2020 by the numbers: Review

2021-01-03

I found setting top-line year-long goals really motivating. This was the first year where I used number-based goals, and it really clicked with how I get motivated. I thought of these goals as setting the guardrails to direct what progress I want to make for the year, and found that this test run performed pretty well. I didn’t go in expecting 100%, and I’m fairly happy with 80%. I’m hoping to expand this “New Year’s Resolution” style of goal setting in 2021.

2020 by 12 numbers:

~~25 new books read out of 25~~
- I thought I had completed this in early December, but it turns out that somehow Mrs. Dalloway had been counted twice! I realized later in the month with only a week or two left, but thankfully Elizabeth Warren’s A Fighting Chance was an engaging read which made hitting 25 in crunch time not so bad.
535 out of 400 miles ran
- I wrote about this in a blog post here.
12 out of 90 visits to the gym
- With COVID-19 forcing gyms to close, and personally not wanting to go back for some time, I came up way short on this goal. I bought a kettlebell, which is about the only piece of exercise equipment I could git in my apartment (and the only thing I could get my hands on regardless), but it’s not the same. Really looking forward to lifting more at some point in this next year.
~~1 month without alcohol~~
~~24 out of 15 new blogs posted~~
~~40 out of 40 new meals cooked~~
- This was really fun. More cooking than I’ve pretty much done ever. It went from a chore to a fun activity for me.
1520 out of 1500 peak lichess score
~~10 out of 10 toastmaster speeches~~
- This really pushed my involvement with Toastmasters and made me get much more engaged with the club, which I was really happy about.
~~Tracking for > 33% savings rate~~
123 out of 120 new albums listened to
- You can see the list here. I was thankful for the recommendations everyone gave me, it certainly broadened what I listened to.
~~40 out of 40 new movies watched~~
- This was a race to the finish, but this was fun. I got to make time for a lot of classics that I probably wouldn’t have watched otherwise.
20 out of 366 meditation sessions 😞
- This is all on me. Perhaps a little too ambitious to have a meditation session every day? But I didn’t even come close…