My Thoughts: 21 New Year's Hopes for 2021 : As the Bird flies... Travel, Writing, and Other Journeys

Ten years ago I was a big believer in new year's resolutions and on setting myself goals both personally and professionally for growth, development and "success". And many positive changes have come thanks to some of those resolutions like reading more books and writing regularly. But it's true that in the last five or six years, and especially coming out of 2020, I feel like making new year's resolutions brings about more unsettling and uncertain feelings than hopeful energy and motivation.

This year, I'm going to do things a little differently and I am sharing 21 hopes for the new year, rather than new year's resolutions for 2021.

You'll quickly see that these hopes are really quite vague and even a little ambiguous. This is intentional as I feel one thing that 2020 has taught me is that having plans or focusing on specific things can really lead to feeling unsettled even panicked, when they go awry due to other things that are completely out of your control (like a pandemic, for example). Instead, I would rather focus on things that I can ALWAYS do or hope for, regardless of what happens in life.

So while yes, these hopes for 2021 could easily filed under "general self-care goals" or "how to be a good person" more than new year's resolutions, that is deliberate and very possibly one of the better lessons I've learned in 2020 - to expect the unexpected, and to be flexible enough to manage that. Now, you can consider that an extra bonus hope for 2021, and now let's crack on with this list.

21 Hopes for 2021 (or 21 New Year's Resolutions for 2021 I May Actually Keep!)

Here you go, my 21 hopes for 2021 are all listed below.

I hope it's obvious why these are focused mostly on me and just "being human" my professional life, or even my family, because again, this is what I can control better, and this is ultimately where any good work in other areas of my life begins. At the risk of sounding crude, if I can get my shit together, I can then help make positive changes in other parts of my life.

So sit back, dive into this list, and let me know in the comments which hopes here are ones you want to also focus on in 2021.

1. Show myself kindness every single day.

2. Observe my thoughts and feelings without judgment or action.

3. Stop comparing.

4. Build and maintain healthy boundaries.

5. Think of pleasure as something unlimited.

6. Acknowledge my mistakes.

7. Sit with discomfort, but don't make it tea.

8. Always keep space for hope.

9. Love myself without condition.

10. Remember what lights me up and prioritise it.

11. Know that joy is often more possible than I think, and it is ALWAYS permitted.