2021 goals

January 1, 2021

Sparkling light-painted '2021' against a pitch-black background.
Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

I didn't quite achieve most of my 2020 goals, but I still made progress based on my intentions behind these goals.

For example, I wanted to read 50 books to challenge myself and to learn more. I didn't end up making it to 50 books, but I still read more books than I had in a while, and learned a lot. At the same time, this goal didn't always align with its intention. I often ended up pushing myself to finish a book I was no longer interested in just to increase my book count.

This year, I've decided to set intentions rather than resolutions. I think that setting more general intentions instead of specific resolutions will guide my activities to more honestly support my goals, and provide some much-needed flexibility in such uncertain times.

Live more healthfully

2020 was a tough year for me in many ways, and I wasn't always on top of my mental and physical health.

For one thing, I ate way too many Twix chocolate bars and had to get 4 cavities filled! I'm definitely staying away from those sticky treats in 2021.

I've never been very physically active, which is something I've been wanting to change for a while. I'm not sure what that's going to look like yet, especially since adult fitness classes in my province are largely on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I have been curious about trying aerialism, so I'm going to start working towards that by improving my flexibiltiy with the 30 day splits challenge.

I'm also thinking this might be a good time to start regular therapy sessions. Although I'm feeling much better these days, I think that regular check-ins with a therapist might prevent future dips in my mood before they get too serious.

Progress

  • Still not eating Twix!
  • Found the split challenge too intense, so started using movr and am aiming to get 1 5-minute movr mini done most days. Haven't been very consistent with it so far.
  • Started online therapy sessions every 2 weeks with a registered counsellor.
  • Got a more comfortable bike and started cruising around the neighbourhood on sunny days.
  • Took an intro to aerials course and hope to continue aerial hammock next year.
  • Tried to get into a regular gym habit over winter break, but provincial COVID restrictions put an end to that pretty quick.

Foster creativity

I want to continue exploring creative activities and maybe find something I want to continue long-term.

I've already started online singing lessons, and have signed up for ceramics classes at a local recreation centre.

I'm also curious about the maker culture, and hope to get some more insight into that this year.

Progress

Continue learning

Other than that, I'd like to continue learning in general.

I'm still working towards a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Health and Community Services at the University of Victoria (UVic) on a part-time basis.

I'm now working at Craft CMS as their lead accessibility engineer, and will continue learning a lot in this role.

I'm planning to keep reading, but I won't be aiming for a certain number of books like last year. Instead, I want to focus on interesting books, along with other formats like articles, podcasts, and videos.

I'd like to improve my American Sign Language (ASL) and French as well. Since I much prefer learning languages in-person, I'll wait and see if any such opportunities open up this year.

Progress

  • Taking part-time courses at UVic, and am aiming to complete 2 courses each semester.
  • Reading interesting books, which can be tracked on my GoodReads 2021 challenge page.