2020 Goals Accomplished

 I spent the morning of December 31 journaling about my 2020 goals.

I achieved a lot, owing in part to a change of mindset. Rather than setting goals with a traditional measurable standard ("I will complete x much by x day"),
I focused more on who I wanted to be and what could help me achieve that.

Spiritual: 

Read scriptures and say prayers every day to fulfill my commitment 

to God and to Christ that I remember Him.
I'm pretty good at this... until I realize it's been a few weeks since I've read.
Or, I'm on vacation with plenty of time to get lost in a good book, 

but not time to read my scriptures... because I'm on vacation.

In 2019 I had an epiphany that I wanted to show God I remembered His son. That I was grateful for His sacrifice and for the atonement. I wanted to keep the covenant I make during the Sacrament. I often have ongoing conversations with God throughout the day. So it's not like I forget Him. But I wanted to do something more. A commitment to show my gratitude. This might look different for different people.
But for me, it was committing to read my scriptures and say my prayers every single day.

I've missed some days. But it's not about being perfect, or trying to achieve a number in an effort to check off a challenge. It's about becoming even more regular in my habit and showing my thanks.
My plan hasn't changed much for 2021. I want to continue the what and the why of this goal.

I also want my conversations about God and Jesus 

with people outside of our Church to be more natural.
Like it seems the Evangelicals do. 

Intellectual:
Be a Writer
Doing the writing workshops last Spring and taking my class this fall were instrumental in getting me reenergized to write. I learned through the workshops how important it is for me to have feedback and instruction from peers and a teacher. (Something the workshops didn't provide.) And to have accountability in the form of assignments due weekly. I just don't motivate myself on my own.

Another epiphany was that I wasn't a failure if I wasn't making forward progress on my timeline.
Smaller goals of "outline in February; Rewrite in March" weren't helpful.

"Take Novel II" was. 
I'm glad I learned that. 

Next year I plan to take Novel 3, 4 and 5. 

I also organized a writing group with three of my Novel 2 classmates so we can get/give

regular feedback on work we're doing even outside the class environment.

Physical:

Exercise Regularly to have a strong body and be able to climb Mt. Olympus with confidence.

I did it! I had a lot of "setbacks" too with my six-week recovery after surgery in January and a week off after my throat procedures in April, May, June and July and 3 weeks off from Covid in November.

But, my goal wasn't to exercise 365 days. It was to exercise regularly to stay strong.

And I did it! Even when I had to take breaks, I got right back into it.

This was a great example of being able to say "I accomplished my goal" because it was a definition of who I wanted to be rather than a measurable goal of "x many days."

It also gave me context of WHY that goal was important to me.

AND I got up on waterskis. Also attributed to getting stronger. 

In 2021, I'm going to continue to prioritize exercise with the goal of hiking 

Mt. Olympus with confidence

AND adding outdoor biking in the winter because with the right warm gear and plenty of dry days,

there's no reason I shouldn't. (And I'll feel super cool being a winter biker.)

Social:

Scan photos and create scrapbooks 

to have photos of kids growing up accessible to enjoy, and permanent.

This was a measurable goal. And thanks to Covid, 

I not only scanned all the photos, but made TWO scrapbooks. 

This year I want to make another book and organize some of our videos on iMemories.

I'll probably have to dedicate some days in a row to this one rather than "every week spend an hour." 

I haven't set a plan yet.