Let’s review

How did I do this year?

In January, I made a list of 23 goals. I certainly didn’t meet them all by any stretch, but I can check a few things off.

Photo by Planet Volumes on Unsplash

Incomplete Goals

I didn’t go on one hike. Not one!

I did not do a workshop for work.

This is article nine for Medium; my goal was twelve. I have two in draft, but all-in-all, I don’t feel great about my writing this year. Uninspired, uninspiring. I had a difficult time concentrating, getting thoughts out. Not 100 percent sure what that is about.

Didn’t get my shit together enough to even apply for a home equity loan. Not gonna lie, this has as much to do with giving up nagging my husband about his paperwork as anything else. I kept bugging him, and he kept putting it off, and here we are at the end of 2023 with all the same problems in this house as we’ve had for years.

I didn’t find a church I liked — I barely searched. I didn’t host a rye tasting, or get my ears pierced again. The dog is not trained out of her reactivity; the children do not have their drivers licenses. My eldest graduated, but decided not to go to college at this time. They are working instead.

I don’t really think we wasted less food. And although I tried some new recipes this year, they weren’t necessarily Mexican food. (I did use a lot of my spices, though.)

The Wins

Here is what I did do, some from the list, and some bonus things that I am counting as wins.

1. 365 days of something. I didn’t do 365 days of yoga, but I did exercise more days than not. Four to five days a week, I did at least one of the following: yoga, weight training, walking, and/or tang soo do.
2. Speaking of tang soo do: I am one test away from a black belt. I go to two or three classes a week. I am very proud of my progress, and I don’t plan to stop any time soon.
3. I did learn more about UI/UX writing, and I did do a member presentation for work, as well as another presentation for my department’s in-office day (which occurs monthly). I am doing my best to stretch my muscles professionally in new directions.
4. Pictures are framed, but not hung.
5. I cleaned out closets! Linen closet, my clothes closet, and the front hallway/coat closet. I joined a “buy-nothing” group on Facebook, and I have managed to give away many things that we didn’t need and weren’t using.
6. I saw more than 23 movies (I stopped tracking once I hit 23), including the year’s two biggest, Barbie and Oppenheimer.
7. I read 28 books.
8. My youngest child did get a phone for his 13th birthday. This is as much due to my husband putting a lot of responsibility on him, and him stepping up to the plate, as anything I did.
9. I did polish my nails quite often, and I did get rid of quite a few polishes that I didn’t like or use.

Extra Credit

Work was a bit of a roller coaster this year. I was due to be laid off in August, but I got onto a billable project, and I’ve gotten a promotion. So, that wasn’t on the list, but I am taking the W.

In addition to earning a promotion, we put solar panels on our house. I am very happy about this development because our electricity bills were getting out of hand, and this will help with that. And it’s better for the environment.

In other Earth-friendly news, I switched my family to washing detergent sheets and away from fabric softener. The sheets do just fine getting the clothes clean, and I bought wool balls for the dryer. No more plastic jugs!

Did you have goals or resolutions this year? How did you do?