Note added in 2021: Ha, this was super cute of me looking back at the way 2020 turned out!

I’m probably on a plane headed for Brazil as this posts, so I wanted to take some time in this last post for the year to review 2019 and share some goal setting and manifesting some thoughts for setting up 2020 to be your biggest year yet.

My 2019 In Review

2019 was an …interesting year for me. Having a baby, perhaps not surprisingly to those of you who have one (or more!) turned my entire life upside down! As someone who worked for herself primarily so that I could do whatever I wanted on my own schedule, it was a bit of a rude awakening to find that I could no longer do anything (like, you know, shower) on my own schedule anymore.

I’ve finally, at about 10 months in, found a rhythm that works pretty well. The answer has been daycare 5 days a week, which means that I’m pretty much back to working a 9-5 schedule that I left my previous career path to avoid! C’est la vie.

So, the year…. After having my biggest year as a freelance website developer in 2018, I took a purposeful break beginning in February so that I could have a bit of time to relax before baby came. This is something I recommend to any expecting mama’s out there, especially if it’s your first. Take a few weeks to enjoy sleeping in, showering in the middle of the day, peeing without an infant on you or somewhere on the floor near you, etc. Baby came February 21st and by April 1st I was back to some work, and I slowly got back into more and more work between March and September

This past year, I got this business, Well & Wonderful (now Kara + Co Creative), back to pre-baby volume. I also transitioned my health coaching company Quit The Pill into an informational site, and launched my first online course there earlier this month!

Goal-Setting & Manifesting for 2020

Despite everything I was able to do this past year, I did feel like things got a little derailed. My pre-baby plans just had to change a bit! Thankfully, this year, when I do my new year exercises, I’ll have a bit of a better idea of what to count on (or not count on).

So…. here are some exercises that I do at the end of every year –

Biggest wins & biggest losses

Take some time to reflect on the following:

  1. What am I the most proud of about this past year?
  2. What was my biggest win?
  3. What was something that was a huge struggle this past year?
  4. What was my biggest loss?
  5. What do I need to let go of?
  6. What do I want more of?

I find this is a great starting place for taking your temperature on the current year and how to do goal setting and manifesting what you want going forward.

Quick Fire Round

This is where you just rattle off answers based on what comes to you first. (This is slightly adapted from Danielle Laporte’s Desire Map, which I recommend to everyone!)

  • How do you want to feel when you wake up in the morning?
  • How do you want to feel when you come home from work?
  • How do you want to feel when you check your bank account balance?
  • How do you want to feel when you plan a vacation?
  • How do you want to feel when you attend a friend’s wedding?
  • How do you want to feel when you go out to dinner with your partner (or on a date)?

Add any more “How do you want to feel’s…” as you want. Once you have the answers, think about all of the things you can do that will give you more of the way you want to feel in the coming year.

Go Big Picture

In this exercise, I want you to look at the big picture of your life. If you run into an old acquaintance at the airport in 5 years, what would you tell them? Where would you be going? Would you be traveling with anyone? Where would you be living? What would be doing for work? What other updates would you have?

Write this all out and don’t spare any detail. Then, think about the three actions you need to focus on this year to get you closer to your 5-year self.

Taking Stock for Manifesting in 2020

Hopefully, you now have a better idea of where you are and a much clearer picture of where you want to be. Review everything you’ve just written down and make sure you are crystal clear on your big goals for 2020, and how you want to feel along the way.