I didn’t realize 2020 was a leap year. In fact my husband informed me that every election year is a leap year which is kind of annoying because that’s one more day of election ads, one more day of talking heads analyzing every politician, one more day before we head to the polls and hopefully, HOPEFULLY, elect someone other than that orange jackass to lead our country. But it also means one more day of getting things right, one more day to work toward your goals, one more day to achieve the things you want in 2020.

My resolutions for 2019 were to write reviews for every book of poetry I read (I did!), end toxic relationships (I mostly did), and to figure out what to do next with my poetry (I definitely did that, my new book comes out in less than three months!). As 2019 drew to an end I began thinking about what I wanted for the new year.

I was recently talking to my best friend about our goals and I said, “Every year mine seem to be the same: eat healthy, workout, write poems.” I do all of those things, and won’t stop doing them, but I realized that setting goals like this doesn’t really give me something to work toward. I workout every day, I eat healthy 90% of the time, I write poems constantly. So how do I set goals that are realistic, attainable, and measurable?

Another friend is prepping for a Crossfit competition. In addition to setting his sights on this competition, he told me he has another goal: abs. To achieve this goal – he’s making “a lot of good choices and hard work.” Note his choice of words: good choices and hard work. He didn’t say hard choices, he said good choices. I think this small word makes all the difference. It’s about changing your mindset. Instead of thinking, “Wow, I really want this brownie but I guess I can’t have it because that’s a ‘bad food’,” he’s thinking, “Well, I really want this brownie but it’s not the best choice to meet my goal.” By changing your mindset, you’re re-framing the choices you have.

I’m not sure I’m making any resolutions in 2020, instead I’m going to focus on shifting my mindset and setting specific goals. I’ve got a few health-related goals: Start meditating daily (starting at 5 minutes and working up to 15 minutes per day); do my PT exercises daily (because seeing a neuromuscular therapist weekly isn’t something I want to do for the rest of my life); continue attending Orange Theory 5-6 times a week (yes, I’ve joined OTF and completely drunk the koolaid and am obsessed with the workouts). And then there’s the writing goals: apply for more fellowships and grants; attend an international poetry workshop every year (Wales in 2020!). Beyond that I’m not making any resolutions. Just going to keep pushing and keep working hard and keep writing. Happy 2020 everyone!