10 Things to Accomplish in 2024

It’s been a few years since I wrote a list like this, in fact, the last time was in 2019. After the relaunch of my blog and The End of The Pretty Secrets, this is the first year that I actually feel optimistic and productive.

I’m not a fan of strict resolutions as the idea of them holds too much pressure. Instead, I prefer to write a loose guideline of things I’m working on developing into long term habits / projects. I know better than to think I will magically transform into a new person at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s. With that in mind, here are 10 Things to accomplish in 2024 that I’m going to be focusing on.

A FEW YEARS IN REVIEW

As I mentioned before, my things to accomplish posts fell off the past three years. Here’s a quick reflection on the previous intentions that I did and did not accomplish over that gap in time.

– I didn’t get inspired again until fall of 2022 which is so wild that it took 3 years to arrive there. Much work had to be done to arrive at that place. LOTS of therapy and changing old habits are to thank for that. 

– I have not written a book, there has been zero movement on that. 

– I did do more things that terrified me like: dealing with all my shit, going to therapy, and starting over this blog.

– My cooking flourished during the pandemic as it was the only thing I found much joy in.

– I finished decorating my home just in time to sell and move again. My current home is far from what I want it to be.

– Fitness has waxed and waned but sticking to things I can integrate into my life is where I’ve found the most success.

– The struggle to take a vacation that doesn’t involve some type of work continues to plague me.

– My reading list has made it to about half non-male authors which I think is a win. I’ll continue to increase that this year and report back.

– LASTLY…. I am much better with plants now that I have a garden. Not only can I keep them alive but they even FLOURISH.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about this year’s plans.

TAKE CARE OF MY HANDS

I’m embarrassingly a life long cuticle ripper. Let it Bleed is the soundtrack most appropriate for this affliction. Pulling apart my fingers falls under the category of repetitive body focused behaviors which I didn’t even know was a thing until I went to therapy.

There are many other types, I would suggest checking out the TLC Foundation for Repetitive Body Focused Behaviors for more information about it. But, the habit is hindering my quality of life to an extreme point where my fingers just ACHE and I’m positive that I’ve destroyed my nail beds as a result.

This has been a real source of shame for me but also a comforting habit I fall into when I’m stressed out without even realizing it. Not to mention the cold weather makes it even more difficult to ignore any bit of dry skin. SO… it needs to be addressed and a plan must be made (which I will be discussing with my therapist next appointment.)

I’m happy to share what I decide to do about this / the outcome if anyone is interested but I’ll leave it at that for now.

Photo from my I Ran A 10K and Didn’t Die blog post update

MOVE MY BODY EVERY DAY

As many places have said before, a sedentary lifestyle is deadly. Having a job that is primarily done while at a desk, my life continues to move in that direction. Add in the pandemic that only bolstered my desire to not be around people. Then to top it off, the cold winters where I live, this has quickly becomes a very large problem.

It is not unusual for me to get sucked into some minutiae related to this very blog and the day will disappear without me noticing. My two daily non-negotiables to thwart the looming spectre of a deskbound life are:

– morning yoga/stretching
– going for a walk.

That has been relatively easy to maintain so all other additional workouts are ancillary and a bonus in my eyes. Building a consistent foundation makes it easier to do more without falling off.

Photo from my Proof of Life blog post update

CLEAN OUT MY DOOM ROOMS

There’s a joke about ADHD people and their garbage drawers, clutter, and doom rooms. I’m currently this person to the extreme. Dealing with emotional baggage took up too much space in my mind to deal with the LITERAL baggage of my life. I’m finally in a good place to be able to address this head on – in fact, I’ve already begun this journey with my office. Then my studio room and lastly my closet room. This probably deserves a post all on its own. 

START SEWING AGAIN

This particular item hinges on the former item being accomplished. My sewing machine is in my studio / photography room and waiting to be utilized again. Making my own clothes back in the day used to bring me so much joy, whether it was making a dress out of Star Wars sheets or a skirt out of a former ornate curtain, I adored watching pieces come together. Plus I love having clothing that someone can’t just purchase off the internet. Double joy.

Behold a dress I sewed from vintage Star Wars bed sheets.

