photo credit: @anniespratt via Unsplash
I usually don’t post a review of my previous year’s goals, but in light of a very unprecedented year, I was surprised to see that despite the wrench that 2020 threw into the works of everyone’s life, I checked more things off my “want-to-do”-list last year than I thought.
✔ GO SKIING (AND SNOWBOARDING).
That would most definitely not have happened if I hadn’t been able to check this one off my list in January already. So glad I got to go!
TRAVEL IN THE SUMMER WITH MY FAMILY
Well, that obviously didn’t happen and I was super-bummed about it. We had planned the visit (and subsequent road trip) for months and it’s not like my family comes to visit every year. That trip had been in the making since 2015 and was one of the hardest things to “give up” last year.
✔ IMPROVE MY FITNESS AND BREAK THE 2 HOUR-MARK IN THE HALF MARATHON.
I finally checked this goal off my list last year. Sadly, it wasn’t an “official PR”, because all in-person races were canceled and I ran this HM virtually with a friend, but at least, I could prove to myself that I’d been improving and was capable of accomplishing this. I hope to repeat it on an official course sometime.
✔ RUN AT LEAST 600 MILES THIS YEAR.
I didn’t even have this goal on my “radar” but ended 2020 with 610 running miles under my belt.
WORK ON MY ETSY SHOP.
That didn’t happen. I had high hopes at the start of last year that I would be motivated and make time for my Etsy shop, but the pandemic pretty much zapped all of my creative energy. Then, the USPS woes started and I felt even less inclined to re-start a shop that was going to rely on the postal service to deliver goods. Maybe I’ll re-open my shop in 2021.
READ MORE THAN 27 BOOKS.
I did not read 27 books last year. I read 22, which I guess is not too far off, but it feels like I could barely focus on any books in 2020. I am hoping for 2021 to be better.
✔ CONTINUE TO INVEST IN HEALTHY LIVING
I definitely kept my focus on healthy living last year. I made sure to keep up (and expand) my fitness routine, I started taking (some carefully selected) supplements, I focused on hydration, and with all the home-cooking we were doing, tried to improve our meals by adding more vegetarian dishes, swapping in lighter ingredients, and adding (even) more vegetables and fruit into our diet. I also dabbled a bit with intermittent-fasting (more out of curiosity than anything else).
✔ ONE ACT OF KINDNESS EVERY WEEK.
I don’t know for sure if I accomplished this (I did not keep a tally), but I am claiming this as complete. I try to be a nice person on any given day, and even though I have no recollection of purposefully trying at this goal, I do feel that I reached out more (I reconnected with a few people), wrote letters, and tried to be kind and smiled more at strangers. I am pretty sure that I extended more grace and kindness to people last year than not.
✔ BE INTENTIONAL WITH MY TIME.
I definitely gave myself grace and didn’t jump on all the bandwagons and allowed myself to say “no” to things that I felt I should be doing but had no interest in doing (looking at you, all-the-Netflix-series). There were many days where I felt drained and gave in to mindless doomscrolling, but also made sure that I stepped away often to get outside and clear my mind.
✔ KEEP UP WITH MY PLANNER/JOURNAL.
In a twist of irony, in the year when there was not much to do besides sitting on your couch, I used my planner more consistently than ever. I jotted down (and pre-planned) my weekly workout routines, meal-planned (on paper, not just in the Evernote-app), and wrote down FaceTime Calls with people near and far as if they were meetings on my calendar. I am hoping to keep it up :)
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7 out of 10 goals met in the year of a pandemic? Not too shabby, I’d argue. Not that I had put any expectations on my goal’s list after the pandemic hit, but it’s nice to see that I still got some things accomplished.
How did you do?
You did well! And I think that HM PR counts but you are going to be able to do it again at a traditional style race.
What kind of things do you make and sell in Etsy?
I did pretty well with my goals too, after adjusting for the pandemic!
Thank you. I used to make cards and small crochet items for my Etsy shop but haven’t had the time and brain space for it recently.
You did so well!!
I keep trying to figure out how I’m going to get my health and fitness back on track. I keep trying but I feel like I’m thwarted at every turn (mostly physically and mentally, though the virus throws its own wrinkle in).. I’ve been trying to be more diligent with my planner this year. Not having one ready to go in December means that I’m constantly searching my email to ensure I didn’t miss anything… and that’s not good for my mental health either. lol
I’m curious about this Etsy shop but think you were wise to wait!
Start small with your fitness routine. 15 minutes per day is a good start. Once you’re back into a routine, you can extend the time ;)
I definitely had to have my new planner ready to go in December… otherwise my whole January gets messed up LOL
I had the same dilemma with “all my PRs are virtual”, but in the end I decided that a PR is a PR. When “real” racing comes back I’m not going to be trying to beat my slower “real” PRs, I’m going to be going after my fastest time. I would say this was an incredible year for you, except for being away from your family.
Oh, you did so great last year with all your PRs! And you’re right, when ‘real races’ come back, we’ll definitely go for beating these virtual PRs!
You did great! I did set goals for 2020 as I knew we wanted to have another baby and pregnancy years are not good for goals as pregnancy is so hard for me. I had a great year at work and read a ton of books so the year was still productive despite not setting goals. I am hoping that 2021 includes a return to running. That is something I haven’t fit into life since having kids. But I think I will be able to WFH at least 2-3 days going forward and it will be much easier to fit running in on those days!
I can understand that you didn’t set too many goals when going through pregnancy… but you still read a ton of books! That’s an accomplishment with a toddler around.
You did extremely well with your goals this year, considering everything that happened! A half-marathon PR, reading 22 books, running 600 miles, going skiing! Nicely done!
I was seriously surprised.
Great job! I definitely applaud you on keeping healthy. I hope this year will be the year of more books and creativity!!
-Lauren
Thanks Lauren. I do hope that 2021 will be exciting!
Wow that is really amazing how many things actually were happening and how you could move forward on a few goals you set.
I had the start of an Etsy shop on my list for 2020 too. It is there this year again. I have no idea if it will even take off and is worth the time but I guess you gotta start to know. So maybe we can motivate each other.
I was really surprised as I really stopped consciously trying or paying attention… I’d love to hear about your Etsy shop ambition and would definitely love if we motivated/encouraged each other!
I think you did great! Don’t you love those landmarks you hit but don’t even realize it until the end? Way to go on 600 miles ran! Super cool. I always found peace and a quiet meditative moment with your coffee posts on instagram (I don’t know what it is, but I seriously love them and pretend that I can smell it too, haha!). And cheers to keeping up with a planner more! Me too! Just finished setting up my new one for 2021, and I’m very excited about that, haha.
What do you think about intermittent fasting based on your experience? Doing a challenge with my family, though we aren’t super consistent with it (take weekends off)…
Wow. Your list of “completes” is impressive. Really impressive. I’m most sad about your canceled trip with your family. I didn’t realize that it was FIVE YEARS of planning, derailed by a pandemic. I hope SO much that you are able to see them in 2021…
I’m also super-impressed with your ability to implement positive health-related changes. You seem like the kind of person who, once you decide to do something, you just, well, do it! I try to take that same approach, although I am occasionally reluctant to do things that I know are good for me. ;)