Word of the Year and 2020 Goals

Last year my word of the year was FOCUS. 

I am afraid I was anything but focused last year. I did get 20 cross stitch finishes and read 431 books (okay, listened to 431 books, same thing) in 2019. In some ways I was very focused. I have never read that many books in a year in my life. But in May I lost my stitchy bug and had a stitching drought that lasted until sometime in September.

I keep looking at all the shiny and new patterns and wanted to keep starting things and it is mighty hard to just keep working on my current WIP pile. They seem old and dusty and well… old. I wanted something new. 

Some projects are so close to a finish I can taste it but there is this little part of me that doesn’t want to finish them. I am going to get over that this year. That is why my word of the year is COMPLETION. 

To me completion means to finish things. Not just stitching them in the normal sense but going that extra mile to fully finish them. Frame them or make them into a pillow or something else  more exciting. I have never been the greatest at doing that. That is why I have a huge box of finishes that are just sitting there waiting to be displayed in my home. 

Completion is not just for my stitching. I want to get rid of many paperback books in my house and to do that, I need to read them. Most all of the books I read this last year were on my Kindle. Now I need to shift my focus a bit. I do read a lot for publishers and this year I will be a lot more discerning about the books I choose. I have a huge backlist of titles I said I would read and haven’t yet. I have like 461 ARCs to read in my collection. Plenty to keep me busy while still tackling my paperback problem. I plan to read at least half of the ARCs I have. My new Goodreads goal for 2020 will be 290 books. That may be a stretch but I plan to keep reading at the pace I have been and even if I drop back a bit, I should be able to easily reach that particular goal.

My stitching goal is to get from 34 WIPs (works in progress) to 12 WIPs. Eventually I want to have only 3 or 4 WIPs going at a time so the finishing of them will be even easier. Currently, I want to work on the WIPs that are closest to completion and move out from there.

Here are the WIPs I most want to focus on:

1. Tiger Wildlife

2. Morning Lake kit

3. Oranges by DMC

4 Flag Girl (aka Liberty Angel) by Leisure Arts

5. Patriotic Angel by Joan Elliott

6. Mama Christmas by Joan Elliott

7. On the Beach klt

8. Life kit

9 Folk Art Angel by Lesley Teare

10. Four Seasons Chairs (the winter chair)

11. Black Capped Chickadee

These projects are some of the oldest in my collection and getting them done and dusted will go a great way to give me some peace of mind. Basically, I am going to feng shui my life in a big way and make room for a whole bunch of newness to come in and flood me with great feelings of bliss and accomplishment.

What is your word for 2020? Have you even thought about it? What do you want to accomplish in 2020? The beginning of the year is a great time to rethink things and make plans. Let me know what you are thinking about accomplishing next year and what your word for 2020 will be. I look forward to your answers.

Blessings.