2021 Recap & Review

I've never really been good at following through with my new year goals; I would write my goals in church after an all-night service on December 31st and forget my intentions for the year by the end of February. You may relate to this and may have even given up on new year resolutions (I get it, I almost did too).

I followed through with my new year resolutions in 2021:

However, when I started working as a full-time employee, my yearly evaluation process in that professional context gave me a renewed perspective on goal setting. As a full-time employee, I was required to submit my professional goals for the year before February and would go through a review with my supervisor at the middle of the year and also at the end of the year. These reviews (and a few other times my supervisor reminded me about these goals) helped me stay accountable to my professional goals, and so I thought, why not try this in my personal life?

In 2019, I came across a tool called Milanote - where I documented a lot of my progress, and I decided to rely on it to keep myself accountable both personally and professionally. (It also helped that I was, and still am, very obsessed with this tool). And so here we are, at the end of the year in 2021, and I can confidently say that I'm very much better at achieving new year resolutions - and I genuinely enjoy the process of seeing who I'm becoming.

But what did I do differently?

I simply followed up. This year, I spent an hour or more in January, April, May, September & December reviewing my yearly goals - and I know this because I made notes each time I did a review. I didn't achieve everything I set out to this year, but I came close - better than I did last year. Doing a review at least four times throughout the year helped me track my progress and align my intentions with my daily practices.

My notes below are just summaries of the SMART goals I set around these areas.

Year in review:

Spiritual work and growth: This is the most important aspect of my life. My walk with God defines the outcomes I experience in life. I set goals in this area all the time, but each new year, it takes a different shape. This year, my focus was on listening better and while I could have spent more time listening to Him, I did a better job of opening my heart to receive from Him in specific ways.

Relationships: I made a commitment this year to grow the relationships with those closest to me by spending more time with friends and family and creating more experiences with them. I went out with friends more than I'd done before (with my mask, of course) and spent more hours catching up with my loved ones.

My health goals: I have one note under this section in my journal; it's "Moot!". I was yoyo-ing in this area this year, but I don't feel bad; the new year is a refreshed chance to make better choices.

My finances: This was a big goal for me this year. I set the intention to save more money and invest in myself (training, books, etc.). I was able to do better than last year, but there's still room for improvement.

Expressions of purpose (including my career): This is one of the ones I'm actually proud of - I set goals to volunteer in specific ways, and I did so! Not a goal per se - but I was promoted this year, and I think it's a result of the ways I worked around this area.

Learning goals: I work with a lot of people at this point, and I wanted to continue learning from them, so I took notes more often and asked questions when I got the chance from mentors around me. While reading books was one area where I didn't do as well - the intention is still there! I hope I do better next year.

In 2022, I plan on doing a review every quarter(ish) as I did this year. Will this help me achieve all my goals? I'm really confident it will, but if not, I'll be able to (at least) track my progress and make necessary adjustments along the way. I also plan to add a "fun" category to my goals list - it'll serve as a reminder to rest and refresh when I need to. What's life without fun?