Oh dear. I’m just going through the headings of this post and thinking LOL. Initially, when I was planning my December content, I thought a review of my 2020 personal goals post would be a good idea. In hindsight, yes it would be. However, what late 2019-early 2020 me didn’t realise was that coronavirus would fuck EVERYTHING up. Although, in all fairness, I guess I don’t really have an excuse, because pretty much ALL of these could have been done during lockdown…Although, I didn’t anticipate moving house and having a bit of a mental health wobble during that time either so…swings and roundabouts.
Write 3 Paid Posts
Believe it or not, this was actually one goal I managed to achieve this year. Through work, I managed to score myself some freelance writing, and I also managed to get my DA up enough to be able to apply for paid posts on Get Blogged. In addition, I also ended up writing a gifted collab with Waterdrop and PrintsField earlier this year – something which I thought I was a long way off doing!
Pay Off at Least Half of My Credit Card
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Next.
In all seriousness, I wasn’t doing too badly on this one. While I was a long way from paying off half of the credit card, I was certainly making a fairly good dent. Initially though, the first lockdown meant I developed a bit of a spending habit (the main reason being that I was terrified there’d be a gin and tonic shortage so I kept buying it in bulk on Amazon). Following that, I spent a lot of moolah on post-lockdown outings like trips to Primark and of course THAT bottomless brunch. Then we went back into lockdown and it was a case of repeating step one. Oh, and I bought a house so there was lots of shit purchased there too. And then it was Christmas. Long story short, any payments I’ve made on my credit card have now been cancelled out.
Read 15 Books
In all honesty, I didn’t think I’d managed this one. However, logging into my GoodReads account, it appears I have! I’ve recently reached the 15 mark which I’m incredibly shocked at, given that most of my reading happens during the ten minutes before bed. I’m going to put together a post on the latter half of my reads for 2020 at some point soon, but January to June’s instalments are currently live already if you want to have a gander!
Exercise at Least 3 Times a Week
I feel this post is rubbing it in a bit. In all honesty, I was doing so well at this one. We got to May, and I was buzzing so much from my lockdown routine that I even wrote a post about it. However, it wasn’t long until I ended up quitting. In all honesty, there was literally nothing stopping me, it was just a case of finishing work at half 5 each day, and the gin bottle was there looking at me like “OPEN ME NOW!” So I did. And since then, I’ve never actually looked back. If it’s any consolation, I feel I’ve suffered for it – my anxiety isn’t great at the moment and my IBS has certainly gotten worse (soz to get graphic but it’s true). My goal for 2021 is to get back into my Blogilates workouts, and maybe even branch out a bit further too.
Learn to Play a Song on My Ukulele
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Again, this did not happen AT ALL. I mentioned in my initial post that I was hoping to learn a song of some sort of easier level – but even then, that didn’t happen. I’m not entirely sure why, but I think a lot of it stemmed from a fear of pissing off my neighbours and my husband. Said ukulele is still in its case, having not been touched since said earlier post. It has however made it to my new house, so maybe I can get back into it in 2021 at least.
Bake Something Once a Month
Ugh. It annoys me that this one was so easy to do, especially during lockdown. I think this one hasn’t happened purely down to the fact that I’ve been such a lazy bitch this year. I’m actually ashamed to say that I’ve done no baking this year AT ALL. Yes, I know we had like a million hours worth of free time. Anyway, the fact we now have a decent kitchen with a fair amount of room means that the idea of doing some baking is much more feasible, so fingers crossed, things will improve. One person who HAS been baking though is Stacey, my sister in law. In addition to my gorgeous mermaid cake for my birthday, she also created the below masterpieces for Liam’s birthday and for Lillie’s birthday:
If you’re in the Wiltshire area and need a beautiful cake or some delicious sweet treats (I personally recommend her cookies as they are AMAZING), please check out Stacey’s Kitchen. She is incredibly talented and her cakes are just as tasty as they are pretty. Even if you just love a bit of cake porn, give her a follow!
Okay so in theory, things haven’t been too bad considering there was a fuck off pandemic in the way. I do feel guilty on account of the fact I haven’t made much progress on the things that could have been done during lockdown, but then again, much of that time has been spent attempting to build more of a blogging career as well as binge watching Normal People as many times as possible (FYI, we’re on run through 15). Anyway, at the time of writing, I’m not setting any goals just yet – that’s something for in a couple of weeks time.
How have you been getting on with your 2020 goals? No shame of course – let me know how well or how badly you’ve done!
Featured image by Isaac Smith on Unsplash.
Sassy Cat Lady 
I am not even going to look at my goals for the year list because I just feel like this year is a write off and even though I might not have achieved those things I wrote at the beginning of the year, it has meant I was inspired in other ways of my life. Also do no beat yourself up about the fact you didn’t achieve your goals, this year has been confusing and hard and I think we should all be a bit kinder to ourselves for making it through a difficult year. You have done brilliantly, so remember to praise yourself for everything you have done too! xxx
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Aw thank you Gemma that means a lot ❤️ it’s all said in jest of course but one thing I’m proud of in all seriousness is that while my MH has taken a downturn, I’ve still survived what’s been a horrific year! Hope you’re okay – take care xx
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I managed to read loads too during the first lockdown as there wasn’t much else to do! I love that you achieved a lot of your goals Amy! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
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Thanks Lucy! I’ve been trying to read more too – I feel its so much better for me anxiety wise as when I’m watching something it’s far too tempting to pick my phone up and scroll through all the doom and gloom 😂🙈 Hope you’re well xxx
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2020’s been a tough year, but I think getting through it counts as its own achievement and anything else is extra! I only make five goals and didn’t hit a few of them, but there’s always 2021.
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Oh definitely! I’m not taking too many goals into 2021, I’m looking more at healthier habits to take on – especially on the MH front just where its taken a bit of battering this year! X
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I love how you laughed at your goal of learning how to play on your ukelele, sorry it didn’t turn out the way you wanted. You didn’t do so bad in 2020, give yourself some credit 🙂 And you read 15 books, that is such an achievement! Ugh, I can’t even look nor think about my 2020 goals, don’t even remember if I’ve got any after March… But that crazy year has taught me some good things and I’m definitely excited for my 2021 goals!
Shuana
http://www.howivebeen.com
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Thank you 😊 more than anything I’m just pleased I’ve got through 2020 really which is something I think we should all give ourselves some credit for! Good luck with your 2021 goals! X
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