How To Set My 2021 Goals?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

If you are reading this right now, Congratulations! You made it to 2021!

There are many people who did not survive the 2020 crises. And we are truly sorry for them and we pray for them. Many of them were claimed by the corona virus and natural calamities like typhoons, floods, and volcanic eruptions. Others were depressed, and some others chose to give up their own lives.

The fact that you are still reading this, is already a BIG reason to be thankful! Cheer up! YOU ARE SO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!

So, what now? We survived the 2020, and we are now starting our 2021, what should we do? The famous song asks: `Where do I begin… where do I start?`

Of course you can begin or start from wherever you are or whatever you have. In case you are still in a state of confusion or overwhelmed by the great uncertainty in front of us, let me give you some suggestions how you may start your 2021.

Below are some of my suggestions or samples of goals for 2021. Take note, they are just samples so that you may have some ideas on how to come up with your own goals. Let`s begin!

1. Refocus my life

After going through a lot in 2020, it is highly recommended to refocus our lives as we begin this year.

Ask yourself some important questions like: What are my priorities? What are my long-term goals? Where do I want to go? What work do I want to do? What do I want to achieve for the next 5 fiver years or for the next 12 months?

Then, after asking yourself about your priorities and long-term goals, ask yourself about your short-term goals. Remember that your short-term goals are your small goals that will contribute to the accomplishment of your long-term goals.

Success does not happen overnight. Success is the result of your small yet constant efforts to achieve your goals. The small good habits or little acts of discipline that you do everyday, will have the great impact on your success.

So to make it clear, REFOCUSING is the process that you do to envision your goals in life including your life purpose and vision. It is like sitting in a quiet place and thinking about your life.

My suggestions? As you do the process of refocusing, I highly suggest that you make a list of your goals. If you are serious to see some good results, I suggest that you do the FOCUSED-TIME (focused-year, focused-months, and focused-days) strategy.

Focused-year strategy is writing your goals for the next five year or ten years, then itemizing your goals for the next 12 months. Focused-month strategy is writing the goals you want to achieve for a specific month. Focused-day strategy is setting the goals you want to achieve for a day. This is highly recommended so that you may see how you productively spend the 24 hours you have.

For this month of January, try do this FOCUSED-TIME strategy. Make a list. Check them twice like Santa Claus! And I assure you that you will really have a clear vision and direction of your life at least this year.

Go, get a notebook and pen (or use the note apps on your phone or computer), and start doing this focused-time strategy.

2. Take some risks

Are you done listing your goals using the focused-time strategy?

If yes, your February is a perfect time to take some risks. Take a leap of faith!

Taking a risk is being courageous to do something you have never tried before or going to somewhere you have never been before. For instance, applying for a job that you are passionate about; learning how to drive; climbing a mountain; writing your story; creating your blog; starting your YouTube channel; building your website and so on.

Get out of your comfort zone. When you get out of your comfort zone, your are traversing a courage zone. In the courage zone, you will surely experience many things and people that you are not comfortable with. Don`t be coward. Don`t easily fall back to your comfort zone. Take the opportunities and learn from them. Most of the time, you will learn more about yourself and your capabilities when you go beyond your limits.

3. Learn new skills

Learning new skills brings new opportunities on our table. They open new doors that bring us to places we never imagined we would have been.

When I started learning video creation especially explainer videos, I never thought of becoming an explainer video creator for my clients. But because I am enjoying the process of creating videos and applying my creativity to my works, some people trusted me to do their explainer videos.

In my free time, I also learned how to build and design a simple website with e-commerce, blog, and learning platform. Now, I don`t need to pay tons of money just to have my own simple website because I can already do it on my own.

What is my point here? Well, learning new skills will not only make us feel good about our own personal and professional development, but also will help us level up our career and earning potential. This brings us to our next goal.

4. Earn more money

Earning is even more possible when there is learning. Sounds pretty much the same right? Of course, because when you invest in learning, you can expect more earning.

A lot of people are so impatient that they jump quickly to EARNING without spending some time LEARNING and mastering their craft. Please DO NOT DO the same mistake. Why?

That`s because when you jump quickly to earning without learning first, most of the time, you lose more of your money and you waste your time. So, I would rather spend few weeks learning before doing the business (or earning) so that I certainly know the hows and the what ifs of the business. This is generally applicable in any industry. Whether you want to do MLM (multi-level marketing or networking), e-commerce, beauty & health products selling, and so on, it is highly advisable to take some time to learn.

