Holy Cow! How is it almost 2020?? It feels like we should be riding around on spaceships or something…of course, there is such a thing as self-driving cars so maybe we’re not that far off.
This year has flown by. The biggest thing I was involved in this year was my new job. I left my former job in December of 2018 so 2019 was busy spent trying to figure out everything in my new position. I just had my one year anniversary and I still feel like there is so much to learn.
The second biggest thing of 2019 is that it was the first year that I “won” NANOWRIMO. I had attempted National Novel Writing Month at least twice, if not three times in past years and failed miserably. The idea is to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. It is crazy difficult to do but this year I persevered. Now, I have 50,000 words towards a very, very rough draft of a novel. It’s still horrible and needs lots of work but it’s a start. I had to put it aside for a bit, partly because I needed to get back to other writing projects, such as this blog. Partly, because it’s a good time to set it aside so I can look at it with fresh eyes in another month or so.
I’m presently working on my 2020 resolutions and goals. Of course, as is my practice, you’ve got to take a look at how you did the previous year before you plow into a new year with new goals and resolutions.
Financial
I wanted to end up with $2,600 in my emergency fund and earn $4,000 in extra income. Emergency fund was a big fail. I’m at a level I’m not even comfortable with so that will have to be a priority this year.
I only logged about $2,600 in extra income but I think I missed some items. Giving myself a passing grade on this one though because I did receive a nice pay raise and as a result I gave up my second job, otherwise I would have made it.
Blog/Writing
I wanted to write 3 blog posts a month. This was a fail. January and February were the only months I accomplished this. I only ended up with 20 posts for the entire year.
I wanted to finish my EBA blogging course that I purchased in March 2018. Also a fail. Putting this back on the list because I do feel like I’ve learned things with the units I have completed and I need to just buckle down and get back to the lessons.
Also failed at selling any of my writing even though I did submit three articles for publication. Two of the submissions were just done this month though so hopefully I’ll hear something on those in January.
Personal/Home
This is one area I did well in. I purged 120 items on January and February. Most of my artwork got hung as well. I wanted to read 36 books and although I didn’t do well in logging my progress, I’m confident I met this goal or got really close.
Healthy Living
Didn’t do great on this one. I definitely didn’t get 3 glasses of water in daily, although I had spurts where I did well with it.
30 minutes of exercise three times a week didn’t happen either. I joined a boxing class for two months and loved it but I just couldn’t justify the cost after that. I have learned that taking an exercise class is better for me than trying to motivate myself to get to the gym and do my own workout. Definitely need to find a solution to this one this year because I need the exercise.
I didn’t start a meditation habit but I did get a sleep app on my phone that I’ve used quite a bit. It’s been beneficial to my sleep habits because I’ve been trying to get out of the habit of falling to sleep with the TV on as background noise.
There you have it. Didn’t do as well as I had hoped or even thought I did, but I still accomplished a fair amount. Also, I’m pretty sure I accomplished more than I would have if I didn’t set new goals and resolutions every year. I know some people that really, really need to change their lives and I’d bet you anything they don’t set goals or resolutions. It’s an important step for me to continue to strive for excellence in my life.
How about you? Do you set resolutions or goals for yourself? Let me know in the comments, I’m really curious.
