2024 Goals and Intentions
Personal, professional, and bookish of course!
2023 was a year of change in my house. I became a first-time mom in April and the past 8 months have been a whirlwind of learning how to take care of our amazing kiddo. Last year I set my reading goals lower than what I usually read, knowing that I wouldn’t have as much postpartum reading time. My goal was to read 60 books and I finished the year with 63 read (plus 10 DNF’ed), which means I accurately guessed how much time I would be able to dedicate to reading. I have bookish goals for 2024 but I’m not focusing on a number of books that I want to read this year.
I’m not a big fan of the word resolutions when it comes to the New Year but I am a big fan of growth, making goals, and setting intentions. The end of the year crept up on me so quickly and it took me a while to write down my goals for 2024. I don’t like making unrealistic goals but I do want to challenge myself a bit so I want to be mindful of what my year will look like when setting them. One of my friend’s Vanessa gives herself a grace week at the beginning of the year before diving into her goals for the year and I absolutely love that! I’m going on three weeks before sharing these goals… so maybe I’m feeling a grace month?
My list for 2024 essentially includes goals for personal and professional growth. I want to grow as a mom, as a wife, as a manager, and as a woman in today’s world. My list includes bookish reading goals {because duh, right?!} In 2024 my main goal is to focus less on the number of books I read and focus more on what I’m taking away from what I’m reading.
Personal and Blogging Goals
Spend less time watching TV
Less TV time means more time to… read, blog, workout, hang out with our kiddo, and so many other activities that I seem to have trouble ‘finding’ time to do.
Spend more time moving outdoors
Shy of not going outside when it’s really cold out (or icy), I want to be more intentional about getting outdoors with my family. I want to raise our daughter to enjoy nature and in order to do that we need to get out more!
A year end 2023 goal was to create and share all 2024 fun holiday lists on my blog
The fun holiday lists are something that many of my readers look forward to and I know some people like being able to plan out fun ways to celebrate in advance. My gift to you was posted a few weeks ago - all 12 months in advance. Happy planning!
Dedicate more time to blogging
Utilize more of my quiet downtime to blogging. I enjoy blogging but didn’t find a lot of time to blog in 2023. Utilizing time on the weekends when our kiddo is napping or in the evenings when she’s asleep are great times to blog a bit.
Professional Goals
Grow as a manager and mentor
I’ve been a ‘people manager’ for almost two years. I want to be more intentional about the nonfiction books I read to help inspire ways to connect with my team and help them grow. Be open to fun ideas and find ways to better mentor and coach my team.
Bookish and Reading Goals
Read more from my physical pre-2024 TBR shelves and buy fewer new books
Be more intentional about what I’m reading by focusing more on what I already own.
Be more intentional about the new books I buy; only buy new books that I’m actually planning to read within 4-6 weeks of receiving them. If I won’t have the time, add them to my never-ending TBR wish list instead. My intent is to not have my book subscriptions further pile up into my never-ending physical TBR piles.
Read more diverse - read more books by authors that are Jewish, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Disabled
I’m not setting a specific number because I don’t know how many books I’ll have time to read and the goal shouldn’t be about how many books I can jet through. I want to be more intentional about having a larger percentage of the books I read be diverse and to have more reflection on insights learned from what I read.
Read more nonfiction for personal and professional leadership development
Be more intentional about growing as a people manager
Consistency - review every book!
This seems easy but out of all my goals this is probably the hardest one. I love reading and I actually love writing too but somehow I’m not great at making time to write up reviews of the books I read. I tend to finish a book and jump right into the next one. I’m usually good at keeping notes while I read, so writing a short review should be easy but it’s been a struggle for me. I want to be more intentional this year and focus on reviewing within one month of finishing a book.
Complete the 2024 reading challenge from Once Upon a Book Club
This year I’m only focusing on completing ONE reading challenge. I’ve always admired {and had a little fomo on} the larger challenges but I’m too much of a mood reader to plan out all my books just to complete a bunch of challenges.
Focus on using StoryGraph instead of Goodreads
Consider becoming a StoryGraph plus member to help support the small woman owned business that’s giving Goodreads a run for their money!
DNF more quickly - life’s too short to read boring books
Sometimes a book you thought you’d enjoy just isn’t your cup of tea and that’s okay. Stop reading and give it to someone else that might enjoy it more than you did. Don’t push yourself to keep reading if you’re not entertained, engaged, or actively learning something new.
What are some of your goals for 2024?
