There was a coup yesterday. A literal coup…..and I don’t know how to describe how I feel right now. It’s not even the symbolism of the Capitol being broken into. It’s just…..people of color have always known this country is racist. Like…we grew up knowing that. But being blatantly shown that your country doesn’t care about you if you aren’t white (or Christian for that matter because there was a lot of antisemitism displayed yesterday that isn’t being talked about) is quite disheartening. I dunno. I’m not surprised, but it’s really sad that I’m not surprised.
Anyway, I wrote this post a few days ago. I thought I’d just add this intro. Here’s the actual intro:
Hello, lovelies! Today, I’m going to share how I did on my 2020 goals. I had to pivot most of my goals when quarantine started, so these aren’t the original goals I set last January. I changed them last summer, so this is what I’ve been working on the past six months. I hope you enjoy.
Previous Installments:
//Prepare For Life After Quarantine
Because I was lucky enough to have the ability to postpone working somewhere in-person, I wanted to spend quarantine doing things to help with my future career. For starters, I updated my resume and prepped for filling out job applications this year. I also last minute took the GRE, applied to graduate school and was accepted, so I’ve been doing that these past few months. I’ve also completed a 40-hour training course, which will help me in the long run.
When I set this goal, I was specifically thinking about practical career-related things, but even being able to sleep in and pursue hobbies in my free-time will help me post-quarantine, as well. I’m a very go-go-go person. I had so many fun activities and trips planned post-grad that I had to cancel, but having permission to rest and not feel the need to do things all the time was good for me.
//Get A Job Where You Can Work Online
This one is complete. I did this in September I think. I was self-employed all of college. Despite what many think, there isn’t a lot of money in being self-employed. Particularly in the beginning (and the taxes are nightmares), but after four years of doing it, I had really hit my stride. January through March were some of the best months in my business since I started it and I was excited about where it was going in 2020. Unfortunately, I had to stop working during quarantine and pretty much lived off of my savings for six months. I’m glad that I’m a chronic saver because I had more than enough savings to cover things like health insurance and application fees. I also live at home, so I didn’t have to stress too much, especially since my dad was able to work online all year. I got lucky. Now that I have a job I can do online, I plan on doing that at the beginning of 2021 until I start applying to other jobs.
//Completely Declutter My Bedroom
Complete! I am so happy about this. I decluttered most of my stuff over the summer and deep cleaned my room in December. I washed my curtains, reorganized my bookshelf, added drawers in my closet so that I would stop dumping clothes on the floor. I’m really happy about it. Decluttering last summer really helped me get my life together once college ended. Having a consistently clean room made quarantine slightly more bearable. I would like to post a room tour at some point in the next six months because my childhood bedroom is very fun and colorful. I always had so much trouble finding ideas on Pinterest because I’m not into the minimalist aesthetic, so it took a lot of work to decorate it this much over the years. Anyway, it’s very clean now, which was a nice way to enter this new year.
//Get Financial Life Together
This meant something completely different six months ago compared to what it means now. The specific goals I set for this were to have an income again and get a second credit card to build my credit score. I managed to complete both of these goals. To preface this, I don’t have any credit card debt. It’s just good to have multiple lines of credit open earlier because it helps your credit score in the long run. This was just one of those financial goals that I knew I had the ability to reach in quarantine. (Remember to pay off your balance in full every month if you have one).
Related – 5 Things I Did To Get a 750+ Credit Score In College
//Create A Balanced Routine At Home
When I set this goal in June, my routine was all over the place. Once college classes ended in May, my days were completely mine, except I had nothing I needed to do. The end of the week would come and I genuinely couldn’t remember what I did. Writing everything down helped a lot. It made life seem less aimless. My goal planner has a calendar I don’t use, so I would write all the things I did each day so that I knew I accomplished something by the end of the week. I still do this even now.
I have semi-fixed my sleep schedule. It gets messed up from time to time, but it’s not nearly as ridiculous as before. I experience significantly more daylight now. I made it a part of my morning routine to work out and read for an hour. I don’t hit both every morning, but doing this has helped a lot. I feel like I’ve at least done something by the end of the day. I get my school work done, I talk with my friends on the phone, I watch lots of movies. My days don’t feel as aimless even though I’m doing the same as before because rather than passing time, there’s some intention behind my actions.
//Work Out For 30-Minutes Every Day
I knocked this goal completely out of the park. I used to despise working out at home and now, it’s one of the highlights of my day. It just gives me so much energy and has kept my mental health in check throughout quarantine. I slowly started building up my endurance again (mostly mental endurance because I would stop when I got bored) and found YouTube workouts that I actually enjoyed doing. Daily exercise was a huge win in 2020.
//Organize & Update Blog
Yeah…no. I organized the menu, but this blog was the last thing on my mind in 2020. I just had other priorities.
//Finish Unread Books On Bookshelf
Complete! This is the only original goal I kept from 2020, and I finished it. I didn’t have many unread books on my bookshelf to begin with, but the ones I did have had been staring at me for at least a year. Not being able to go to the library certainly helped me accomplish this goal, but I still didn’t complete the goal till December. Some of the unread books ended up on my favorites list 🙂 I’ve officially run out of physical books to read, so I had all my friends bring some for me to borrow. Now I have many books to dive into for 2021.
I had a minor reading goal of reading 12 classics again, but I didn’t get through the list I made at the beginning of this year. I’m still proud of myself because the four classics I read were the longest and most intimidating of the books I picked in January (Little Women, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Count Of Monte Cristo, and Dune). I’d still call this a win.
Well, that’s how I did on my refreshed 2020 goals. Last year was not at all what I expected, but I got what I wanted to get done during quarantine. Until next time!
I’d Appreciate Your Support Of This Blog By Following Me On: