2021 Resolutions Results: 4/9
Well, I did not accomplish a lot of these goals, but I did take steps in the right direction and made some progress, so I’m fine with that. I’m truly proud of my reading and how I’ve been pretty consistent with blogging!
1. Publish one blog post per week – KIND OF
I did publish 55 blog posts this year, so it averages out to one a week, but there were some weeks that I didn’t publish any. I started working 50-60 hours a week in October, so I didn’t blog as much as I wanted to in the last few months because I was just too tired to look at a computer during the weekend. I really want to get back into it though! My most-read blog posts of this year were: 10 Easy Hikes Near Seattle, Wall Crawl: Most Instagrammable Walls in Los Angeles, and Featuring: Madison Hanley, ZZ Lundburg, Sydney Smith & Ellie Vargas, Environmental Activists
2. Read 16 books – YES
I read 25 books!! See my 2021 book reviews blog post here. I have completely fallen back in love with reading and this resolution has helped make reading an almost daily habit for me. I have spent the last few years being like “oh I used to be a reader” and now I think I can say I am a reader once again. Also, a lot of the top fiction books out there are way more interesting than any show on Netflix, but I am excited for film adaptations of Where the Crawdads Sing and All the Light We Cannot See!
3. Walk at least 5,000 steps a day and try to run a half marathon (again) – NOPE
Walking 5,000 steps takes me about an hour. When I lived in Los Angeles, I averaged over 7,000 steps a day, but these past two years in Seattle, I only average 4,500 steps a day because the weather is just so awful. So I didn’t do as much walking as I wanted to this year with the record heat wave, rainfall, and freezing temperatures, but the resolution did get me out of the house when the weather was nice. In the fall and winter, I didn’t get steps in, but I rode our indoor bike. The half marathon I was supposed to run in 2020 got pushed until September 2022, so stay tuned and see if it happens/if I run it next year.
4. Spend 10 minutes a day learning Spanish on Duolingo – NOPE
I started out super strong here, but then my goal of using my phone less kind of got in the way of this goal, and I kind of just gave up after a few months. I do want to learn Spanish, so I’m going to try again next year.
5. Put my phone away an hour before bed – NOPE
Whoops I completely forgot this was even one of my resolutions because I wasn’t tracking it with my habit tracking app. This is just hard and unrealistic for me I think. I’d rather work on my overall phone screentime goal.
6. Limit my phone screen time to four hours a day – KIND OF
I’d say I was moderately successful, as I definitely spent a lot less time on my phone because of this resolution. Weekends were a little tougher, but I’d try to pick up a book or work on my blog instead of scrolling through Instagram for hours. I keep the Screen Time widget on the first page of apps on my phone so I can always see where I’m at every day. In December, I just finally put time limits on my social media apps, so I get locked out of them and have to type in a passcode to ask for more time. I set 50 minutes on Instagram, 50 minutes on Facebook, and 30 minutes on Pinterest, and I think that has helped a lot already. I also just deleted my Snapchat, and I never made a TikTok account, so I don’t have to worry about those sucking up my time.
7. Don’t buy any clothes – YES
I didn’t buy any new or used clothes for myself all year! However, I did receive a sweatshirt from my sister for my birthday and just got some clothes for Christmas that I haven’t worn yet, but I’d say I was successful here. I was tempted by some Instagram ads, especially during Black Friday, but I did not give in! I didn’t really have a reason to dress up for anything, so there really wasn’t a need to get new clothes this year. I think next year I’ll allow myself to buy the things I want, but I haven’t even really worn the stuff I bought in 2020 yet. I’ll write a separate blog post about this later.
8. Donate $25 to a charity every month – YES
This wasn’t one of my original resolutions, but I ended up donating to a ton of charities in 2020 because of all the crises (fires, coronavirus, Black Lives Matter, etc.) and I decided I would continue it this year. I think it’s just a good thing to give back if you are able to, so I have factored it into my budget for next year as well. Some the organizations included: Surfrider Foundation, Houston Food Bank, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, American Cancer Society, Toys for Tots, and a headphone fundraiser for my friend’s first grade students in San Jose.
9. Deep clean my retainer – NOPE
Again, not one of my original resolutions, but I tracked it and want it to become one of my weekly habits. I wanted to deep clean my retainer in a dental cleanser called Kleenite and let it soak in there a few hours every week. I was not totally successful, but it’s becoming easier to remember to wash it on the weekend.
The graphs above are screenshots from the Done app on my phone. I think a habit tracker is the key to keeping yourself accountable. I’ve been using this app to track my progress on my goals/resolutions since 2019. It costs like $7 in the Apple App Store, but I think it has been absolutely worth it! I love the clean interface and how it lets you customize daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals. You can also set reminders and track habits you want to build and/or break. There are several other free habit tracker apps, or some people like to use bullet journals, so just find whatever method best fits your needs!
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