Goals Your Future Self Will Thank You For

Hello friends & Happy 2020! I hope you each had a joyous NYE ringing in your year in the best way you know how. Last year, I spent the evening at church and this year I celebrated at a Roaring 20s themed party after dinner with a friend. Vastly different, I know, but I found joy in this because of one reason: this was a goal of mine for 2019. Not the actual party exactly but with moving, one of my goals was to cultivate new friendships. As a young adult, I know you have either felt it or have heard people say: making friends as an adult is hard. Celebrating in the way that I did signified to me that I fulfilled at least one of my goals since the party was hosted by a new work friend and dinner was with a college friend who I didn’t see much in person before due to distant (only 1.5 hours but still – hard). For me, cultivating friendships will always be a constant goal because I thrive on community. I also thrive on collaboration with others so new friends, business connections and online accountability partners bring me oh so much joy.

Right now, everyone is either sharing or setting new goals. & this girl loves goals. I love having something to work towards and the feeling of knowing that I did something good for myself. With all the sharing, does come the guilt. The guilt that someone your age is already married/in a long-term partnership, saving a crazy amount of money, living with no student loan debt, building a custom home, blah blah blah. And friend, I I feel that guilt too. I see it everyday and especially with blogging, it’s what I see on my friend constantly. I feel overjoyed celebrating with friends who are doing these things and can live in my own truth that I’m just not there yet and that is okay. If you are feeling overwhelmed with guilt, comparison or sadness because you are not where someone else is right now, that is okay too. Instead of focusing on that, every year, I chose to make some realistic goals that my future self with thank me for. If you’re looking for some options, here are 6 I love and live by:

1. Stop texting while driving. I know you’re rolling your eyes thinking that you’re only doing it at red lights or when stuck in traffic but no, stop doing it all together. Unless there’s an emergency, stop texting while driving all together. Stop recording stories while driving. Stop watching stories while driving. And to top it all off, stop drinking and driving. I know we hear and see this all the time but a realistic goal that could potentially save your life is to stop using your phone at all when operating a vehicle, unless parked.
2. No work night drinking past 8pm. I am guilty of this because I love a good glass of wine after work. However, back in college I had this rule and it 1. helped my budget & 2. stopped me from feeling hungover and cloudy the next day. If you are a frequent happy  hour post work drinker, cut back by 1 night and cut off by 8pm (or at least 2 hours before you plan to go to sleep.)
3. Pay every bill on time or early. Hopefully I am not the only one guilty of this but a few years ago, right after I got my first credit card, I didn’t realize your payment dates could shift LOL. Well fast forward to months later and I am so confused why I have so many dang fees. My payments had shifted by 2 days and I never noticed. I kept paying on my original date and was charged a $35 late fee every time then interest on top of that. I rarely have regrets in my life but this is definitely one of them because of the money I was throwing away without even realizing it. Setting everything up for auto-pay is always best but if you can’t, set a phone alarm for at least 2 days before the bill is due to stay ahead and avoid wasting money.
4. No screen time 30 minutes before bed. As a chronic bad sleeper & night owl, this has been one of the hardest things for me to do. With normal work during the day, blog work during the nights and freelance work somewhere in between, I find myself crashing with my laptop on the bed. Not only is that bad for my brand new laptop that could fall/get cracked or get overheated, it’s also bad for my self. By the end of some nights, my eyes are actually burning and it’s hard to fall asleep. Now, I have been trying to get away from screens at least 30 minutes before bed no matter what. It takes me less time to fall asleep and I don’t wake up with a headache. Pretty much win/win.
5. Save 10% more. Whatever your savings plan looks like, even if it’s small, add 10% to it. If you’re not in the position to add 10% to start, add 2% per month and watch how you don’t notice the small change. For example, if you’re saving $100 a week, upping that to $110 is the difference in 1 happy hour drink and by the end of the month, you have added $440 to your savings vs $400. That’s about  Recently I have been obsessed with Money Diaries & MD Reddit. Partly because I am insanely nosey (sue me, okay?!) and partly because I am so interested in seeing different ways that people save their money. It has seriously pushed me to work harder on paying down my credit card debt faster and to stop eating out. I’m still working on the eating out part but I’ve recently become better about packing light snacks so I’m less likely to grad a CFA meal when I could have satisfied with a snack before dinner.
6. Call people when you miss them. With our busy schedules and so much access to people that doesn’t require talking person, calling anyone can seem like a hassle. I am 100% the person that rather contact the customer service email versus picking up the phone and calling. However, our loved ones are different. From someone who has lost several friends since graduating high school, I can not emphasize the importance of calling and being able to hear someone’s voice when you need it. One of my friends from HS, Chelsi, & I always make time for at least 1 hour phone call about once a quarter. It’s not planned down the very schedule but it’s nice to have and to know that when we talk, we can catch each other up about everything happening and not spend too much time harping on the tiny, unimportant details, like we might done in text in the moment. I do this with other friends and it brings be so much joy just to have that sacred time where I don’t get to focus on anything else besides being a good friend.

*Bonus suggestions: stop being late. This is me talking to me but seriously, stop being late*

Long post for simple princess but friends, it is so worth it! Simply starting with not texting, calling, scrolling or recording while driving is a great start. You may save your life and someone else’s. Whether you are choosing to cultivate friendships, strengthen finances or something else, figuring out the big picture and the why behind goals is what is going to help make them last. Instead of thinking of phone calls with loved ones as awkward or time consuming, think of them of life giving that when you’re 80, you’ll be grateful that you did. Or when you have hard times or really exciting times, you’ll be even more greatly that you’ve cultivate friendship that give you a place to express both of those.

That’s all I have for today friends! Thank you guys so much for reading and for sticking around the blog for the past 3 years! 2020 could be our best year yet and for that, I am soooooo grateful. Talk to you guys soon! -xo, Azanique