#TopTenTuesday: Goals & Hopes for 2021

So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: resolutions/hopes for 2021 (bookish or not).

Last week I wrote a post about reading resolutions and how I don’t really make them because I’m not great on the follow through 😂 I do set at least one reading goal every year and that’s my Goodreads Reading Challenge but when it comes to other bookish goals, I don’t really make concrete ones because I like to keep the pressure light. That said, I do like to have a few “guiding goals” that’ll help me focus my reading and give me motivation to keep doing it throughout the year! So let’s take a look at some of the ideas I have for myself when it comes to bookish-blogging goals, and perhaps one or two personal goals as well!

I’ll start easy with my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal to read 150 books. It’s the highest reading goal I’ve set for myself but it’s also not unrealistic as last year (2020) I did manage to read just over that number. Two weeks into the new year and so far I’m five books ahead of “schedule” and I’m excited to see what reading brings in 2021! 😉

Tackle my existing physical shelves. I moved homes twice in 2020 and so I spent a lot of time sorting and cleaning my existing physical bookshelves which led me to realise that perhaps about 80% of the books on my shelves are unread 🙈

Catalogue all my owned (physical/digital) books. This is the kind of activity that future me will probably regret doing because it’s going to be a long and tiring process but I know that I’ll also really appreciate the level of organisation of this task 😂

Prioritise reading Asian (South/Southeast Asian) authors. Last year my intention was to read a lot more diversely and I did that, but I didn’t read as many Asian authors as I hoped to, so this year I plan to (hopefully) change that!

Read more amazing Middle Grade Fantasy! 2020 was the year I discovered how amazing MG fantasy can be and I can’t wait to read more of it this year because the stories are always so whimsical and full of fun and fast-paced adventure, not to mention the friendships are (almost) always *chefs kiss*!

Keep DNFing books. Last year was the year I actually DNFed books and although I still felt a little guilty about it, I still managed to do it. I want to keep doing it this year because then I can spend more time with books that I love.

Grow my blog to 800 followers. In 2020 I hoped to grow my blog to 500 followers and by the end of the year, I had surpassed that to just over 600. It’s absolutely crazy and I still find it unbelievable but I also hope to keep growing my blog as I want to engage more, I want to keep adding to my TBR (that’s right, living dangerously!) and I hope to make more friends in this wonderful community! 😊

Read more non-fiction (at least 4)! I struggle a fair bit with this genre because my focus tends to wander quite easily if I’m not totally enamoured by the writing/topic early on. My goal every year is to keep reading more NF, and I specifically wrote four because that’s two more than I read last year but if I end up reading more, I’ll of course be even happier!

Keep exercising because it feels good. Towards the end of last year I got a Ring Fit and it was one of the best decisions I made in 2020! I’m an extremely lazy person and prior to getting this device it’d been an *embarrassingly* long time since I did any rigorous physical activity. I’m quite proud that I’ve been so disciplined with using it and despite the body aches from actually making my body do something, it does leave me feeling great. I really hope I can keep up with it this year!

Figure out what I want to do next year. Okay, this is a little vague because I’m a little fuzzy on what exactly I want to do next year. Do I go back to school to pursue something completely different than what I’ve done/been doing? Do I find a new job? Do I take a few months to figure it all out (without having to think about work)?! I don’t know right now but do I hope by the end of the year I will!

These are a few of my goals and hopes for 2021 and I think that they’re all pretty achievable. While I don’t expect 2021 to be a total turn around to 2020, I do think that things will start to slowly look up again. At least, I hope so! What’re you hoping for this year?

52 thoughts on “#TopTenTuesday: Goals & Hopes for 2021

  1. Best of luck with all of your goals, Dini! I’d really like to read more MG fantasy this year, too – Nevermoor has made me fall in love with it all over again – and there are so many books by Asian authors I own that I still haven’t read, so I need to fix that. I think being in lockdown in 2020 has made so many of us realise just how many unread books we own, so you’re definitely not alone there!

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    • Thanks, Jess! Reading MG fantasy was definitely one of the best things to happen in my reading life in 2020 so I’m looking forward to reading more and discovering new, wonderful and charming worlds this year 😊 Haha glad I’m not alone in realising how many unread books are just sat on the shelf but hopefully, 2021 is the year of shortening that list!

