What a year, am I right? Frankly, I think I speak for every person alive when I say that I’ll be happy to close the door on 2020 once and for all. Between the pandemic and the election and the wave of racial justice/anti-police brutality protests, it was a struggle to find the energy or motivation to do anything, much less tackle big, important projects or personal changes. Still, if there was ever a year for celebrating the smallest of successes–and surviving this twelve month long dumpster fire totally counts–it’s this one.
With that said, here’s a brief rundown of how this year’s resolutions turned out:
- Stick to my bedtime routine and assigned bedtimes 80% of the time during all twelve months of this year.
As a friend–or perhaps a meme–joked earlier this year, “Sleep? In this economy?” I use a habit tracker to keep track of how well (or how poorly) I’m doing at getting to bed on time, and the only month where I managed to claw my way past that 80% metric was April. I crept over the 70% threshold in February, March, and July, but otherwise I was never even close. Sad to say this is one of those resolutions that will likely carry over into the new year.
2. Pick up my guitar again and stick with it this time.
Success! Teaching myself to play a new instrument turned out to be a perfect way to pass the time while social distancing and stuck at home, and gave me a hobby that (more or less) doesn’t involve the computer. I do roughly follow the structure of Justin Guitar’s lessons, but most of my practice sessions just involved me, my guitar, occasionally a timer or metronome, and a lot of slow, repetitive work at getting the chords and strumming rhythms under my fingers. I’m definitely planning to continue learning guitar in 2021, because I’ve really missed making music.
3. Find a regular, enjoyable social outlet BEFORE I move.
Apparently it’s hard to find new social outlets when you’re stuck at home and unable to go anywhere or do much of anything safely because there’s a pandemic happening. Who knew? Not me before this year, that’s for sure.
And here’s how this year’s business plan (the goals I set for myself specifically to further my writing career) turned out:
- Complete the first draft and first solo revision pass of my Web Girl Vigilantes manuscript. Hand the manuscript off to my CPs for additional feedback and begin a second revision pass of my own before September.
I finished the first draft of this manuscript in late February, and I’ve spent the rest of this year chipping away at the first revision pass. Although I can blame my circumstances a bit for my slow progress, the reality is that this was never a realistic goal for me to have set for myself, and I figured it out way too late. I have made good progress on my first revision pass though, and I’m super proud of the shape that my manuscript is taking. I’m aiming to finish my first revision, get this manuscript off to my CPs, and dive into my second pass next year.
2. Write and submit 2-3 nonfiction articles to various websites, magazines, or publications.
I pitched two nonfiction articles in March and April of this year, before accepting that nonfiction writing isn’t part of the creative season I’m in. Still pleased that I managed to meet this goal though.
3. Submit my completed short fiction works to 20-25 different publications this year.
I actually submitted four short fiction pieces to 23 publications this year. None of them have found their publishing homes yet, but I did manage to get two personal rejections after revising a spooky short story that I’m still really proud of. Although I met this goal too, I’m not planning to devote any more time or energy to shopping my short fiction around in 2021 unless some excellent opportunities come up. I do still have five publications I’m waiting on answers from, so I’m hoping I might yet get lucky with one of those.
Resolutions and business plan aside, I also:
Moved twice, including once during the pandemic
Managed to get mine and my husband’s deposit back in FULL from our shitty former landlord
Switched my old WordPress website to this brand new, self-hosted site
Joined Instagram
Started hiking more regularly and hiked in three new-to-me places in my state
Started baking more regularly
Completed seven drawings
Took one socially distanced trip to Wisconsin’s north woods this fall
Wrote letters to voters, gave money to a senate candidate in my state who I supported, and voted
A final note: If you spent most of this year struggling and stressing and spinning your wheels and all your January goals and good intentions went out the window, you have nothing to feel bad about. We all have the opportunity to leave the past in the past and start fresh in the new year ahead.
Did you accomplish any of your goals or resolutions for 2020? What did you do that you’re most proud of? Let me know in the comments!