2020 Goals Review

As has now become my custom, I set myself some personal goals for 2020. After mixed success in 2019 I realised it was no good being too hard and fast with them, but instead look for some kind of progression. So how did it go.

One. My podcast dream went nowhere. It remains the single biggest failure. I would have been happy if I’d got somewhere with my writing, but unfortunately life just keep getting in the way. I haven’t set any goals for 2021 yet, but I think it may be a make-or-break year. I have no shortage of ideas, I’m not blocked, I just either struggle to find the time to work on this project, or when I do have time, I’m so intellectually fatigued from day-to-day exertions that I struggle to motivate myself.

Two. Improve physical strength and fitness. This has generally been a success. I’ve been using my home weights set regularly, the pandemic prevented me from picking up additional weight plates, but I added a resistance band and I upped the reps on the exercises and I’ve definitely added some muscle. A sign of my progress is that I can do 50 sit-ups holding a 15kg dumbbell and 20 press-ups, where before I had to kneel when doing press-ups. I didn’t manage to run 10k, but I did get up to 7k, and I set a personal best of 35 minutes 36 seconds for the 5k, and I have been running regularly week in week out despite carrying a long-term knee injury.

Three. Stabilise my weight at 100kg. This didn’t happen. My final weigh in of 2020 was 106kg, which was 1kg heavier than the end of 2019. Although, I did manage to get down to 104kg early in the year the first lockdown disrupted my weight loss routine, and for most of the year my weight fluctuated between 106kg and 108kg (it’s currently 107kg).  Given the challenges of the pandemic I’m not too disheartened, it would have been tragic if I’d seen major weight gain, as it is my weight is as low as it has been for over fifteen years and some of the gain has definitely been muscle.

Four. Improve my technical knowledge. This is a funny one. I’ve definitely made progress here, but not necessarily in the areas I’d hoped. I’ve been involved in some technically challenging projects and learned new skills, but I haven’t mastered some of the skills I’d hope to, but I’m on the right track and what I’ve delivered has been rewarding professionally and financially.