A few years ago, I used to be all about setting new year’s resolutions, but a few months into the year, they’ll kinda fade away, be ignored and or be forgotten.
However, in the last couple of years there seems to be a lot more talk about meaningful goals, words of the year, and intention-setting as a way to live more intentionally and genuinely make progress toward the person you want to become.
I didn’t particularly make any plans or set any goals for 2020 apart from our house move, but my word for the year was ‘GROW’ – and grow I did. A lot of things came out of 2020, and some of them were:
- Simplifying my Life by de-cluttering, donating, giving away, selling and throwing out excessive material possessions
- Becoming financially stable
- Taking out time to live slowly and simply be
- And most importantly; Moving to the Seaside of St Leonards, Hastings
If there’s one thing 2020 taught me, was to slow down and tune inwards, and simplify my life as much as I possibly could. After moving to our home at the seaside (and seafront) of St Leonards on Sea back in April last year, and constantly keeping an eye on which of my materialistic possessions I actually used, needed and added value to my life – and then let go of everything else – which I did (and it is an ongoing process).
So, this year, I decided to write a list of intentions to guide my 2021. Intentions, unlike resolutions or hard and fast goals, are more forgiving. They aren’t there to highlight what you don’t accomplish or to force you to do things you think you should do (and don’t want to) but to give yourself permission to do what you love.
My simple living intentions for 2021
LIVE
My words for this year are
- Live
- Grounded
- Connected
This year I want to be more intentional with how I spend my day-to-day life, I want to do all that I love to do and I want to make my every day more meaningful.
Walk more
As we live less than 50 metres from the beach, I have no excuse.
Eat more whole foods
I, by no means, have a terrible diet, but it’s definitely far from consistent. halfway through 2020, I was doing rather well at making healthier meals with seasonal produce and I want to do better this year.
In any other context, this would be the opposite for me, but Instagram is a place I can actively hone my creativity while pushing myself out of my comfort zone and sharing a little bit more.
Continuously work on my personal and business growth
Take out time daily to work on my personal and business growth daily
Daily movement
I’ll be honest here, I am not much of an exercise person, in fact, I don’t do workouts, however, I do LOVE going for long walks, but after having been diagnosed with osteoarthritis last Summer, I end up with severe hip pain at times.
Read 52 books
In 2020, I read about 10 books. I usually aim for 12 books a year, in and around all of the other online reading I do, so I think I did pretty well.
Reduce more waste
Last year I really began to dig into a zero-waste lifestyle, but between moving house, settling in, Covid Christmas and holidays, I let it slide a little. Making an effort to be more disciplined with my choices this year.
Embrace mornings
I love my mornings and my morning ritual, I also love the light in the early hours and I don’t like wasting a whole day.
Save money
My biggest goal to date is to buy my own home; a Tiny House or a Houseboat.
Explore more
We live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country, and I haven’t made much of an effort to see any of it.
Bake more
I’ve tried and failed to bake more, both out of enjoyment and desire to make more of our food from scratch.
Curate a capsule wardrobe
I’ve been periodically culling my wardrobe for the past year or two, and each time I’ve been able to let go of more of what I don’t need. This year I’m going to focus on adding only good quality items that suit my ideal wardrobe long term.
If anything, I hope this list can bring about some inspiration of your own, or some suggestions on how you can slow down and embrace simple living in your own way. Some are more specific to me and might not be your thing, and that’s okay. Your own list of intentions should be unique and full of the things that make you, you.
What intentions will you set for 2021?
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