit the five-figure mark in 2019.  Exciting, but far from where I want to be. {I also make money from a condo I own in Hoboken, NJ, but don’t count that towards my personal business}.  Yes, it’s a very reach goal but it’s something I really want.

Over the past few weeks, I have been writing down things that moved the needle in my businesses and those that didn’t.  I also jotted down things that I personally like and dislike. I also polled followers on Instagram stories for the topics they want to see. Blogging is a crazy world.  I sometimes pour my heart into a post and no one reads it.  Other times, 15 people purchase a pillowcase I found on Amazon that I quickly shared on the LTK app.  You just never know!

Solution: Do More to Resonate

The consistent feedback I received was to share more personal stories.  Posts of me wearing an outfit or actually using a beauty product do better than me just telling you it’s on sale. I want to show you something I actually use, how and why you can use it, and be a little more intentional for lack of a better word here.

The last one is to stop multitasking.  I know, we’re all programmed to get as much done in a minute as we can, but it’s not working for me anymore.  Maybe it’s because I’m now 40.  I don’t know.  But I feel like I’m half assing everything on a hamster wheel to-do list. I’ve subscribed to the Done Not Perfect mantra for a while now, but maybe I’ve taken it too far.

Solution: Focus on One Thing At A Time

Like I mentioned in this post on getting organized, I need to finish something then go on to the next thing with a clear mind. I want to stop wasting my time repeating conversations and getting to the point the first time.  Even if that means fewer {but better} blog posts or committing to reading an entire Captain Underpants book in one sitting!

There are a few other items on my list like exercise 4-5x/week and drink less wine during the week {I’m currently doing a dry January!}, but those really play into the overarching goal of wake up earlier.

I recently saw a quote that said “The most dangerous phrase in the human language is “We’ve always done it this way.” That’s how I feel about this year’s post.  Not the best move to tear yourself down and share your shortcomings with the world, but it feels good to identify the bad to make room for the good.

I would love to hear all about your plans for 2020! Also, what do you think of this post? I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback to make FBM better this year.