2020 was something else. I don’t even know if I want to look back and reflect on this past year because so many significant events happened in my life and in society. It would take an entire post to do that and would ultimately take away from the main point of this post- to let you know what my goals for 2021 are! It’s always been an annual tradition for me to write down my new year’s goals. I think that it’s super important because it helps me start the year off with purpose and allows me to reflect on how I want to improve as a person. The list of goals also keeps me grounded when I feel lost in the middle of the year.

I don’t think I’ve ever shared my new year’s goals on my blog, but I wanted to do it this year because one of my goals is to be more active and personal on my blog. Hopefully, this post inspires you to come up with your own goals! I’ve even created a cute template that you can use.

Click here to download this free new year’s goals template!

Read this post to download a free new year's goals template so that you can write down all of your goals for 2021! In this post, I also share 10 of my personal goals for 2021, including my recent fitness journey, medical school applications, and mental health.

Here are my goals for 2021:

1. Stop comparing myself to others, and give myself more credit.

In my previous post, I talked about my struggles with comparing myself to others on social media. Since writing that post, I’ve definitely improved with not internalizing the amount of likes/views/engagement I get. But if I’m being honest, there are times when I still get frustrated with the lack of growth I’m experiencing on social media. However, I’m learning to just take a pause and remind myself that everyone is at a different stage in life. The people I compare myself to on social media spend way more time curating a beautiful feed and engaging with their audience. For some people, it’s their full time job! As a pre-med student studying for the MCAT, I just don’t have enough time to allocate towards social media right now. My main priority is getting into medical school, which is a huge feat in itself!

Speaking of school, I feel like we students compare ourselves to our peers with regards to grades, extracurriculars, internships, jobs, etc. This type of mindset can get really toxic! I encourage you to remember that you cannot compare your journey to someone else’s because we all start at different places in life. The thing that matters most is achieving your goal, regardless of how your journey looks compared to others! In 2021, let’s give ourselves more credit. We worked this hard to get where we are today, so let’s continue to focus on improving ourselves and reaching our goals!

2. Be more thankful with what I have in life.

Given what we’ve gone through this past year, it can be super challenging to see the positives. However, I truly believe that we can shift our mindsets from a negative to positive one when we remember what we’re thankful for in life. Whenever I start to compare myself to others, a way to stop that mindset is to just count my own blessings. Since there is so much to be thankful for in my own life, there’s no reason to be envious of others!

3. Stop being so stressed out and worried all the time.

I am literally a ball of stress. Sometimes, the anxiety can get really overwhelming where I just start crying out of nowhere. This especially happens whenever I let my worries and problems snowball instead of addressing them. My goal in 2021 is to stop getting so stressed about the little things and the future. Whatever happens will happen. The only thing I can do is try my best and trust that God has it all under control. Stressing out won’t change anything.

I also want to start addressing whatever is worrying me right away instead of letting them pile up. Something I started doing is thinking about what is currently stressing me out and asking myself, “Is there anything I can do right now to fix it?” If the answer is yes, then do it! If it’s no, then don’t let it consume you because it will take away from enjoying the moment.

4. Get a bootayyyy and abs hehe! (continue my fitness journey)

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it on here, but I started working out this past summer! I started off with Blogilates, then moved on to doing Chloe Ting’s workouts, and now I’m following Pamela Reif’s weekly workout schedule! Before this summer, I hated exercising. Just to give you an idea- my senior year of high school, I became a P.E. TA so that I could avoid exercising! But after I started working out this summer, it’s become the highlight of my day, especially after studying for the MCAT all day. I’ve seen noticeable changes in my stomach, butt, and arms. This year, I want to continue my fitness journey and get some abs and a bootayyyy!! Check out my progress so far below, and let me know if you want me to make a post on what I’ve been doing to workout. I’ll keep you updated on my results. 🙂

I’m not the best at taking fitness progress photos, so please excuse the bad lighting and postures!!

5. Score a 520+ on the MCAT in March.

My MCAT score is my ticket to getting my application noticed by medical schools. I’ve been studying while working part time since November and still have a long way to go before my test in March. I’ve finished content reviewing, so for the nest two months, I need to focus on retaining the knowledge and acing my practice tests. 520 is the score I’m aiming for, which will require a lot of work, so I just need to stay on track! I’m looking forward to writing a future blog post about my experience for y’all.

6. Apply to medical school.

I cannot believe that I’ve come this far! It seems like just yesterday when I was in high school so oblivious to what college was like. Now, my high school and college days are OVER and I have one more obstacle to overcome before becoming a doctor- MEDICAL SCHOOL!! I guess medical school entails multiple obstacles, like actually getting in haha… My goal next year is to just put out the best and strongest application possible. However, a lot of clinical opportunities are not available right now because of COVID. I also want to remember not to beat myself up for not accomplishing as much as I wanted to.

7. Blog more, and just be more personal here.

Blogging has been my escape for the longest time. And it’s rewarding because I am able to share my experiences and hopefully help you. I’ve been wanting to blog more, but haven’t had the time because of MCAT studying and school. Once I finish the MCAT, I really want to start blogging maybe weekly and grow my platform to reach as many students as I can! I also want to write more personal posts again since lately I’ve been focusing on solely school related posts.

8. Be smarter with money so that I can pay off student loans, and learn how to invest.

Even though I finished college in three years, I still have a lot of loans to pay off. After the MCAT, I plan on working full time so that I can start paying off my student debt. I also want to learn how to invest, since I’ve heard that you can get a lot of passive income from it.

9. Spend more time with friends and family.

I think that one of my weaknesses is that I can become too focused with my studies or work that I don’t spend as much quality time with friends and family. Obviously, it’s kind of hard to see people with COVID, but I hope that once the pandemic is over, I’ll make more time for friends and family.

10. Strengthen my relationship with God.

I will be honest, this year, my relationship with God could have been stronger. I want to get back into reading the Bible and listening to worship music in the morning. I also think that strengthening my relationship with God in 2021 will help diminish my anxiety/stress, especially since next year will be stressful with med school apps.

Conclusion:

If you’ve read this far, I just want to thank you! Your support means the world to me, and I hope that you’ll continue to follow my blog in the upcoming year. I also hope that this post inspired or helped you with coming up with your own new year’s goals. I’m truly excited for what 2021 has in store for us!