Update! Did I Complete My 2020 Goals? Also, What Are My 2021 Goals?

Welcome to the last day of 2020! While it will most certainly be good to have 2020 behind us, I thought we should take this day to look back on some of our achievements from this year, and I personally am going to be looking over the 2020 Goals I wrote back in January this year and see how I did completing them. I’m also going to be sharing a few photos from this year and sharing my goals for next year!

Let’s get into reviewing this year’s goals!

I’ve set a Goodreads goal to read 60 books, but beyond that, I’ve decided to do a bit more of a personal reading challenge.

I’ve decided that I want to reread five series that really impacted me as a kid and then do a blog post after finishing each series, examining why I liked them so much, how they changed me, and how they ultimately pushed me toward the path of becoming an author. It’s going to be so much fun! 

So I’ve actually read 100 books (or ninety-nine currently, but probably by the time you read this it’ll be 100). However, I only reread one of the series I said I was going to in my previous post and that was Deltora Quest. I still love the idea of these blog posts so I will be doing them! I just didn’t get to it this year.

-Edit Stars Fill Infinity within an inch of its life

I did not do this. I barely even looked at it. I did, however, think about it quite a lot and I have some good idea.

-Polish SC and (hopefully) submit to a competition

I didn’t do this either, unfortunately. I did work on Southern Cross a little, but nothing really worth commenting on.

My boy Hugo got to do a photoshoot while I was learning how to use a camera and edit photos!

-Write a new first draft and/or compete in NaNoWriMo

Yes! I actually did do this! I competed in NaNoWriMo and got 40k, and I’m just wrapping up the climax of the novel now. I’m so excited about this novel you guys, I love it and I can’t wait to share more about it with you.

-Update blog

I did this! And I’m really happy with the new look. I’ll probably do it again some next year, but for now I really like the salmon, beige, rose vibes.

-Rewrite “My Works” and “About Me” pages.

I did this too, though it should be done again as I’m not a fan of either. The My Works page only includes two of my books and the About Me page is pretty lacklustre.

-Keep up with my posts and not disappear all the time 

Kind of? I did pretty well until the end of the year where everything just knocked me out and mugged all my time. I experienced a lot of growth on the blog this year though and had some great page views so I count this as a win.

-Eat healthy and eat less meat

I sort of did this, but also sort of didn’t…quarantine kind of messed it up for me and I lost the rhythm I’d been getting into. Having said that, I did try several new vegetarian recipes and I’ve done lots of experimenting with new types of vegetables, which has been heaps of fun!

A trip to the river with a dear friend just after it had flooded!

-Shop well.

I did try? It’s so hard though because every time I try to shop somewhere I just uncover more shady business, which in turn leads to another bout of being super depressed over the ethical and environmental implications of my choices, which leads to be unmotivated, which is a savage circle. I have made some changes though where I’ve been able to, such as buying razors that can be reused, using a thermos/travel mug instead of buying coffee on the road, and trying out period underwear (sorry if that’s TMI).

-Sew two new dresses/skirts/shirts/something else for myself.

I did ok with this, I have got a dress that I mostly finished, but its not completely done yet. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to do more of this which will also help with my ethical shopping stuff!

-Finish studying [complete my Cert. III in Dog Training and Behaviour]

Let me tell you, this was a wild ride! I was supposed to finish in May this year, but when the blessed Rona came along, the finish date was pushed back to June. So I had all my assessments turned in by the end of May and all was good…Until the assessments started coming back as not competent. Which meant I had to do them over and over again and try to deal with the ridiculous company I was doing it through. Finally though, I finished in October! And then nothing…no certificate, no completion email…nothing at all.

So, I emailed them the other day and they apologised and said they would conduct a file review to see if I was competent and then give me my certificate. So finally, hopefully, I’ll be officially finished. What a relief it will be not to be in constant battle with their admin team.

[EDIT: Between writing this and publishing I received my email of completion! I also filled out a strongly worded feedback form. So yay! I’m officially finished studying!]

-Do well at job!

The job mentioned here turned out to be awful and I hated it, but did my best while I was working there. I had a brief job after that one and I really loved it, but I’ve finally got a new job which will involve more consistent work (the second job was a delivery job which did really well in Covid times, but unfortunately has petered out since lockdown isn’t so much of a thing here anymore).

-Compete with Hugo (my dog)

Hahahaha….*points at Covid*.

