2020 Goal Recap

Sigh…is it an understatement to say that this has been a shitty year?

I probably can’t say much about 2020 that hasn’t been already said. I actually went back and read through my goal posts (pardon the pun) from this past year and they made me pretty sad. Reaching my 2020 goals did not go the way I had planned (and the fact that I stopped making posts about them entirely halfway through the year is proof more than anything, as I love the document EVERYTHING). For recap, here are my 2020 goals and how they ended up:

Fitness

• Complete 30 yoga classes in January: Met the goal. Thank goodness this happened before COVID!
• Half marathon training/run a half marathon: Again, I ran my half RIGHT before COVID hit big time, thankfully!
• Sober January: Did it last year, won’t do it again this year.
• Continue to engage in fitness well past January: I did pretty well with this goal…until November hit. November and December were my laziest months fitness-wise in years.
• Run an official race every month: Didn’t happen past March. Thanks, COVID!

Personal/Hobbies

• Pay off my student loans: This was definitely one of the biggest things that happened this year- if nothing else, I am officially debt free and it feels good!
• Write one song per month: Sadly, I did not achieve this goal. I will say that I had a lot more creative moments this year, especially in the back half, than in the previous few years. Lots of little song ideas and blips, just not a lot of full songs. I’m hopeful that my creativity will continue to spark in the new year.
• Bake something twice per month: While quarantine got a lot of people in a mood to bake, it really didn’t do that for me. I did some baking throughout the year but don’t think it averaged out to twice per month. Oh well.
• Curate my closet: I actually ended up hiring a personal stylist to help me with this halfway through the year. My closet isn’t 100% where I want it to be yet but it’s a lot closer, so I’m happy about that.
• Read 65 Books/Complete the PopSugar Reading Challenge: I did read 65 books (finished my very last one on NYE!) but I fell a little short with the reading challenge. There were a couple books on my list that I just could not for the life of me get into/finish. I probably read 47-48 books out of 50 from the challenge, so I feel like that’s pretty good.
• Travel to 2 new places: I did go to Breckenridge, CO this summer which was super fun (and I’d never been there before)! Other than that, I didn’t really get to visit a new place but again- I can blame COVID on that. I feel fortunate enough that I got to go to CO twice this year!
• Spend less time on my phone: Ummm…next.
• Work on my “30 Before 30” list: I think a few of these things happened, sort of. I paid off my student loans, I explored more of San Antonio, I took a semi-spontaneous trip (Greg and I decided to drive to Colorado for a few days after Christmas), and I dyed my hair pinkish red. I wish I could have done more (especially since I turn 30 in less than a year) but I am glad I got to mark a few things off my list this year.
• Go on a date for each successful month: We kind of abandoned this halfway through the year but we still did have some nice dates!

It’s really easy for me to look back on this year and get down on myself because I didn’t achieve all my goals (and I’m a super goal oriented person- where are my fellow enneagram 3s at?!). It’s also easy for me to be very bitter about this year and all my cancelled plans and opportunities. I’m an optimistic person though and I constantly remind myself how much worse others have it than me- and oh boy, did a LOT of people have a really bad year this year. I’m thankful that I am alive, my close family members are alive, that no one close to me lost their job or anything else significant this year. For me to have these blessings is huge- for everyone else I’m close to in life to have them is monumental. I am an incredibly, incredibly privileged person and I don’t take that lightly. But I want to remind others- and myself- that it’s okay to mourn a little for what you may have lost this year, even if it is isn’t significant in the grand scheme of things. I also have to remind myself that it is OKAY that I didn’t meet all my goals in what has been an unprecedented year (sorry to use that cliched word, but it does perfectly describe 2020). It’s okay to give myself grace. I am not less of a person because I stopped working out in November and December or because I wasn’t as creative or inspired as I envisioned myself being throughout the year.

2020 is over…that doesn’t necessarily mean the world’s suffering due to COVID, racial injustice, and a plethora of other things is over. However, I do want to look forward with hope and excitement that better things are coming.

I’ll write a part 2 on what I hope to achieve in 2021!

Until next time,

Zoe