Each year, I use the Powersheets from Lara Casey to develop my goals for the upcoming year. Some years I have more goals than others, but this tool allows me to really dig in to what matters and what I’d like to see adjust in the upcoming year.
In 2019, I had set out 6 goals at the beginning of the year with my word of the year being “bold“. My goals were the following:
- Love my friends and family well
- Cultivate my faith
- Make my own traveling adventures
- Steward my finances well
- Invest in my health and fitness
- Intentional with my blogging
Those are pretty broad goals, but during the process of creating them, I broke them down into smaller ideas and goals and what success in those areas looks like. I’m going to break them down below for you and share if and what progress I made in those areas.
GOAL #1 – LOVE MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY WELL
Ideas:
– Write milestones on a personal calendar
– Write 365 cards throughout the year to both celebrate but also share in grief
– Have FaceTime dates with friends and family
– Celebrate my best friend well before marriage through her bridal shower and bachelorette
– Respond to texts in a timely manner (this is hard for me)
Progress:
– Write milestones on a personal calendar – I wrote them down and did okay at celebrating them for others but could have been better.
– Write 365 cards throughout the year to both celebrate but also share in grief – I ended the year around 172 cards given or sent. I got about halfway there.
– Have FaceTime dates with friends and family – I had a few of these (about 7-8), but could have done them more frequently
– Celebrate my best friend well before marriage through her bridal shower and bachelorette – Success!
– Respond to texts in a timely manner (this is hard for me) – Still hard for me. Didn’t do well in this area. I have looked into a phone that doesn’t even have texting as an option. Just calls, alarm clock, GPS, and a camera. That’s how much of a not great texter I am.
Overall: I reached about 65% of my goal in this area. Definite progress made, but could have been more intentional with a few of these different areas.
GOAL #2 – CULTIVATE MY FAITH
Ideas:
– Illustrated Faith
– Regular Church Attendance
– Daily Time in Word
– Weave more Faith into Blog
– Prayer Journal
– Specific Prayer while Traveling
– Baptism
Progress:
– Illustrated Faith – Had some months where I spent time coloring / writing in my illustrated faith bible but wasn’t consistent
– Regular Church Attendance – Better at the beginning of the year, no bueno by the end of the year
– Daily Time in Word – Spent the majority of the year in this even while traveling
– Weave more personal Faith into Blog – Small steps in this direction
– Prayer Journal – 100% did this, I now have a few full with prayers and thoughts
– Specific Prayer while Traveling – Completed as well. I had two trips this year where I had intentional time praying for others. It was an incredible experience.
– Get Baptized as an Adult – January 27, 2019 it happened!
Overall: I created much better daily rhythms for myself in quite time, a prayer journal, and finding myself in the word almost daily. I also did the bible in 90 days this year which was a great experience and I plan to do again. Overall, this goal I made about 80% progress in this area.
GOAL #3 – TRAVEL TO NEW PLACES – SPECIFICALLY STATES AND NATIONAL PARKS.
Ideas:
– Alaska & Hawaii to visit all 50 states
– Explore new areas in Florida
– 23 New National Parks
– Train Ride
– Disney / Harry Potter World Trip
– Banff / Jasper Trip
– Camping
– Skiing
– Get outside of comfort zone in places I stay and things I do
Progress:
– Alaska & Hawaii to visit all 50 states – Not this year
– Explore new areas in Florida – Explored many new areas while training for my half. I would go pick a new town to run in for my long runs on Saturdays and a new coffee shop to visit after the run was over. Also got to visit a few new state parks and two National Parks!
– 23 New National Parks – I visited 15 New National Parks in the USA and 3 in Canada for a total of 18 new to me parks this year.
– Train Ride – I booked one of these on my trip in Colorado but it got cancelled while I was in line waiting. So I booked one instead in Cuyahoga National Park in Ohio. Completed!
– Disney / Harry Potter World Trip – Took this in February with my friend Jen!
– Banff / Jasper Trip – Completed! An incredibly beautiful trip.
– Camping – Not this year.
– Skiing – Not this year.
– Get outside of comfort zone in places I stay and things I do – YES!
Overall: I did a lot of traveling this year. I was on 23 different flights and had a rental car 72 days of this year. That’s a lot. I got outside my comfort zone in a few of my trips when I stayed in a Camper, when I hiked the Manitou Incline on a whim, hiking near Mesa Verde, in Texas when I stayed in a ghost town, and traveling alone in general. I’m really proud of all the discomfort I embraced in order to learn and grow and become more confident as a traveler. Even though I didn’t get to a few places or try a few new things (skiing/camping), I feel really great in this area and would say this is a 95% success for the year.
GOAL #4 – STEWARD MY FINANCES WELL
Ideas:
– YNAB Subscription
– Read Dave Ramsey Book
– Auto Pay for bills
– $x in savings per month
– First fruits to church
Progress and Overall: Not a whole lot. I enjoyed traveling a LOT this year which meant there wasn’t as much saving as I’d hope. This area in 2020 will be looking quite different – much less travel.
GOAL #5 – MORE INVESTMENT AND CONSISTENCY IN MY HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Ideas:
– Try a new type of workout
– Close rings daily
– Run a half marathon!
– More water, less soda
– More vegetables daily
– More outdoor hiking
– Try a new type of workout – I started cycle bar last spring and am obsessed with cycling. I love the tempo of music and the intensity of the workouts. Definitely a success in this area!
– Close rings daily – January, February, April, and May I had 19+ workouts each month. In January I had 30. Go me. After my half marathon though in June, I had significantly less workouts per month. I did this well about 1/3 of the year.
– Run a half marathon! – COMPLETED!
– More water, less soda – Depends on the month.
– More vegetables daily – Figured out how to add more spinach and cauliflower to my shakes in the morning so have many more veggies than before.
– More outdoor hiking – Hiked the manitou incline and it was incredibly hard. Possibly harder than my half marathon and it was INCREDIBLE. One of my top moments of the year.
Overall: My half marathon and hiking the Manitou incline were highlights of the year in pushing myself to see what I”m capable of. Cycling classes both in Tampa and those I did while traveling were incredible. I love a higher intensity workout where the music’s so loud you can’t really hear yourself think. I had more veggies, but still had a lot of soda and coffee and caffeine in general. Overall about a 55% in this area.
GOAL #6 – MORE CONSISTENCY AND FREQUENCY WITH MY BLOGGING
Ideas:
– Schedule blog posts ahead of time
– Work on sharing certain categories each day
– Learn new platform
– Transition blog to new platform
Progress:
– Schedule blog posts ahead of time – Got better at this toward the second half of the year
– Work on sharing certain categories each day – Not as much, more of a focus for 2020
– Learn new platform – Yes!
– Transition blog to new platform – Yes!
Overall: I blogged in spurts this year. I learned a lot and have a lot more ideas going into 2020 on how I’d like to share ideas, experiences, and learning. About a 40% in this area.
My intention of 2019 was to be bold with what I did, shared, learned, and where I traveled. I feel really content in the what 2019 brought in reference to the goals listed above. I made progress on each of them, and wasn’t perfect at any of them. Certain months were better than others in areas. Some months weren’t good at all. It’s about making progress on your goals, not being perfect at them.