2020 Goals- January Update

Early in the year, I wrote a post listing out my broad goals for the year. I thought it was about time I moved from my childhood resolutions of “fluent in French and lose 20 dress sizes” into actual goals that I could refer to and work on without being a superhero.

As the month comes to an end, I’ve decided to kind of see where I’m at in these goals so that I kind of have a clearer picture going forward. I would like to do these check ins once a month so I can see how well I’ve done in turning the goalsinto actionable things and how the goals evolve over the course of the year.

Health and Fitness

Run a 10k and a half marathon- well, well well, this is off to a not great start. After procrastinating 10k training, it was two weeks to it and I knew I would physically be incapable of doing it so that’s out the window. I could have walked it, I could have tried anyway etc etc, but I just wasn’t willing to jeopardise my consistency and practical approach to run the 10k so in the end, you win some and lose some.

I also haven’t signed up for the half marathon yet, but that’s something on my to-do for the week.

I have gone to the gym 10 times this month, which is probably more times than I went in total last year (wow). Most of those times have been in the last two weeks, so I’m only really just started to get into a routine.

Walking- with a goal to start running on the treadmill, I started by walking for an hour everyday. It is boring and it is sometimes long but I’m definitely already adjusting to the feeling of being on a treadmill (no hands, yay) and I’ve moved on to incline intervals.

Learn how to do a pushup- this is something I’m probably not going to worry about for the next few months.

Get a full health work up- no comment (but basically haven’t done this or made any plans to do it)

Eat more protein- so in order to see how much protein I usually eat, Ive been tracking my meals, and it’s been a dire situation, wow. I’ve started to supplement with some protein shake powder that has been languishing in my kitchen cupboards (don’t worry, it’s within the use by date) and generally trying to rework my meals in a way that there’s enough protein. I also started adding collagen peptides to my shakes and that’s pure protein which is a happy accident because I didn’t buy it for protein sake. I even swapped greek yoghurt brands for protein sake! I started the month on like 30g per day and I’m now up to 70-80g a day. The goal is somewhere around 120g a day so a ways to go still, but on the right track.

I really wonder how so little protein had affected my satiety levels and so on. I really think February will be the month where I’m hitting those protein levels consistently.

Career

This is one that’s as usual, harder than I expected it to be. My standard fear and self doubt kicked in and actually threatens to undo all the progress I’ve made pushing through to finish my first novel manuscript, write more etc. However, I’m hoping to have my manuscript ready for submission by the first week of March and really up the ante there.

As for that communications job, I implore the universe to send it to me, because I’m not going to lie, I am exhausted by job hunting.

Love

Work on giving with no expectations- I am happy with how I’ve given this month but can also see that there’s a lot of room for improvement. And reflecting on this point, I don’t tend to give with expectations anyway, I’m just not very giving in general. So I think this is more a case of giving more in general. Not just things, but myself etc.

Say yes to attending things

I cant really say where I am on this, but I feel like I’ve been very “yes, give me a time and place” recently. I’ve definitely met up with quite a few people this month, so it’s a step in the right direction.

Get rid of as much clutter as I can- I honestly consider this at least once a day and then do nothing. I really have to break down what I need to get rid of and get to work. I think this would work best if I break it down to the barest minimum and start from there.

In summary, generally, I’m happy with how the month has gone. I didn’t really want to start the year with too many things on my plate, so I basically ignored all the numerous things I put on my plate, and am picking them up one by one. Old me would be dying at how little I’ve achieved this month on paper, but new me can see movement which is my main goal for the year. I want to keep moving forward, even when progress is slow. I’ve tried for years to do everything at the same time- to set impossible goals and it hasn’t worked. I’m trying something different and there is movement and that’s what I’m focusing on.

 Where are you on your goals/resolutions?