Creating challenges and goals has always been one of my favourite ways to unwind from reality. Whilst nowadays my reality feels so good, I still need a little escape from all the daily tasks. And it’s that time of the year when we set goals and plan the process of achieving them.

This time, however, I won’t suggest you the ordinary process of jumping into the challenges just like that. And having to wait until January 5th to start them. I’d like you to be braver than usual and do it before 2020.

20 before 2020

For a year to be NOT ordinary, you don’t make ordinary wishes. But you don’t spend nights in looking for them, writing them down, craving them. It’s a creepy feeling running around your life in a December that sleeps away so fast, looking for a chance to glow. Try going slow instead, enjoying the process. Here are some ideas to consider putting on your challenges list and inside your mindset.

1 Self-acceptance.

Self-doubt, self-criticism, self-hate, stop them immediately! There’s no need to worry over whether you’re “good enough” or to fix yourself because you are unique. One of a kind. NO ONE on this planet (and probably wider) has the same DNA structure as you. Acknowledge that, acknowledge yourself.

2 Stick close to your attributes.

To reach the self-awareness stage, I want you to take a moment, or an hour, to sit down and think deep. Think about all the times’ people applauded you, all the times you’ve impressed yourself, surprised yourself.

Be aware of your attributes (both physical appearance and things you’re good at doing), write them down and learn to love them. Super helpful would be to hang them somewhere you spend most of your time. That way, you won’t lose yourself in self-doubting the energy within you again.

Download the FREE self-improvement GUIDE through the image below. 🙂

3 Use your potential. Educate.

Now that you, hopefully, accepted yourself, it’s time to use the potential you’ve been hiding for so long. Since there’s literally no one like you and everybody has that special thing within them, there’s no need to feel lousy ever again. Right?!

It’s time to use your potential. And how do you do that? Easily. You find whatever it is that you’re good at doing and do the best you can to improve your skills. Never think of just sitting down and waiting for magic, you have to act.

4 Healthier lifestyle.

Nothing that motivating as waking up ready to seize the day. Find your way to a healthier lifestyle and you’ll feel ready to deeper into achieving your dreams. Mine is evening skincare, good rest, early rise, morning skincare, nutritious breakfast, yoga, coffee. And then I’ll be ready to commit to every task.

5 Go outside everyday.

This should be a priority. Even on days I don’t exercise or do yoga, I go out at least once. Now that I’m a mom, it’s a non-negotiable thing. Fresh air and a bit of escape, even for 15 minutes, make us happier overall.

6 Get organised.

When I organise my days, my productivity is on a higher level, motivation embraces me and there’s no procrastination. If I haven’t organised the day, no one gets his meals on time, usually no time for 1 on 1 learning activities with the kiddo, absolutely no time for hobbies, and when I sit down to work, the only thing I manage to do is: stare.

But luckily, I’ve been obsessed with luxury planners and cute notebooks ever since. So, whichever way to organise (apps, planners, bullet journal) fits your lifestyle, do it for the sake of your better future. Here are some beautiful planners and notebooks for bullet journal ideas!

7 Start a business.

Have you ever thought of turning your hobby into a full-time job? Do you have writing skills, are you good at art and music, do you have the brain for marketing and do you feel like you’re supposed to be a leader and a boss? Then it’s about time you start a business on your own.

Open a restaurant, start a blog, create courses online, have a yoga studio or a boutique, create jewellery, open a YouTube channel to share music tutorials. Whatever you’re passionate about, make a business out of it.

8 Side skill and a new hobby.

I’ve recently started playing acoustic guitar, for my sanity. Music has always been my passion, so I haven’t discovered myself a new hobby. We’re all artists here as a family and there’s nothing that can relax me better than playing music.

You may want to learn a new side skill or go for a new hobby if you, for instance, suddenly discover you enjoy mountain-climbing so much. Don’t let the “I don’t have time” state of mind stop you. With good organisation, there’s time for everything.

9 Learn to stay still and be patient.

I can’t believe my baby would be a 4-year-old soon. So little, yet so big. He thought me so much, but most importantly, how to stay present. The time slips away so fast, almost like it runs away from us.

