My Intentions for 2021

Happy New Year!!!! What a crazy year 2020 was. I started 2020 with the worst hangover I can remember and this year without any, so it’s safe to say things are already looking up. I can’t explain why, but the start of this new year feels different than past years. I’m doing my best to stay optimistic, and I really do feel so much promise and potential in the air. To signify the start of a new and hopefully much better year, I wanted to write out my intentions and resolutions to hold myself accountable and have something to look back on at the end of this year. Here’s to 2021 and hopefully the best year yet for all of you!

My Intentions for 2021

Self-love.

2020 was a challenging year, to say the least. From everything that was happening in the world around us and feeling completely powerless to do anything about it, to the direct impact coronavirus had on our careers and personal plans, it was incredibly emotional and difficult at times. As someone who tries to push through adversity by always seeing the bright side and being grateful for what I have, at times it felt like too much to put on a fake happy face when inside I felt like the world was crumbling around me. I took several months to seriously reset my expectations and aspirations and just allow myself to feel negative emotions. I allowed myself to feel sad about postponing my wedding, to feel devastated about the state of the world, and anxious about the uncertainty that seemed to permeate every aspect of life.

In 2021, I want to continue to allow myself to feel emotions, both positive and negative. But I want to leave a lot of the pain of 2020 behind me and move forward, however uncertain the future remains. Which brings me to my next intention for the new year –

Living without fear.

When I reflect on the past year, I realize how much time I was living in fear and paralyzed by anxiety. Everything in the world felt uncertain, and for most of the year I didn’t know how to fully handle it. I didn’t know if we should postpone or cancel our wedding, and felt angry when I looked around and saw other people throwing massive weddings.

I was also ashamed in promoting consumerism and frivolous purchases when people were losing their jobs, their life savings, their lives during a pandemic. So I stopped blogging and creating content completely because of this shame. Over time, I learned to be more compassionate and empathetic towards others – after all, we were all living through our very first pandemic! Even if you don’t agree with someone else’s decisions, I try to put myself in their shoes to at least try to understand where they are coming from, and give people the benefit of the doubt that they are most likely trying their best.

Now, I’ve realized that by being more intentional and thoughtful with the content I create, I can be a creator with integrity and intention, even during a pandemic. Creating content and being mindful of the state of the world around you doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. I’m looking forward to creating more and tapping into my creative side more in the new year.

Conscious consumption. 

Something I want to bring into the new year with me is the concept of more conscious consumption. 2020 taught me to reevaluate not only what I buy, but how much and where I buy from. It really led me to rethink potential purchases and really sit with them before making the decision to buy. I went through my closet and did a deep purge on Poshmark (shop my closet here) and really made an effort to limit purchases. I’ve cut down on buying fast fashion completely and am committed to buying as many pieces as possible from resale platforms vs. buying new.

We’ve also made an effort to shop more locally – from supporting local restaurants and removing delivery apps from our phones, to buying groceries from the farmer’s market, to selecting local boutiques and Etsy shops for gifts, we’ve made a more conscious effort than ever to support small and local businesses.

Financial growth.

A couple of years ago I started to get more serious with my personal finances and have made a point to be more aggressive each year in terms of saving and investments. I want to commit to becoming more financially literate in 2021 and maximizing my earnings and savings potential even further. Whereas in the past I would look forward to treating myself with a new handbag or pair of shoes, I get a lot more satisfaction these days putting the money into an ETF and view it as an investment in myself and future. (I guess this is what happens when you turn 30, huh?).

Health.

And of course, physical health and well-being. If last year taught me anything, it’s to never take anything for granted, especially our physical health. I always look forward to starting the year with Dry January, and am even more excited that we are doing Whole30 this year. I’m looking forward to kicking the year off with a physical and mental reset, and want to be more intentonal moving forward with how I treat my body and what I put into it.

What are your intentions or resolutions for 2021? xx