KEEP LIVING MORE LIFE OFFLINE

I know I have been fairly absent online, especially when it comes to my social media. There’s just an abundance of noise on there that I don’t have time for nor do I have the attention to spare for most of it. This is time I’d rather spend nurturing my real life friendships in meaningful ways and allowing myself to have hobbies that I’m not obligated to share online. Activism is also important to me and much of it can be reduced to posting a story and feeling like something was accomplished. Part of the offline life is actively doing things I think are important without needing to broadcast it to the world.

In addition to that, I’ve given more than enough free labour to these tech giants who have enjoyed skyrocketing profits and it pisses me off. Every time I decide to share something here on this site that I’m excited about, I am not providing these bloated tech companies with content that they can monetize. (Instagram sent me a calendar like 8 years ago and Google has put ads all over my YouTube account despite me not qualifying for monetization so if I seem a bit sour, it’s because I am. Dare I say I feel like I can fully relate to the Superstars Andy Warhol used in all his work and never compensated.)

Photo from 5 Weird Places to Visit in Arizona blog post

TRAVEL AGAIN

I genuinely miss traveling. To date, I have gone two places post March 2020: Los Angeles and Canmore. The latter barely even counts since we drove there and only spent one night. This has been especially difficult because I’m not the type of person who adores where they live. In fact, it is largely the opposite.

It’s time to explore again! I’ve already booked my first trip this year which will be to my beloved Arizona for a week. To say I’m looking forward to it would be an understatement. (Here are all of my Arizona related posts to see how much I love that state.)  Additionally, I am plotting my return to Japan as well.

Photo from My First Visit to Joshua Tree

FIND WHIMSY IN THE MUNDANE

As mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of my hometown. Yes I apologize for being a hater but I’ve been here too long and the only way to make me love it at this point is if I miraculously develop a case of amnesia. That said, it would probably do me some good to find small joys to carry me through this never ending aesthetic nightmare of a place. Burning my good incense / candles, light hitting the frigid snow in a beautiful way, or making some new crow friends to feed again this summer. ANYTHING. I’m grasping at straws here as the temperature dips below -50. 

Photo from Inside the Galleria Edmonton

SMALL LIFE UPGRADES

Realistic little upgrades that will drastically improve my overall life. For example, I dream of cashmere socks to warm my toes when its minus fucking 50. If I never have to stick my foot into a synthetic fibre sock ever again, I would be thrilled. Maybe this is just about wanting to slowly switch over my basics to be natural fibres. Either way, I’m starting with the fundamentals: socks.

Photo from The End of The Pretty Secrets

FINISH TRANSFERRING OLD POSTS TO THIS BLOG

+ GET MY SITE MONETIZED

This place has been a wonderful outlet for me over the years and I’m grateful for all that has come because of it. However, after a decade plus of labour, I would love to see it generating some type of consistent income. Yes, I’m talking about this again because it’s absolutely egregious what these companies get away with and my good friends at Google have made the process incredibly challenging this past year.  I truly hope 2024 isn’t a repeat of that. Bless our tech overlords for all that they bestow upon us! Grace me with their sweet sweet adsense. In the meantime. I’ll be fixing old posts and creating new ones. 

Photo from Ladies of the Canyon Inspired Style

FOLLOW THROUGH ON THE THINGS I SAY I’M GOING TO DO

All of these plans hinge on one fundamental thing – follow through. The biggest lesson I learned in 2023 is to be more realistic with what I can actually accomplish with my time. Lofty dreams are great, but focusing on the ones that matter the most is key. Yes it was fun having 36 tomato plants last year but perhaps having 10 would be just as good (and less work). It’s fun to get carried away with grand ideas but paring it down ensures that a few can actually come to successful fruition. Sometimes more isn’t really more – for those who know me well will be SHOCKED by that statement. This year I’m a maximalist with minimal plans and a SHARP focus on finishing. We’re past the “just start” phase, I’ve shifted into JUST FINISH mode. 

Photo from Cherry Cola Desert

10 THINGS TO ACCOMPLISH IN 2024

Those are the big things I’m going to be focusing on improving in 2024. In all honesty, I think the hardest one will be treating my hands better but we shall see! If you want to take a peek at my past lists like this, here is the 2019 post, as well as the 2018 post, and 2017 blog post. Did you make yourself a similar list? If so, what’s on it and was it as belated as mine? 😅

photographs - sandy joe karpetz