Not to feel that way, that’s a goal. And to do so, we have to stay still and cherish every moment. We have to be patient in all situations, to enjoy the slow process, to not rush anything. Because eventually, it will all end.

10 Let go of emotional vampires.

It may sound a cliche, but imagine me putting my son to sleep and then leaving the room to find a safe corner for myself to cry in. Instead of working on the blog, playing the guitar or chatting with my husband, I spent time being miserable.

I spent so many hours of carrying for their WRONG OPINION about my choices and the negativity they kept sending towards my any success. My emotional vampires were my old friends, and after I named them, I embraced them and let them go.

I go through every step of HOW did I figure out who they are, what they are and what they were taking away from me in my “self-improvement” guide. Like already mentioned above, it’s completely free, so you may wanna try it out. 😉 Been there, done that. Now it’s YOUR TIME.

11 Books and music.

The gang just makes you smarter and inspire your life. Both books and music are my best method to unwind after a stressful day. Encourage yourself to explore more music, to read more every day. At least as an unwind method before going to sleep.

12 Travel somewhere exotic.

Especially if you are snowed in or rained in, this would be the perfect escape for a refresh. Also, since I’m an Airbnb partner, there’s a code which gives you $34 for your first book through THIS link.

13 Dress to impress.

Well, not to impress others, but yourself. When your inner self feels impressed, the others will too. I’m not the one to spread fashionable advice all over the place, but there is this important thing about clothes you must hear today. Dress for the occasion only when needed, but you don’t need to follow all the fashion trends.

My clothing is sometimes neutral or all black, but most days it’s that one colourful item that sets my mood for success. Start every day in clothes that make you happy. Change your entire wardrobe, change your style. Even if it doesn’t seem comfortable, do it anyways. Even if you’ll face the eyeballs on you, step outside that comfort zone. I once did it and I feel great today!

14 Family and friends meetings.

Having family members and friends close or far from them, people usually forget to socialise in that area. However, family gatherings once a week or girls’ night out every other week is a melting feeling.

PRO TIP: Don’t forget to put down your phone and connect, evaluate each conversation, cherish emotions. There’s nothing that interesting that you cannot watch any other day, so stay present.

15 Create an online course…

…about whatever is that you’re best at. It can be yoga, how to learn math, how to play guitar, whatever!

16 Start yoga.

I’m doing mixed workouts during the week, but that day I started yoga is when my life has changed for good. I haven’t realised it back then, and tbh, I thought I was torturing myself for doing these “slow workouts” I didn’t enjoy. However, the manifestations of my life and my ideal self came through after being captured for a long time.

17. Don’t be a perfectionist.

Obviously you don’t want to, but omg you always end up in a mess! I hear you.

My mind projects that everything on the blog has a bit of here and a bit of there I have to recreate. And it probably is right. But, perfectionism leads me to no success because blogging marketing cannot wait for me every 5 months to make it perfect.

That’s why, I, the biggest perfectionist of all, decided to treat that side of me different. Instead of crying over anything not being perfect, I tell myself “good job, it looks great” and then go for it. I hit publish. I know I can always recreate (which I totally do) when there’s a bit of extra time.

18. Self-date every week.

In 2019, I had so little self-dates because, when they left me alone, I spent all of that time on creating and promoting content, cleaning, ironing clothes etc. Last Saturday, I decided to do 2 hours of work and then rest. It felt epic! Let’s try and go on self-dates every week!

19. Vision board.

If you have no clue what a vision board is, check some ideas here. Basically, it is a physical board where you stick pictures of what you want to manifest and when. A lovely way to keep inspiration and motivation at the highest levels!

20. Finish all your past projects.

We all know how those, not finished projects, make us feel: unstably thinking of why did we even start them. My book still needs is need, music skills improvement, I still haven’t opened a YouTube channel, haven’t fully mastered the marketing strategy and so on.

So, at the start of 2020, among all the challenges I decide to set for the year, that’ll be one of my priority challenges. It’s important to let the good energy flow.

Challenges, challenges, so many challenges!

Even thought it sounds like too much, I like how 20 before 20 sounds! And it’s a whole year in front of us! I still haven’t decided on mine yet, there were so much tasks to cross lately.

Definitely most of these, in not all, but personalised. How bout you, which challenges will you be trying in 2020?