Goals, not resolutions

I’ve given up on the idea of resolutions. It’s completely unrealistic to think that come January 1 you’re magically going to change all your bad habits and suddenly be the best version of yourself.

However, I am still a big believer in setting and achieving goals. And while goals certainly don’t have to conform to a January-December timeline, the new year is a nice time to reflect back on the previous 12 months and think about what you’d like to accomplish in the coming year.

My 2019 Goals

I started 2019 with 3 main goals for the year:

  • Get good enough at HTML and CSS to get my portfolio off of Squarespace.
  • Complete some sort of 100 day challenge.
  • Consume less and create more.

New Portfolio

I wrote about redoing my portfolio back in May, so I won’t bore you with the details here. The TL;DR is that I brushed up on my HTML and CSS, hand coded my entire portfolio, and moved it off of Squarespace by mid-April.

100 Day Challenge

I also completed my 100 day challenge, though I never quite got around to writing a post about it. I keep telling myself I’m going to, though, so keep an eye out for that.

I started a 100 days of vector illustrations challenge in late May and finished in mid-October. I’d never really done much vector illustration and had always wanted to learn how, and figured the best way was just to jump in and do it every day. It was a lot of work and there were many days where I just wanted to get it over with, but when I finished I had way more confidence in my vector illustration skills.

Completed 100 days of illustrations

More importantly, though, the act of dedicating time to practice a skill for 100 days straight (more or less) was incredibly powerful, and it’s definitely something I want to continue doing.

Create More and Consume Less

This one kind of goes along with the first two. (Re)learning HTML and CSS, redesigning my portfolio, and creating 100 vector illustrations definitely counts as creating.

I also took a drawing class at a local community college, and while I haven’t practiced that as much as I’d like, I am more confident in my drawing skills than I was at the beginning of the year.

This year I made a conscious decision to read less, which is definitely a departure for me. I’m an avid reader and typically set my Goodreads reading challenge to 100 books. However, I’ve found that on the years I actually meet that goal I spend all my time obsessing over whether I’m on track and I have a tendency to use reading to avoid other forms of productivity and creation. So this year I set my goal at 50 books, which totally manageable (as of today I’m at 52) without pushing myself too hard.

Other 2019 Highlights

A few other highlights of 2019 that weren’t necessarily related to my goals:

Travel

In March I traveled to Buenos Aires for work: Buenos Aires skyline at sunset

In May I spent a week in Cabo, also for work (yes, my job is awesome): Cabo resort

And in December I decided I needed a proper vacation and booked a last minute trip to Hawaii, brining my number of states visited to 48. (Alaska and North Dakota remain elusive). Waikik Beach in Hawaii

Moving

In June I found out that my apartment complex had a 2 bedroom unit available in my price range and made a somewhat impulsive decision to transfer to it. So I spent the second half of June and the first half of July packing my belongings and moving (all the way across the street) to my new home.

my living room

A 2 bedroom apartment in the city feels a bit indulgent at times, but since I work from home I find that having a dedicated home office has had a huge impact on my well being. In my previous apartment my desk was in a corner of my living room and spending all my work time and all my relaxing time in the same room made it hard to separate the two. It makes such a huge difference being able to leave the office behind at the end of the day, even if it’s only a few steps away.

my home office

Miscellaneous Accomplishments

  • Paid off my car.
  • Bought a new mattress and started sleeping better.
  • Made new friends (being super introverted and working from home makes this challenging).
  • Bought lots of new plants. Kept many of them alive.

Looking Ahead to 2020

So what does 2020 hold for me? I’d like to continue in the theme of creating and learning more and mindlessly consuming content less, and I have a few specific goals in mind:

  1. Finish the 100 days of code challenge. I began this one on December 20, so I’ve got a bit of a head start. 1a. Update my portfolio again…once I have a better understanding of Javascript.
  2. Start and finish another challenge. Possibly 30 or 50 days instead of 100.
  3. rite at least one blog post a month. Watch this space to see if I manage to follow through on that.
  4. Attend as least one meetup per month. This doesn’t count CHIFOO, as I serve on the board and have to attend those meetings. 4a. Meet new people, expand my network, spend more time with people who lift me up. 4b. I’m going to be speaking at one of CHIFOO’s events this year, which is exciting and only slightly terrifying.
  5. Read somewhere between 50–100 books. 50 didn’t feel like quite enough this year. 100 is doable but comes with a cost. There’s a happy medium somewhere in between.
  6. Track both my personal and professional accomplishments throughout the year so that I’m not scrambling to remember them all at the end of the year.

And while I’m not attaching a specific goal to it, I also want to be more conscious about the time I spend binging Netflix and scrolling through various never-ending feeds. While I think I got a bit better at this in 2019, this is a key part of creating and learning more, as well as having more time to read.

So there you have it! All in all, I’d say I had a pretty successful 2019, and I’m looking forward to what 2020 has in store!

Originally published on Medium