It’s finally here—the end of the year! I think we can all agree that this past year has certainly been a wild one. From a world spread social justice movement to celebrity deaths —oh, and let’s not forget about the staple of 2020: the global emergence of COVID-19. Does anyone else remember murder hornets?
At the start of this year, I had made so many plans to travel, create new content, and continue to figure out what directions I wanted my life to go in. But of course, everything sort of came crashing down just a few months in. Like many others, I tried to push forward, choosing to find happiness in the things I could still do despite everything I couldn’t do. However, the weight of this year’s disappointments was just too hard to ignore and eventually resulted in feelings of burnout and confusion. Which is all being said to provide a sort of explanation from my so sudden absence from the blog.
Despite this year’s highs and lows, I’m still excitedly looking forward to 2021. I don’t want to be too optimistic because that didn’t exactly turn out great for me this time last year. But I guess I just can’t help it. After all, New Year’s is my favorite holiday—largely because I get to create another manifest list.
I’ve been manifesting for a couple of years now and I didn’t see any reason to stop the tradition now. For those of you who are new to the blog, at the end of every year I draft up a manifest list of all of the things I want to manifest for myself in the coming year—an idea I actually got from one of my favorite lady-centric podcasts, The LadyGang. To make things a little more organized and attainable, I divide the list into nine categories and I’ll usually try to cap the list at an even hundred.
I think manifesting works really well because it gives you the opportunity to make a specific goal under a specific category. It requires a little more thought, which means it’s much more likely to be a resolution you really want to and will make the effort to implement into your life. Plus, you can manifest at any time of the year—I just happen to use it as a New Year’s resolution sort of activity. If you’re thinking about how to start your own manifest, check out some of my 2021 ideas.
Friends
- Make five new friends
After graduating college, I found myself struggling to make friends without constantly finding myself in situations where it’s easy to meet people around my age and with my similar interests. I decided I needed to make more of a conscious effort to make friends where I could—at work, at my favorite coffee shops, maybe even at the grocery store.
- Go on a trip with friends
One of my first international trips was a European adventure with a group of my closest friends. My love of travel can probably be traced back to these moments of freedom and adventure, and I’d love to experience all of that again with my very first travel companions.
- Maintain lunch time texts
A few months ago, I stumbled across this YouTube video where a few successful entrepreneurs were sharing their morning routine secrets. One of them mentioned calling a family member or friend during their morning commute as a positive way to start their day catching up with someone close to them. I liked the idea of finding small ways to stay connected with friends and family, so I decided to implement it into my own daily routine.
Family
- Travel with my brother
My brother has always been a bit of a homebody. I’ve always wanted to have the opportunity to share with him why I love roaming around the world so much, and I thought, what better way then to go on an adventure of our own?
Work
- Write and publish a novel
I’ve actually written a few novel drafts when I was still in school. Many of them need some serious editing, but I think it would be amazing to be able to go back and eventually publish one.
- Participate in a poetry reading/open mic night
I first fell in love with poetry through watching spoken word poets perform their work. It shaped a lot of how my own poetry is written today. I’ve never actually performed any of my poetry for a broader audience, but it’s definitely on my list.
- Become a travel writer
What a better way to mesh my two greatest loves?
Money
- Open a retirement fund
I’m only getting older, which means I’m only getting closer and closer to retirement age. In the last year or so I’ve gotten really invested in growing my knowledge of personal finance, and a big aspect of all of that is opening up a retirement fund.
Health
- Take a kickboxing class
I don’t think I’d be very good at it, but I know it’d be a lot of fun to try.
- Increase my mental health care
This past year has made my realize how little I actually put my mental health first. I often just toss it to the side or wait until whatever problem I’m facing goes away on its own. And that’s simply not healthy. I’ve realized that not taking care of my mental health really affects my day-to-day routines and at the core of it all, if I’m not taking care of myself, how can I expect to function properly? I really want to move forward in 2021 breaking down the stigma of prioritizing mental health, especially my own.
Home
- Live abroad
Traveling abroad is one thing. But I think living abroad would really push me out of my comfort zone and would be the best way to really experience a new culture up close and personal.
Travel
- Stay in a hostel abroad
I’ve actually stayed in a hostel here in my home country, the United States. But hostel and backpacking culture is so different abroad that I know I definitely need to experience it elsewhere to say I’ve really experienced hostel living.
- Travel Route 66
Growing up in a town right off Route 66, I’ve always dreamed of one day driving the entire road.
- Go to five national parks
Last month I actually visited my first ever national park! And now I’m on a mission to visit them all! (Okay, I’m shooting for five).
Love
- Go on a blind date
When it comes to the Love category of the manifest, I usually just write something about finding a boyfriend or falling in love. But this year, in the spirit of actually putting forth the effort to complete the things on my list, I decided to go with simple relationship-type goals that I’ve never done before—like go on a blind date.
- Go on a travel/adventure date
Seeing as how much I love exploring, why not try and make a date out of it?
Fun & Self
- Take a cooking class
I’m not a bad cook, but I’m by no means a good one. Maybe taking a cooking class will finally teach me the difference between a colander and strainer.
- Ride in a hot air balloon
This category is always full of random activities and goals that I think would be fun to try and do—like ride a hot air balloon.
- Pet a penguin
Penguins are my favorite animal, and it’s my life’s mission to pet one in person.
For the most part, my 2021 Manifest is pretty bold with a heavy emphasis on traveling and blogging. And that’s really where my biggest focus is for 2021—seeing more of the world and finding a way to share it through my writing. So make sure to stick around so you don’t miss any of my stories along the way.
If you make a manifest list for 2021, share some of your goals with me in the comments section below! I’d love to hear from you! Subscribe to the blog and follow me on socials to stay up-to-date on new posts and a few changes I’m making the blog itself! Here’s to another year of blogging!
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