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  2. These are all great goals! I love being able to DNF where before I couldn’t do it, haha. It’s really freeing. I have catalogued all of my physical books but I still need to do it for my ebooks…I’m not ready for that one yet! 😂

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    • Oh, I really hope to continue DNFing this year. I mean, I’m still fighting the guilt and I waffle so hard when it comes to actually doing it but I’m proud that I made that start last year. Let’s see if we can keep it up this year 😂 I’m so intimidated by the thought of cataloguing all my books but one step at a time I suppose. It’s not like they’re going anywhere (and neither am I LOL) 🤣

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  3. Oh man, look at you already slaying your 2021 Goodreads goal, even though the year just started. xD I’m impressed. I’m technically four books ahead of schedule, but since my goal is only 100 books, it doesn’t seem nearly as impressive. 😛

    I can so relate to all the unread books! Yikes! I really need to get mine in order, too, and start reading them. I’m going to try to read a certain number each month, and so far it’s gone okay. I’m slowly but surely catching up on things. :3

    SO MUCH YES to middle grade fantasy! If you ever need recommendations, you know I got you. 😉 I read a bunch of middle grade last year, but this year, I’m really hoping to read MORE, because I feel like I didn’t read as much as I could have, given how much quicker they go lol.

    Oooh, I’d never heard of Ring Fit, but it looks like Wii Fit, and I loved that. This looks like even more fun, and any video game that can convince us to get up while playing is always a win in my book. xD

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    • Haha, I definitely started the year right because I was on hols and did nothing but read 😂 Let’s see how it keeps up now that I’ve started working again (although only part-time this year)! And *AHERM* ‘scuse me, ma’am, 4 books ahead of schedule is damn impressive still and so is 100 books!!!

      I think reading a certain number each month is an achievable goal, I mean, right? I’m also convincing myself of this! I think even if we start small, at least we’re starting! And I definitely know who to turn to for MG recs because I’m pretty sure it was thanks to you that I read Nevermoor and that was pretty much the best ever rec (not including House in the Cerulean Sea)! 😍 Queen of recs, Sammie!!! *bows down*

      Also, I’ve never had a Wii so don’t know what the Wii Fit is like but the Ring Fit is *so* much fun and that’s something coming from the laziest panda alive ™! Haha 😂

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      • Part-time seems a lot more manageable. I started this year on holiday, too, but I spent the entire time playing video games. Wait … did we just … swap positions?! Nope, take it back, Dini. I don’t like it. xD

        Thank you, thank you. I’ll take my crown now, please. 😉 To be fair, this is what I do in my day job, and there’s been some misses haha. But I do try, at least. Can’t win them all.

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  4. First off congrats on getting ahead of your Goodreads reading goals! Second off you just reminded me of the one thing I’ve been dreading: cataloguing my books 😩. But I do agree it’ll really help and will make my life easier.

    I wanted to take my running hobby more seriously so for this year I’ve set a goal of achieving 5k! I’m following a coaching program via the Oasis app and it’s really great!

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    • Thank you! It’s definitely helped that the first week of the year I had holidays that I spent doing not much else but reading 😂 Let’s see how it continues the rest of the year, lol! Y’know, I’m kinda dreading cataloguing my books as well but I know I want to do it so… Sometimes you just gotta dive in and start somewhere. I do hope it’ll make life easier too! You can totally do it 😉 I’m not much of a runner myself but I don’t mind getting out for a jog every now and then. You can totally achieve that goal of 5k! You got this 😃

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  5. Great list! I need to work on getting my TBR down (theres definitely some that’s been there for more than two year! Oops.) and good luck with tackling your physical tbr! I’d already done this prompt in another post so I had a go at my top ten favourite albums lol. You seem like you’d have good taste in music, what are yours? Here are mine 😊 https://hundredsandthousandsofbooks.blog/2021/01/12/ttt-12-1-top-ten-albums/

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    • Haha oh there are definitely plenty on my list that have been on there for longer than two years 😅 Welp, I really need to get cracking on them! 🙃 Thanks for stopping by my post! I’ll definitely check yours out 😊

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    • Haha I have absolutely zero plans, Annemieke. Someone commented suggesting I just start going shelf by shelf, one at at time, and I think that’s as good a place to start as any? Do you catalogue your books? I hope we both get to read more Asian authors in 2021 😍