In a business or in earning more, it is best to have a financial coach or business mentor. Find your business mentor who are doing the same business as yours. You will always find one.

Remember that earning money is very generic. This means that you can do it either by working or doing a business online or offline. In any case, you will know how to earn more when you know what you want to do.

5. Give up bad habits

What is a bad habit?

A habit is a repeated action. So your habits can be good or bad ones. A good habit is called virtue, while the bad habit is called vice.

Of course I hear you. It is difficult to give up bad habits, especially if your body is already used to it. But believe me, they are called bad habits simply because they are not good for your body in the long run. Maybe they feel good or pleasurable for now, but one day, they will ask for a payment. And the payment is really expensive! They are just like CREDIT CARD, enjoy now and pay later!

What are some examples of bad habits? Anything that are NOT doing good for your general health (physically, emotionally, psychologically, sexually, socially, spiritually). There are tons of them like smoking, excessive eating, cheating, lack of sleeping, taking illegal drugs, lack of exercise, lack of focus, anger, pride, lust, watching pornography, envy, sloth, and many more!

It is true that we cannot be a saint overnight. But we can start giving up our bad habits one by one. Maybe starting this month, instead of taking ten sticks of cigarettes per day, maybe you can take five sticks. Then, next month, three sticks, and the following months one stick. So, by the end of 2021, maybe just stick O! Hahah! Imagine also the money that you can save!

Lastly, always remember that you can overcome bad habits by replacing them with good habits. You can do that!

6. Improve relationships

Another thing you can include in your list of goals this 2021 is improving your relationships.

Of course this could be your romantic relationship, family relationship, friendship, or your relationship with your Creator (if you happen to be a believer).

Why is it so important to include relationship in our goal? That`s because we are created with relationships. Aristotle said we are social beings. We are not created to be alone. We are supposed to build connections. Our life is a series of interconnectedness with various people who have value in our lives.

Moreover, the quality of our happiness depends on the quality of our relationship. Are you happy this time? Are you not happy right now? Examine your life. You will surely find out that your happiness, including your decisions in life, depends so much on the quality of your relationship.

For your 2021 goals, I highly suggest to include your relationship.

P.S. It is also necessary to work on your relationship with yourself.

7. Learn how to invest

Again, the word invest is another generic term. It could mean financial investment, intellectual investment, time investment, relational investment and so on.

So for now, let`s focus on financial investment.

Let`s admit it. We need money. And we want to earn more money.

There is nothing wrong with that. God wants us to be rich. But do not just stop there being rich. We earn more so that we can give more.

I learned in Theology that the commandment: Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your heart, and with all your strength – the word strength can be associated with money. My Theology professor in New Jersey told us that biblical scholars say that for Hebrews, the context of this `strength` is money or wealth. In other words, loving God entails using our resources for his kingdom. Therefore, believing in God and earning money are not contradictory.

How do we earn more? By investing!

If you are a beginner, invest your time first by learning. If you are intermediate and advanced and you have the financial capacity, go ahead and learn the exciting process of investing!

You may invest your wealth to many things. You may invest in active income streams like businesses or passive income streams like stock market, mutual funds, insurance, and so on.

Investing is a little risky and challenging. Learn the system. Read articles. Get coaches. Attend webinars. Then, when you are ready, I suggest you start with small. Then, go bigger and bigger until you fully understand the system. You will thank yourself in the future for taking this challenge.

8. Monetize my skills

One of the best solutions to financial scarcity is monetizing our skills.

Monetizing our skills means charging the people who ask us to help them using our skills. The amount of our services depend on the quality and the value of services we provide for our clients. This is the reason why in the previous goals, we included learning new skills.

When you learn new skills and master those skills, you can use your skills to charge your clients certain amount for the services you provide.

Now, your assignment is to determine what skills you want to work on or gain mastery. You also need to make sure that your skills are needed in the 2021 market. To give you some ideas, you may explore your inclination to photography, photoshop, graphics design, video editing, copywriting, blogging, vlogging, website design, social media management, marketing, virtual assistance and so on.

If you already have internet and a computer or a simple smart phone, you may already start advertising your online services. In the later post, I will suggest some online sites where you can post your online services or where you can find online jobs.

