My 2020 Reflection: Goals, Growth and Going Forward
At the beginning of 2020, I came up with 10 goals for myself. When I made these goals, I was at a very different point in my life... For starters, we weren't in the middle of a pandemic and I wasn't working as much as I am now. That is in no way to make excuses for not achieving all of these goals, rather it is merely meant to recognize and acknowledge that my priorities have changed since January.
I actually did achieve a decent number of my goals and many have come along pretty well. There were others, however, that were just difficult to do considering the state of the world.
Overall, I am very proud of myself and my progress. One thing that wasn't a goal at the beginning of the year, but became a goal as the pandemic began to unfold was that I would grow mentally and get better at handling my hypochondria. I can now confidently say, that I am healthier, mentally, that I can ever remember being at any point in my life. That's HUGE!
Where did I really end up with my other goals? Well, it could've been worse... You can read my full 2020 Goals post here and I've summarized my progress and reflections below:
Career Goals:
Finish my Book - I am VERY close. I have about 2 and a half chapters to go on my first draft, which is INSANE, considering everything. I've written over 120 pages so far.
Grow my Blog - This could use more work. It has grown a bit (approximately 20-25%), but not quite as much as I'd hoped for.
Live Life + Romance:
Make a Weekly Date Night - This did not go very well... We started out strong with fun, new date nights and then the pandemic happened. It kinda threw a wrench in our plans and we just never picked it back up.
Plan a Minimum of 1 Staycation/Vacation - Surprisingly this one went REALLY well! We did a few staycations throughout the year and managed 2 vacations. All in, we definitely made up for the lack of weekly date nights.
Self-Development:
Read 5 Books - Ok so I read 3... That doesn't seem like a lot, but for me it is and it's important to note that I read an average of about 10 articles and research papers for work per week. So I do read, just not books.
Complete a Gallon a Day Challenge - This one I actually did a few times! So that's good.
Fitness:
Reach my Goal Size - Eh, yes and no. It depends on the store. For some stores I did, while others, not quite. That's to be expected though.
Hit a 2 Minute Plank - Nope. I tried, I really did, but this is just not as easy as it was when I was 15. Currently I can do about a minute and a half, which is definitely better than the 45 seconds I had in January.
Financial:
Pay off ALL Credit Cards - YES! I actually accomplished this goal MONTHS ahead of schedule and am very proud of it.
Save Money - Again, YES! Because I paid my credit cards off early, I was able to start saving earlier than initially planned. By the end of the year I will have enough saved up to afford about 6-9 months being out of work, or a good start to a down payment on a house. However you want to look at it...