Today has been a difficult day in the UK. A General Election result that seems unfathomable to so many of us, yet here we are. It would be so easy to get depressed about it, but I’m trying to take a different tack. It’s been a really tough few weeks for me, a lot of work pressure and some life stuff too. I’m coming the through the other side but I’m feeling so tired and worn out right now. So what I need to is be kind to myself and focus on the good things in life (of which there are many – I am very fortunate, that’s for sure) and also focus on the good things I can do, despite this hideous election result.

As I was scrolling through Facebook I came across an idea that someone on the Money Saving Expert website forum had – do 20 things in 2020. Now I quite often set myself challenges and often I overdo it in terms of trying to do too many new things and essentially set myself up to fail. However, this feels like a good idea because they can be small things, and they can be done throughout the year, so plenty of time to get it all done.

So in the spirit of focusing on the positive, and trying to make small changes that can help in a world that feels a bit scary right now, here is my list. It’s a mix of things for me and for the community/planet in general.

1. Donate 20 items to charity
2. Sell 20 items I don’t use to make some extra money
3. Visit 20 new places (can be local)
4. Donate to a food bank 20 times
5. Get back into volunteering and volunteer 20 times
6. Spend 20 days where I don’t go online at all
7. Read 20 books
8. Watch 20 films I’ve not seen before
9. Get to work 20 times without using the car
10. Try 20 new exercises at the gym
11. Replace 20 household items with a more sustainable version when needed
12. Pick up random street/beach trash 20 times
13. Go on 20 walks
14. Lose 20 lbs
15. Save 20 £20 notes
16. Recycle 20 items that I don’t use anymore that can’t be sold/donated
17. Write 20 random cards to family & friends
18. Do 20 random acts of kindness
19. Do 20 things as a means of self-care (e.g. massage, or visit to art gallery or something relaxing, can be free!)
20. Write 20 blog posts

So that’s my list. Some will be more easily achievable than others, but overall there’s nothing impossible. A lot of these (like decluttering to donate/sell/recycle) have been on my ‘to do’ list for a while, so this is a bit of a prompt to do them. Others I’ve been doing slowly for a while (like replacing stuff with more sustainable items, using much less plastic etc.) so I’m keeping that going. My main focus next year is health – weight and fitness – so again this list aligns with that.

Trying to learn from past endeavours, this isn’t an impossible task list, and centres around what I’m trying to do anyway, so there’s a higher chance of success. I’ll report back in some of those blog posts I need to write 🤓

Have a good weekend, and for those of you in the UK, try not to despair too much. Much love ♥️