For now, do your assignment of improving and mastering your skills. Do not be in a hurry. Be patient. Take your time to learn.

9. Stop the FOMO

FOMO is short for Fear Of Missing Out! It is a kind of feeling that makes us feel worried when we do not see what is happening in the online world. Thus, we want to be updated everytime. We want to see who posted this and who posted that. We want to see who liked our post, who commented on our status, who hit the heart or angry icon, who shared our post, or who mentioned us.

A lot of young people (and even adults) spend a significant amount of time looking at the timeline of their social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Viber, Line and so on.

There is nothing wrong with checking your social media timeline, but do not spend all your time in there.

Let`s do a quick Math. Let say you spend an average of 5 hours per day on various social media platforms. For one week, that`s 35 hours, 140 hours for a month, and that`s 1,680 hours per year. For one year, that`s approximately 70 days that you spent just on various social media platforms. Imagine what you could have accomplished with those 70 days!

This year, it will be worthwhile including in your list of goal the average time you will spend with the various social media platforms. It`s your call.

10. Nurture friendship

In number six, our goal is `improve relationships`. Here, we want to be specific with friendship.

You will never realize the value of a genuine friendship until the needs arise.

There are times when the people in your family circle do not understand you, or sometimes you don`t feel their support. Sometimes, even your partner, wife, husband, girlfriend, or boyfriend does not understand you. During these times, a good friend will be there to objectively tell you what you really need to hear, not what you want to hear.

It happened to me several times. My family could not tell me directly what I needed to hear simply because they did not want to offend me. It was a good friend who told me the advantages and disadvantages of the decisions I was about to do.

Definitely our purpose for nurturing friendship is not just to have someone to talk to when we are in crisis. Included in nurturing friendship is building a network of people who could help us realize more our potentials and destiny, who could point the better directions for our various ventures and adventures, and who could provide a support system for us.

In this goal, your main activity is investing your time with them. Don`t just think of getting something from that relationship, think also of giving something. Here, you could start with giving your time.

11. Learn and do freelancing

Notice that our November goal is geared toward creating your own dream job or career by freelancing. You can effectively do it if you have done the learning process and developing your skills.

Basically, freelancing is being self-employed. You do not have a boss. You provide services (or product) directly to your clients.

If you have a full-time job, do not quit your work until you have a sufficient client who can compensate you. If you are unemployed right now, you can put this goal at least third in your list. Do not do freelancing if you are not yet sure about the quality of the services you will provide to your clients. Learn first before earn!

What jobs can you do in freelancing? As mentioned earlier, you can provide in demand services like Virtual Assistance, designing graphics, editing videos, managing social media accounts, copywriting, blogging, teaching online (if you have a teaching inclination) and so on. Before I came here in Japan, I did freelancing in the Philippines through online teaching. I was earning 170 php per hour. On average, I earned 18k to 20k php every two weeks. That was more than enough to pay for my internet bills, apartment and food. Today, you can find good-paying companies who provide jobs for English teachers.

Go ahead and you may include this in your 2021 goals. Just don`t forget to prepare before diving into freelancing.

12. Practice gratitude

Practice gratitude by means of giving, sharing and tithing. After climbing high, don`t forget to reach down. At the end the year, be mindful to give thanks for all that you have achieved and accomplished for the past 12 months.

Give thanks to your Creator. Offer him all your accomplishments. Lift up to him your failures. And ask for more grace and wisdom to do better for the next year. Just do your best and He will surely do the rest.

Reach out too to your family, friends, and partner. Give them thanks for supporting you and believing in you. Remember, you are doing these not only for yourself but also for them. Reach out too to people around you who might need your ideas, advice, or support. Your simple advice might be life-changing for them. Do good whenever possible. Find opportunities to help others.

Always remember, at the end of the day or of the year, it is not jus making income, but also impact!

Do this and you will be surely blessed beyond your imagination!

There you have the samples of 2021 goals!

Now, it`s your time to make a list of your own 2021 goals. Please feel free to copy these goals if you have no idea. Feel free too to drop a question at the comment box in case you have any questions.

By the way, I did not mention some common goals like spiritual things (like praying more, spiritual nourishment, etc.) because they are given. They should be practiced everyday because our spiritual life is the gas that will sustain us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR once again!

Enjoy this year and may all the odds be in your favor!