Tag: 2020 Goals

2020: Fourth Quarter Goals Recap

Leave a comment

Happy New Year, friends! I’m sure that we are all hoping that 2021 treats us better than 2020.

It’s time for me to wrap up my 2020 quarterly goals! I loved doing quarterly goals again this year and look forward to setting new ones in January. Setting these shorter term goals helps me stay motivated and get things done! My 2020 goals looked much different than I originally anticipated but I’m still happy with the progress I was able to make.

Here’s a quick look back at Q4.

  1. Be intentional about spending time with family. With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years it was important to find ways to spend time with family while social distancing. My sister and her husband were able to come home for Christmas which was amazing and we had a bonfire to celebrate Christmas with my mom’s family.
  2. Create a new holiday tradition with Brett. This was our 10th Christmas together and we decided to open presents with just each other this year. Usually we open presents at my parent’s house Christmas morning or with Brett’s family later that afternoon. This year we opened presents Christmas night with just the two of us and it felt really special.
  3. Schedule my remaining annual and semi-annual health appointments. I wasn’t able to get into the dentist but I went to the Neurologist, eye doctor, and my PCP. I’ll go to the dentist in Q1 of 2021 and have some other appointments scheduled which is always fun.
  4. Save 50% of my holiday bonus for 2021 house projects. I am so grateful that my company was able to pay a bonus this year after all of the uncertainty of 2020. We put aside 50% of my bonus already to use for house projects and I’m really excited! I also made sure to make an additional 401k contribution which is something that I try to do every year.
  5. Stick to my current health/wellness routine. I did pretty good with meal prepping and drinking water. I spent less time outside as it got colder and work got busier. I did get an elliptical so I was able to do some at home workouts.

2020 wasn’t what I was expecting or hoping for but I learned a lot and was really able to grow.

Here’s a look back at my 2020 goals: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

Were you able to complete any of your 2020 goals/resolutions? Are you setting any for 2021?

Photo by Adam Chang on Unsplash

2020: Second Quarter Goals Recap

5 Comments

img_1635

Holy cow! Q2 flew by so fast. I can’t believe we are over halfway done with 2020. I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a total shit show. Second quarter was not my favorite and I’m glad it’s over. In fact, I’m ready for 2020 to be over completely.

Here’s a quick recap of my goals for Q2. So many things happened and I don’t feel like I accomplished much looking back. But I’m giving myself grace and I know that everything is a challenge right now so I will try to not be so hard on myself.

  1. Finish some house projects. Brett and I aren’t great at doing house projects. I always have big plans and this was the perfect time to get stuff done but we didn’t get a ton of things checked off of our to do list.
  2. Learn 2 new recipes. I cooked a lot this quarter and even started my own garden! I am growing tons of herbs so I’ve been using those for recipes. I even perfected guacamole which is my favorite. I was able to learn more than 2 new recipes so I’m counting this as a win.
  3. Read 3 books and write reviews. I read more then 3 books but only wrote 1 review. I mostly read the textbook for the class I’m taking in July and didn’t have a ton of time for leisure reading. I did start reading the Harry Potter series again though!
  4. Stay home and stay safe. Staying home was really easy for me. 100% on this one.
  5. Spend at least 30 minutes outside everyday. Yes! I’m so glad I set this goal for myself. I spent a ton of time outside gardening, playing badminton, and walking the dog. Spending time outside was especially helpful for my mental health.

Even though Q2 was rough and the beginning of Q3 has been even harder I still want to be optimistic.

How has your year been so far? Are you finding it hard to accomplish your goals too?

Footer

 

2020: Second Quarter Goals

5 Comments

joel-holland-TRhGEGdw-YY-unsplash

2020 has been crazy and I’m unsure what the rest of the year will bring. Quarterly goals are really important to me so even though I don’t know what’s going to happen I still want to create some sort of road map for myself.

It’s hard to tell what the rest of 2020 will bring so I struggled creating my goals for Q2. I honestly don’t know what I want my goals to be or what I want to accomplish in the coming months.

  1. Finish some house projects. It’s the perfect time to get some house projects checked off of our to-do list. We have most of the supplies at home already so we don’t even have to worry about leaving the house.
  2. Learn 2 new recipes. I have been loving cooking lately which is really weird for me. I used to only cook a couple of times a week out of necessity. Starting Keto taught me so many new cooking skills and I’ve fallen in love with cooking meals for our family and sitting down with Brett to eat together everyday. I want to learn at least 2 new recipes to add to our meal rotation.
  3. Read 3 books and write reviews. I’ve actually read quite a few books already this year but none of them have been that great. Having this opportunity to stay home and read good books is something that I don’t want to take for granted.
  4. Stay home and stay safe. I’m a homebody so staying home for long periods of time doesn’t bother me at all. Right now the best thing to do is to stay home and stay safe.
  5. Spend at least 30 minutes outside everyday. I feel so much better when I get outside and go for a walk. Working from home and staying home all the time doesn’t mean that I can’t go outside. Brett and I like to eat meals on our back deck if the weather is nice and Oscar is always excited about a walk through the neighborhood.

I know that times are weird right now and will be for awhile but do you have any goals for the quarter?

Footer

Photo by Joel Holland on Unsplash

2020: First Quarter Goals Recap

1 Comment

irina-iriser-7w4D54j-Hms-unsplash

I think we all can agree that the first quarter of 2020 didn’t turn out exactly the way we expected it to. I already threw out my 2020 goals for my professional life but these personal first quarter goals still seem relevant and I want to keep track of how I did.

You can read my full 2020 Q1 goals post here.

  1. Take better care of myself. I think I did okay at taking care of myself but I’ve never been good at it. I always tend to put others first and that really hurts my mental and emotional state. Q1 was really stressful and I didn’t make time for friends or prioritizing “me” time. I’ll try to learn from this and do better the rest of the year.
  2. Spend less time on my phone. I stayed really busy in Q1 so that helped keep my screen time low. However, I did watch a lot of YouTube videos and listen to music and podcasts which I count as phone time.
  3. Listen to more podcasts. I was hoping to listen to a ton of podcasts at work in Q1 but this was before I started my new role which didn’t leave any time for podcasts. It’s hard to listen to anything while training in a new role so I failed at this one but that’s okay.
  4. Focus on learning and growing at work. Ugh. It’s so funny that I added this as a goal! I went into 2020 feeling so confident about my job and ready to take on the world. I have to laugh at how hard that got thrown back in my face. I learned a lot but I feel a lot less confident and happy in my role. I’m questioning everything and wondering if maybe it’s time for a change of career. We will see how the rest of 2020 goes career wise.
  5. Finish 3 months of Keto. I successfully did keto for about 10 weeks and lost 15 pounds! I have fallen off the wagon a little due to the pandemic and being unable to have access to meat and vegetables the way I used to. We are trying to eat from our pantry and freezer but I’m still super mindful about what I’m eating and feel really good! I’m looking forward to continuing with the ketogenic lifestyle.
  6. Spend more time tidying and less time cleaning. Yes! I am counting this as a success! My house will never be perfect but I feel really good about the amount of time I spent cleaning this quarter. I used to spend the whole weekend deep cleaning my house and it was so stressful. This quarter I focused on tidying as I went so I could relax more on Saturday and Sunday.
  7. Schedule all of my annual health appointments. I failed at this but I had my reasons! First of all, I felt like I couldn’t leave work the way I used to because I was training on such a tight schedule. Then I finally made my appointments for after my sister’s wedding and we came home and Michigan shut down so all of my appointments were cancelled and re-scheduled. I’ll try again in Q2.

I’m not beating myself up about the failure of Q1 and I hope that the rest of 2020 is better. We are living through such a weird time right now and we just have to give ourselves some grace. Things are not going to go according to plan and we have to accept that.

Setting quarterly goals has never been about being so strict with myself that I can’t enjoy life. I set these goals knowing that I will have to be flexible and just go with the flow. I want a good balance of accountability and flexibility.

How were the first three months of 2020 for you? Did you set any goals for yourself?

Footer

Photo by Irina Iriser on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

 

Living Life Outside Of Your Comfort Zone

10 Comments

cristofer-jeschke-ME6r0N23zXQ-unsplash

Last week was really hard. I went into 2020 feeling really confident and ready to take on the world. I was comfortable. But maybe I was too comfortable?

When I graduated from college I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I felt pressure to find the perfect job and be the girl boss that I had always dreamed of being. I applied for at least 20 jobs in under a month but it took me almost six months and countless interviews before I landed my current job.

The first year was hard and I wanted to quit so badly. I told myself to give it a year and spent my free time looking at job postings. I was miserable in my role and my boss knew it. I made a change and started a new role that I loved right away. I joined this badass team of women who worked hard and really cared about each other. I felt empowered and impactful in my role. I was comfortable.

Sometimes the best opportunities are outside of our comfort zones but we are afraid to make the leap. Last week I didn’t make a leap of faith. Instead I was pushed outside of my comfort zone in the worst way. I was asked to move back into my old role temporarily while our team adjusted to some other transitions.

I cried more tears than I’m willing to admit because I love my team and was so comfortable in my role that I didn’t want to leave. I had finally established myself as a leader and was prepared to have the best year. I saw all of my dreams and career goals crashing all around me and I panicked.

We aren’t meant to live safely inside of our comfort zones. There is so much life to live but we are too scared to see it. I had so many negative feelings about the job that I couldn’t cope with the thought of going back to it. I needed to leave my negative feelings behind me and move on in order to fully become the girl boss that I want to be.

It’s okay to be scared of the unknown and to feel trapped or anxious. It’s okay to want to stay where you feel comfortable. But it’s also good to do things that scare you. This job scares me but I’m going to put in the work and become an expert. I’m going to prove to myself that I can do hard things and make the best of bad circumstances.

My life isn’t over because my plan didn’t work out exactly the way I thought it would. I’m learning to live my life outside of my comfort zone. I’m taking it day by day and learning to trust myself and feel confident in my abilities.

You can tackle any challenges that you are facing. I believe in you.

Footer

Photo by Cristofer Jeschke on Unsplash

2020: First Quarter Goals

7 Comments

pigoff-photography-zSGFGTed0zw-unsplash.jpg

Happy Monday! Monday is the perfect day of the week to share my goals for the first quarter of the year.

I’ve explained my reasoning for setting quarterly goals instead of New Years Resolutions a few times. I started setting quarterly goals in 2018 and actually found myself checking off my goals instead of just setting them and forgetting about them. I’ve been so productive the past couple of years due to setting these goals! I pick a few important things, focus on them for 3 months, and end up making a big impact on my life.

With that said, here are my first quarter goals for 2020!

  1. Take better care of myself. I’ve been doing better at relaxing lately but I need to focus on keeping my stress levels down and actually taking care of myself. This means making a hair appointment, hanging out with friends, and doing things that I love doing. I’m looking forward to learning how to prioritize my “me” time.
  2. Spend less time on my phone. I finally got a new iPhone and I have the screen time monitoring turned on. Every time I get my screen time report I’m surprised at how much time per day I am on my phone. There are so many things I would rather do instead of playing on my phone.
  3. Listen to more podcasts. I listen to music at work all day to help me focus. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been listening to podcasts instead of music and I’ve been loving it! I feel like I’m learning things instead of just listening to the same songs over and over again. Let me know if you have any podcast recommendations!
  4. Focus on learning and growing at work. I have a ton of new learning opportunities at work this year. I’ve been at my job for 3 years and I’ve learned a lot in that time. However, there’s still so much that I can learn. I’ll be taking a couple of classes this year and will start working towards a certification.
  5. Finish 3 months of Keto. I’ve done Keto 2 other times and I’ve really enjoyed it! My original neurologist was the first person to recommend it to me because it’s good for my brain to limit carbs and sugar. I’ve found that I have less migraines if I monitor my food.
  6. Spend more time tidying and less time cleaning. I usually spend most of my weekend cleaning, doing laundry, grocery shopping, and meal prepping. This year I’d like to tidy more during the week so that I can enjoy my weekend instead of spending it cleaning.
  7. Schedule all of my annual health appointments. Am I the only one who hates making phone calls?! I need to schedule my semi-annual dentist appointment, annual eye doctor appointment, and annual physical with my doctor. I love going to the dentist but I’m anxious about the eye doctor because I know I’ll need glasses and I really don’t want them.

In 2019 I created a word of the year for myself for the first time. My word was confidence and I kept this word in my head all year. I focused on being confident at work and learning to love myself despite my awkwardness.

My word of the year for 2020 is intentional. I want to be more intentional with my words, actions, and thoughts. I want to be intentional with how I spend my time and focus my energy. I want to be intentional with my hopes, dreams, and actions. I’m looking forward to seeing what the year brings!

Do you set News Years Resolutions? What are your goals for the year?

Footer

Photo by Pigoff PhotographY on Unsplash

2019: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly

6 Comments

kelly-sikkema-htDhtz2GqAc-unsplash.jpg

My first post of 2020, woohoo!

I wrote a 2018 reflection like this last year and it’s one of my favorites. 2018 was one of the hardest years of my life and it was tough for me to find positives to list. But it was also a reminder that it’s easy to find positives if you are looking for them.

In 2019 I tried to focus more on the positive things in my life and it ended up being a great year! Like I said last year, please don’t read this post and think that I have a perfect life. I really don’t but I try to make the best of what I do have.

In 2019 I…

  • Turned 26 and celebrated my golden birthday
  • Visited Florida (2), Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Oregon
  • Fell in love with blogging again
  • Celebrated two years of marriage and eight total years with Brett
  • Reunited with my German BFF in Oregon
  • Tried a new migraine preventative and steroids to break my migraine cycle (they didn’t work)
  • Spent SO much time with my family
  • Prioritized my happiness for the first time
  • Learned to say “no”
  • Celebrated three years at my current job
  • Had a girls night with my work friends
  • Lost 15 pounds
  • Became an Aunt to two perfect twin girls
  • Went to my first NFL game
  • Painted and organized at my parent’s house
  • Read a lot of great books
  • Threw a baby shower for my sister in law
  • Celebrated the lives of Brett’s grandpa and my childhood friend
  • Went to Cedar Point
  • Had a date beach day with Brett

I’m looking forward to a great 2020! I’ll be posting my first quarter goals soon and a recap of the last couple of months of 2019.

How was your 2019?

Footer

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Cheers to 2020!

3 Comments

deva-williamson---a60Yz5Upc-unsplash.jpg

Hey friends! Long time, no blog.

It’s been a hot second since my last post because I spontaneously decided that I needed to take time off of blogging. 2019 was my best year of writing and I’m so glad that I was able to share my adventures, struggles, and thoughts via my corner of the internet. But when December rolled around I knew that I needed a break.

2019 was one of the best years of my life. Not because everything was perfect, but because I really challenged myself to put myself first and to grow into the woman I want to become. I’m finally at a point in my career where I feel like I’m heading in the right direction.

Even though 2019 was such an amazing year I’m still thrilled to be going into 2020. It feels like a fresh start and I’m really looking forward to starting over again. I want to continue to push myself far outside of my comfort zone. I want to grow and to help others grow too.

So, cheers to 2020! May this be the best year of our lives!

What are you looking forward to about the New Year?

Footer

Photo by Deva Williamson on Unsplash