Happy New Year! Taking a cue from Chris Guillebeau, I decided to take the time to do an annual review, looking at goals that I had for myself this past year and the progress that I made toward them, as well as a look ahead at goals for 2020.
Let’s start with the successes. Based on what I logged on my Goodreads profile, I blasted past my original 52-book goal to 121 this year. Some of the books I logged were trade paperbacks (collected editions of comic books), but it was still more than 52 novels. Even if I scale back on the reading this year, I plan to read 52 books across various genres (fiction, non-fiction, audiobooks, and trade paperbacks) in 2020. This includes a book that I have started at least four different times and never finished for some reason in the last decade. It’s time.
2020 Goal: Read 52 books.
2020 Goal: Finally finish The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay.
Unfortunately, I fell short on a secondary goal in my reading category. Somehow in the past few years, I’ve amassed 2589 unread comic books on ComiXology. My goal this year is to keep up with the comics that are important to me and still dig into that back-log by getting that number down to 1500. It’s very possible that this goal is too lofty, but we’ll see how it goes.
2020 Goal: Reduce unread comics to 1500.
Overall, a secondary goal on both of these is that I have a lot of things I haven’t read but have purchased, so I plan to use wish lists and the library in a way that I haven’t in the past instead of smashing that buy button.
This is in tandem with some credit card payment plans that I’m behind on that have all come due this year. I know that with proper planning and expenditure reduction, I can wipe those out in just a couple of months. It isn’t that much debt, especially compared to the horror stories I’ve heard before, but since it’s a relatively small amount, it’s time to get it gone this year. I intend to total it up and get a spreadsheet going, especially with different due dates coming up.
2020 Goal: Eliminate credit card debt while it’s small.
As far as purchases go, with the ex leaving in a few months (give or take), I’ll need to make some major purchases such as a refrigerator, a washer, and a dryer. I’ll be saving up for those on the side, with the ultimate goal of purchasing them without going further into debt. This could involve starting a side hustle of some kind, starting with selling unread trade paperbacks that are just taking up space in the basement, so we’ll see.
2020 Goal: Start side hustle, even if it’s just Amazon and eBay.
2020 Goal: Purchase refrigerator, washer, and dryer.
Let’s talk health goals. In 2019, I went to the gym more than I did in 2017 and 2018, but then completely fell off the wagon in terms of exercise and food in the last two months of 2019. I don’t want to start it in January (more likely June, as I can control what I eat very stringently during summer school), but I intend to complete a Whole30. I also have a goal weight, but I don’t intend to share that public, only my percent toward reaching it.
Separate from these goals, I gave in to the Facebook ads due to those sweet-looking medals that they hand out and signed up for the Conqueror Challenge. I haven’t been a strong runner in ages, so I signed up for 365 miles in 2020 for the year-long challenge and then as an aside signed up for the 90-mile Hadrian’s Wall challenge that will end the first week of May. I’ll be posting my goal progress there each Sunday. Here’s what it looks like now:
2020 Goal: Complete a Whole30 month.
2020 Goal: Reach goal weight.
2020 Goal: Keep doctor’s/dental/vision appointments for general wellness check-ups and cleanings.
As far as professional goals go, I also want to make some moves on that front. I fully intend to finish 2020 with a professional writing website up. Last year at the end of the year, I also joined two different NYCMidnight challenges, and I fully intend to keep going with those. Anything that encourages me to get back to writing is a good thing.
2020 Goal: Make professional website.
2020 Goal: Continue NYCMidnight challenges.
I have a few other goals, such as adding another state that I’ve never visited before to my Wander Club keychain, going to a theme park for the first time in years, getting my kayak back out in the water, getting a tattoo, putting the past to rest, and actually celebrating my 30th birthday, but those aren’t really things that I can keep track of very well numerically, and so they won’t come up until they actually happen.
That’s going to happen right here on Sundays on this blog, which I know my two readers will find very interesting and not at all boring and repetitive.
That is a lot, and it’s why I’ve chosen a particular #OneWord2020. It will take discipline, which is something that I’ve never shown a lot of affinity toward. It will take discipline to wake up in the mornings and complete the Miracle Morning at 4 AM every day. It will take discipline to force myself to the gym at least three times a week to start. It will take discipline to do the self-care that I know is needed to actually show that I care about myself in 2020. But I do. I care about myself more than just posturing on the internet for a blog that no one reads. I care about being here in the future and not shortening my time on earth, because we could go at any time and I don’t want to hasten my end.
So I’ll see you here on Sundays, tackling my goals and hoping to hear about yours too. Can’t wait to see what everyone accomplishes next year!
Educating the Hunter 