20 20s for 2020: Here are the goals I'm setting myself for the new year

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Happy new year! And a happy new decade too!

How was your festive period? I hope you had a break, and it was as busy or as quiet as you wanted, and you're ready to face 2020 with a renewed spring in your step.

This year, instead of setting any resolutions, I'm going to set myself 20 20s for 2020. If that just made your eyes hurt, let me explain: I've got a list of twenty things, all involving the number 20, that I'd like to do this year. Rather than use the new year as an excuse to become a whole different person, I'd just like to make my life a little bit better. So, fanfare please, for my 20 20s for 2020:

1. Read 20 books My first degree was in English Literature, so it breaks my heart that I don't read for pleasure as much as I used to. This year, I'm aiming to fix that, by reading 20 books, either fiction or non-fiction. Any textbooks I have to read for my degree definitely don't count.
2. Watch 20 films. As my degree is nearly done (so nearly!) I'm revising pretty much 24 hours a day (sometimes I do dream about revising in my sleep!) so finding two hours of free time to watch a movie is pretty much unheard of. 
3. Accept 20 invitations. Between having no time and no money, I feel like I'm basically turning into a hermit. This year, I want to make sure that when people ask me out, I can definitely say yes! 
4. Go out 20 times with Mr Flicking the Vs And the same for my other half. I want to do more things together rather than just going down our local pub for two pints and a packet of peanuts every week. That said, I do love our local. I'll just have to add in some extra excursions!
5. Spend at least 20 minutes doing nothing a week When do you ever get a chance to stare out the window for a prolonged period, unencumbered by the sense there's something you should be doing? I'm going to experiment with just doing nothing for a little bit each week. 
6. Save 20 x £20 (or £2020!) This one's self explanatory. I'm going to try and make my bank account a bit gladder.
7. Make 20 new recipes I've rediscovered my kitchen mojo of late, so I'll be getting back to cooking and dreaming up some new recipes for the new year.
8. Eat out at 20 new places The only thing better than cooking a nice meal for myself is getting 
9. Write 20 blog posts I shouldn't need to set myself this task, given how much I love spending time on this blog, but life keeps getting in the way. No more of that! 
10. Do 20 environmentally beneficial things I haven't quite worked out what I need to 
11. Change 20 items in my wardrobe Some things need to go out, some things need to go in. Either way, I'm using the new year as an excuse to spring clean my wardrobe.
12. Exercise 20 days a month Exercising isn't always fun, but I'm pretty convinced of the benefits for my mental and physical health, so I'm going to be ploughing ahead with working out again this year.
13. Do 20 things I've put putting off I'm thinking mainly of things around the house that I keep ignoring in the hope they'll somehow magically disappear. This year's going to be the year I get them all done.
14. List 20 things on selling sites I could always do with some extra cash in the bank, as well as a few less things in my flat. Why not combine the two by selling off some of my spare bits?
15. Volunteer 20 times This should be easy - I volunteer a lot normally, but I'd like to keep up my hit rate for the new decade.
16. Spend 20 days in new places This is basically a long winded way of saying 'spend 20 days on holiday'! I don't think I'm going to get to take 20 days off on the spin, but I'm counting weekends away as long as I get to be somewhere other than London.
17. 20 practice questions a day until exams The last exams of my degree are in March, so I'll be nose in the books til then.
18. Practise skills 20 times each The final exams involve demonstrating a lot of different individual skills, so I'm going to keep going over them until they're embedded as muscle memory. 20 times should do it!
19. Finish the last 20 percent of my degree It's a five year degree and this is my last year. Please keep your fingers crossed I pass!
20. Take 20 political actions 2019 felt like a year of going backwards politically. I'd like to do 20 things in 2020 that are I think are for the political good.

So that's my 20 20s for 2020! I shamelessly stole the idea from the MSE forum, so if you want to see some other ideas for setting your own 20 20s for 2020, go here. Are you setting any goals for this year, or just taking as it comes? Let me know!

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash