Tag: 2021 Goals

2021: Second Quarter Goals Recap

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I was super late with writing my second quarter goals post so it really does feel like just yesterday that I was writing these. Quarterly goals are important to me because they give me something to constantly work on unlike New Years Resolutions that I quickly forget about.

Second quarter was strange. Michigan started opening back up and at first I was okay with it because I thought I’d still be able to work from home but things change. I’m still waiting on some information but right now I feel really unsure and frustrated. I’m happy to be vaccinated and to have things mostly return to normal but some of the things that changed with Covid were nice and I wish that we were able to maintain them.

Here’s a quick recap on my Q2 goals:

  • Spend at least 30 minutes everyday doing something that I enjoy. I was pretty good about this. As things started to open up I found myself slipping into a pretty negative mental space and had a harder time with this goal. I still tried to prioritize things that would make me happy. I’ve loved re-reading the Harry Potter books, working on my garden, and spending time with my sister and her new baby, Lucas. I’ve been able to visit her in New Hampshire twice this quarter which has been the highlight of my summer so for.
  • Work on my nighttime routine. I also slipped a bit with my nighttime routine but I want to get better. I just wasn’t feeling having a whole nighttime routine most days but it’s something I really want to work on.
  • Be a positive change at work. I was feeling really great about this goal until recently when more changes happened at work. I still want to be a positive change but I might have to fake it until I make it for a bit.
  • Be patient with myself. I am really hard on myself but I’m trying to be more patient with myself. I’ve always had myself on some sort of timeline and that’s not working out this time which is super frustrating. I’m still trying to give myself grace and be patient with myself.
  • Continue taking a break from social media. I’ve kind of failed at this lately but I plan on taking another break soon. I’m much happier being off of social media. It makes me anxious and I hate planning the comparison game so I’d rather just stay away from it. I’ve started unfollowing as many people as possible but it might be nice to just start over if I decide to get back online.

Here’s to hoping that Q3 is better for my mental health and I’m able to enjoy a bit more of my time.

How was Q2 for you? Do you have any plans or goals for the rest of the year?

Photo by Mercedes Mehling on Unsplash

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2021: Second Quarter Goals

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We are already halfway through Q2 but I still wanted to take a moment to share my goals for this quarter. By setting quarterly goals for myself I’m able to actually stick to the goals I set for myself better than if I set goals at the beginning of the year. So much can change in a year so this gives me the chance to re-evaluate every 3 months and set new goals or continue with previous goals if needed.

My goals for Q2 are:

  • Spend at least 30 minutes everyday doing something that I enjoy. I was originally just going to make a goal of spending 30 minutes outside everyday but I want to push myself more than just that. I want to dedicate time everyday to some sort of self-care. That could be taking a walk, reading a book, or working on my garden. Whatever it is I want to be in the mindset of setting this time aside for just me.
  • Work on my nighttime routine. I’ve really been focusing on doing things every night that relax me and set me up for success for the next day. Right now my routine is to log off of work, walk Oscar, make dinner, do the dishes, read Harry Potter while drinking tea, and then shower and go to bed. I try not to watch any tv Monday-Friday and to limit my screen time.
  • Be a positive change at work. I’ve complained about my job for long enough but haven’t done anything really to change the situation. I’m determined to be part of the positive changes that are going to happen on my team. I will be supportive of my teammates and will work hard to be an asset to my team. I also want to make sure that I’m not burning myself out anymore with super long workweeks. I deserve the vacation time that I’m always pushing my teammates to take too.
  • Be patient with myself. This year has been really hard mentally and I’ve brought a lot of it upon myself. I’ve been so hard on myself because I had a goal and I didn’t reach that goal. I feel like I’m drowning in my own expectations sometimes and I need to take a step back and be patient with myself. Good things take time.
  • Continue taking a break from social media. My life is so much better without the constant comparison game that is social media. I’ve eased back into it a bit but I really don’t miss it so I don’t see myself getting sucked completely back in.

You might notice that my goals aren’t that hard this quarter and that’s because I really am trying to cut myself some slack. I’m doing the very best that I can and that’s okay.

How are you doing? Do you have any goals this quarter/month/year?

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2021: First Quarter Goals Recap

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This post is super late and I have no excuse. Sometimes life just happens and I need a break but quarterly goals are important to me so I wanted to make sure that I still shared my recap and Q2 goals so that I can look back on them.

The first quarter of 2021 was a wild ride. I’m debating about how much I want to share about my current journey so there might be a post coming up with some additional details or I might wait until this current storm has passed before I share.

Here’s a quick recap of Q1:

  • Work-Life Balance: I’m happy to say that my work-life balance is much better than it was last year. I’ve been trying to work a more normal amount of hours. I’m still work at least 50 hours a week but that’s better than it was before. I’d life to try to make lunch at least once a month or so but I’m taking baby steps. Year-end is over and tax season is almost over but we are still extremely busy.
  • House Projects: This was a fail. Contractors are busy and lumber is super expensive so a big house project is on the back burner. That’s okay though!
  • Blogging: Another fail. Q1 was way harder mentally than I anticipated. I’m hoping that I’ll be in a better place for Q2 but no guarantees. I’m trying to give myself some grace with these goals. I’d like to get back to blogging regularly again though!
  • Monthly Date Nights: Brett and I have been pretty good about date nights. He’s so busy with work and our schedules don’t line up but we try to spend a couple of hours together on Sunday at the very least!
  • Health: I feel like I did pretty good so far with prioritizing my health. I’ve been trying to move my body and eat healthier so I feel good about the progress I am making. I’m not focusing on scale goals which is a nice change.

How was Q1 for you?

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2021: First Quarter Goals

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I started setting quarterly goals in 2017 instead of a “New Years Resolution” and I’ve really loved it! Instead of setting goals for the whole year in January I set goals every quarter. This keeps me motivated to get things done and also feels more realistic for my lifestyle.

2021 is the first year that I don’t have all planned out. We don’t have any travel plans due to Covid and I’m not really sure what else will happen this year. So setting my goals for the first quarter feels a bit strange but I’m hoping that this will be a nice challenge and will be good to look back on for years to come.

Here are my 2021 Q1 goals:

  • Work-Life Balance: The end of 2020 was killer for me at work. I worked 50+ hours per week and had zero boundaries when it came to phone calls, e-mails, and meetings. I am in the middle of training two new hires and I get a new intern to mentor in a couple of weeks so I know that things won’t slow down but I need to be better about creating a balance and not over-extending myself. Right now my work-life balance isn’t healthy and I can’t continue working this way.
  • House Projects: Probably the most exciting thing that we have planned for 2021 are some house projects. Our main goal is to see if it’s possible to add a bathroom and walk-in closet to our second story. We live in a Cape Cod style house so the second floor is a converted attic with sloped ceilings. It’s a huge space but right now it’s just a guest room. We’d love to turn the second floor into a master suite so we will see what the contractor quotes us. We’d also like to re-do our kitchen and mud room floors and maybe splurge on new kitchen appliances.
  • Blogging: I took another blogging break at the end of 2021 because work was killing me and I couldn’t spend anymore time on my computer to write a blog post. I’d love to be able to post 2-3 times per week but we will see how realistic that becomes with my work schedule. I also failed at reading and commenting on posts so I want to be better about that because one of my favorite things about blogging is reading other blogger’s posts and it’s just not the same without that.
  • Monthly Date Nights: My husband, Brett, works nights Tuesday-Saturday so we don’t see each other that much and it’s been hard to schedule quality time together. One of my favorite things that came from being quarantined was our monthly date nights and I want to keep that up. I genuinely enjoy spending time with Brett and it’s really great for our marriage to have that time scheduled each month.
  • Health: There are so many things I want to say about this goal but I’ll keep it pretty generic. This is the first year that I can remember where I’m not setting a goal to lose weight or am starting a new diet. I’ve struggled with body image forever it seems and restricting myself to a specific diet has been really unhealthly. This year I want to focus on taking care of myself which means eating healthy most of the time, practicing self-care, and prioritizing the things that make me happy. Hopefully keeping this simple will work better for me and I won’t feel so bad when I “fail”.

2021 feels different for a number of reasons. I want to take the time this year to work on myself and stop putting my job before anything else in my life. I have to start setting some boundaries or I’ll be completely burnt out before I even turn 30.

2020 taught me some valuable lessons and I hope that I learned enough to make this year different.

Are you setting any goals for 2021?

Photo by Andreea-Maria Juganaru on Unsplash

2020: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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This will be my third year writing this type of post but this time feels so much different. 2020 can be accurately descripted as a dumpster fire and it’s much easier to find the ugly moments instead of the good moments. I’m going to attempt to document a variety of 2020 memories in this post.

As always, this isn’t a post to brag about my life or to show off. This is simply something that I enjoy writing to look back on in future years. I love looking back on 2018 and 2019.

In 2020 I…..

  • Traveled to New Hampshire to be my sister’s Matron of Honor for her wedding
  • Switched roles at work in February and cried a lot over it
  • Packed up all my stuff and started working from home in March
  • Started a job search and am still undecided about what I want to do
  • Saved money to start a new house project in 2021
  • Weaned off of my migraine medication to *hopefully* prepare to have a baby in the future
  • Broke my rebound headache cycle which I never could have done if I hadn’t been working from home. This is by far my most proud accomplishment of 2020 because I was so sick and I didn’t give up.
  • Flew to New Hampshire in July to drive back to Michigan with my sister for a few weeks. I enjoyed so much quality sister time.
  • Celebrated 3 years of marriage and 9 total years with Brett in August.
  • Found out that my sister was pregnant in September! Looking forward to adding another niece or nephew to the cousin crew in May 2021.
  • Spent more quality time with Brett than I have in years. Our monthly date nights are a 2020 highlight.
  • Started training two new hires in August on the role that I really don’t enjoy doing. Training has been slow moving since we are doing it virtually and it has been very hard on me. I’ve been working 50+ hours per week trying to keep up.
  • Took a break from blogging because I was overwhelmed with life.
  • Completed year 1 of a 3 year certification course for work.
  • Spent a lot of social distanced time with at my Grandparent’s lake house
  • Turned 27 in quarantine
  • Celebrated 7 years of blogging in November
  • Finally got promoted in December
  • Worked from home for 9 months and can’t imagine going back to the office full time ever again.

2020 was challenging in many different ways. My biggest challenge this year in my personal life was going from loving my job to hating it. Because work has been so hard I’ve struggled with everything else since I am so unmotivated. I don’t have an answer or solution for this yet so I will just keep chugging along.

I’m looking forward to the new year. I’m looking forward to a fresh start and hopefully leaving all of these negative feelings behind me.

What will you remember about 2020?

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2020: Fourth Quarter Goals Recap

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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