So that didn’t happen.

-Confidence building with Henry (my horse)

I did this! I got really busy in the middle of the year and didn’t have a lot of time, but the return of daylight savings means I have time to be out in the paddock after I’ve got everything else done and I’ve been doing great work with him. I can put a halter on him and lead him now and we’re working on being more confident with being touched and handled.

-Get a puppy????

So I was planning on getting a puppy this year, however, I did not. What I did get was another adult dog. Her name is Tora and she’s an Australian Koolie. She’s a bit hyperactive, a bit inattentive and quite wild, but I love her to bits. She’s a queen among dogs, in my opinion.

My girl…

-Keep up with my Hawaiian lessons and push myself to learn more.

I’ve done this as well! Though Covid had me very stressed and I dropped off my Duolingo for a while, I’ve picked it back up again and have been doing pretty well with it. I also started another program for Hawaiian, Mango Languages, though I’m not as good at keeping up with that as I am with Duolingo.

So that leads us neatly into, What are my 2021 Goals?

So glad you asked!

What are my reading goals? Pretty basic, to be honest, I’ve only got a few.

-Read 80 Books (this is going to be my official Goodreads goal! But I’ll be sort of aiming for 100 books)

-Read more diverse fiction (particularly with a focus on Ownvoice disabled books. I’ve got a list!)

-Complete a Lord of the Rings reread and finish those childhood faves.

I’ve got a lot of writing goals for this upcoming year and I may or may not be biting off more than I can chew, however, here’s a few of my goals!

-Edit my secret project. My secret project which I wrote for NaNoWriMo (NOT the Beneath a Starlit Sky project) is literally about three thousand words away from being done and next year is my year to edit it and maybe share a little bit about it with you guys.

A stark reminder that Australia went through a tough time this year. This was in the middle of the drought and all that grey is smoke. Yes, my lungs are damaged.

-Write Beneath a Starlit Sky. This was supposed to be my NaNoWriMo 2020 novel but I got blindsided by this secret project. I’m planning on writing this one around February, but it might get pushed back to April Camp NaNo if I get real busy.

-Work on Stars Fill Infinity. I’m not sure what exactly I’m going to do with SFI, but I’m going to do something.

-Write a few short stories.

-Maybe enter a few competitions.

Plenty of blogging stuff planned for next year! I’m think I’ll probably cut back a little and instead of two posts a week I’ll go back to one. I’ve also got a plan for a new blog (in addition to this one, don’t panic) and I don’t want to overload myself.

-Rewrite My Works and About Me pages.

-Try out some new blog series.

-Maybe do another serial story? It depends on whether people are keen to read one. I have an idea to pitch if you guys are interested. Let me know.

I’m not really sure where I want to grow in this area. My lifestyle currently is not that great, particularly in areas of health, so I do want to improve on that, but I don’t have very firm goals here.

-Eat better (less chocolate, Chelsea H.)

-Exercise more (I don’t know what I’m going on with here. I exercise so dang much as it is. But I just want to do more)

-Start up kayaking and make it a weekly habit (I’ve always loved kayaking and I am planning to buy one at the end of next month and then I hope to make kayaking a weekly thing that I do).

One of my favourite memories this year, spending a whole day down at the beach celebrating a friend’s 21st.

-Become more productive

-Learn to relax more

Given the volatile nature of 2020, it’s hard for me to make general goals for next year. Who the heck knows what’s going to happen next year? But here’s a few things I do want to get done next year!

-Get a kayak, as mentioned above.

-Work with my dogs and continue studying training on my own.

-Compete with Tora, my Koolie. At the moment she’s working on flyball (so, so much fun, look up flyball comps on YouTube, you won’t regret it), Rally Obedience and competition sheep trialing and I would like to compete in at least two out of three next year.

-Finish my Duolingo Hawaiian course! I’m about half way through and I think I can finish it some time next year.

-Complete two certificates in Australian Sign Language.

-Apply for university! This is so terrifying but I think I’m finally ready to do it. I’m applying as a mature age student to get a bachelor in Occupational Therapy. And as I’ve said, I’m so scared.

That’s it from me! What about you guys? What are your goals and dreams for this year? What did you achieve in 2020 (it doesn’t have to be anything big, I know we all struggled to various degrees this year)? And would you guys be interested in reading another serial story like we did in 2018 with Comrade?