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  6. Great list Dini! It wasn’t until last year that I really started DNF’ing and its so cathartic and makes me enjoy my reading more! I’m also hoping to clean up my physical and online shelves and tackle some more books off my TBR. Good luck with them all 😀

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    • Thanks, Becky! I really need to work harder on the DNFing but I do agree that when I managed to do it last year it felt amazing and like I could do anything 😂 LMAO. I hope I can keep it up this year! Good luck to you as well on cleaning up your shelves and tackling that TBR! We totes got this 😉

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    • Oh gosh, maybe I should purge while I catalogue?! Haha, I think my physical shelves might be safe from purging since I packed/moved my books twice last year, which meant purging(ish) twice. But my ebooks… Ooh, those ebooks… I don’t even wanna think about that now or else I might never get started lmao 🤣🙃

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      • I just started purging my ebooks the other day. I never really thought about it but I did have a few that needed to go. At least now my read ebooks is higher than my unread ebooks so I feel good about that LOL

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  7. Oh, I love all of your goals! And this is how weird I am, but I read “Catalogue all my owned (physical/digital) books” and had a pang of jealousy. That’s the stuff I LOVE to do. I could spend hours cataloguing books. LOL I probably should have been a librarian.

    Yay for exercising more! Here’s another weird thing, I still use the Wii Fit! We found an old system and it’s been my method of exercising all last year. I hadn’t heard of the Ring Fit, but now I want one! 😉

    Congrats on 600 followers!! You deserve it. ❤ ❤

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    • Thank you, Dedra! You’re too kind ❤️❤️❤️
      Haha, I know once I actually get into cataloguing I’m going to start loving it because I DO enjoy it once I get into it. It’s just starting that’s always the problem for me 😉 Sounds like you were made to be a librarian with your love of cataloguing! Lol! I never had a Wii so I’m not sure about the Wii Fit but I do love the Ring Fit! It makes working out fun and (importantly for the lazies like me) easy! Perfect for corona times too since I don’t have to go out to work out!

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    • I’m pretty bad with completing challenges too and I was way too ambitious last year so I hope with these two I’ll be tackling this year, I can manage it 😂 Good luck with your reading challenge, you got this! And thank you for stopping by 😊

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  8. There’s so many great goals here, Dini. I hope you get them all!! I should have totally been more about 800 with my blog followers. 1000 is crazy. Especially, since I’m only getting like one or two a month. haha. I will just have to figure out how to be more active! So glad you are exercising more. I’m really thinking about a RingFit!!! I’ll have to talk to the husband about that. I almost asked for it for Christmas but forgot. haha.

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    • Thanks, Leslie! Hopefully, I’m not being too ambitious lol and no way, your blog totally deserves 1,000+ followers–I love your content! 😍 Haha, I don’t even know how many I’m getting a month but I don’t think I’ve moved up since Oct/Nov? 🤷🏻‍♀️ I guess if it happens, it happens and if not, well, at least I’m still enjoying myself, right? LOL
      And YES! The Ring Fit is amazing! I’m like the world’s laziest person and hadn’t exercised in… an embarrassingly long time but the RingFit is just so easy to use. As someone who’s really conscious of working out in front of others, it also really suits me. Plus, it combines something I love (gaming) with something I always put off doing, but with this, it just works. Definitely convince the hubs! It’s a great investment 😉

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      • Aww, thanks Dini! That’s so sweet! I hope we both get some numbers this year. Although, yeah.. it doesn’t really matter! As long as, we are enjoying what we are doing. Not really in it for the numbers but would be nice to have that number for ARCs! Lol

        That’s awesome!! So glad it’s working out for you! I’m sure I wouldn’t have to twist his arm for it. Right now, blogilates is a lot because I’m always sooo sore. Hahaha. It idk that I’ll keep up with it forever! Love that I can work out at home though. I feel you on that aspect!

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  9. Congrats on 600 followers Dini! I’m so happy for you and you’re definitely going to reach your 800 followers goal fast! 🙂
    I’m glad that you’re enjoying your Ring Fit! I’ve been thinking about getting one for months, I need to order it asap instead of thinking about it forever.😂

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