Welcome to 2021... we made it through 2020 but like most people, I'm not quite ready to get too excited about this year until I get to see a little bit more!

I haven't purchased my usual desk planner or even a diary of any kind, simply because I have no idea if it's going to be necessary!! We work using Google Calendar, so my whole life ends up there first anyway. 

I go back to work on Thursday, so a trip to Officeworks will no doubt be in my future - even though I don't REALLY need any new stationery, I can't quite get used to a new 'academic' year without the new stationery to go with it! So I'll probably grab myself a planner of some sort then!

Anyway, the real reason for this blog is to share my 2021 goals with you... note, goals - not resolutions! These aren't things that I am just bringing about because it's the first of January. These are outcomes that I am wanting to check off after the first 90 days of 2021. Last year I wrote yearly goals and due to the changes that took place, some of them were somewhat unachievable.

I like the idea of 90 day goals - this means that after the first 90 days of the year I can reassess where I'm at and then come up with a new set of goals. I don't really think I'm very good at actually writing goals, so doing it 4 times throughout 2021 will hopefully help me get better at it (or at least trust myself more that I'm doing a good job!). 

I found it easier to achieve my 2020 goals by having a 'how' sheet that went alongside my goals. This broke down each of my goals into achievable steps to help me achieve the bigger goal. 

These will both be printed out and stuck above my desk so I see them every day at work. I might also make some visual representations of each goal to display around my office as well. The more you see and read your goals, the more your subconscious will help you to achieve them.  

Lastly, to finish today's blog... I wanted to share my 'one word' for 2021. In 2020, after I had written my goals, I decided that my one word was going to be GROW. I was working towards growing myself in the gym, helping to grow EP Science and growing my relationships - all of which I am happy to report that I achieved.

In 2021, I have decided that my word is going to be MORE - more love, more listening, more movement, more whole-foods, more consistency, more reading, more learning, more of all the good stuff :) 

Well... here we are!

It's been a hot minute since I blogged last. Somehow I feel like I say that every time I start a new post. I did really well throughout January - 22 posts, one a day - but then work got crazy busy again and that all went out the window.

Anyway... December 30th, 2020. What. A. Year - and as everyone keeps reminding me, it ain't over yet!! With the calendar year coming to a close tomorrow I thought it best I reflect on my 2020 goals before I spend time over the next couple of days writing new ones for 2021 

The image above consists of my 2020 goals that were written on December 31st, 2019. After a goal setting session with my coach and the other girls in the program I am working with him in, 'The Minimalist Method', we were given the task to write a set of goals for four different pillars. I chose to display mine above my computer so that I could see them every day when I was at work.

I also wrote about my goals in this post so that I had shared them with others. One thing I have learnt about goals is that sharing them helps them to become 'more real' and you are also able to have others help you to be accountable for them. Another great thing about sharing your goals is that you may find others who are out there who are either working towards the same goal or have recently achieved this goal who can support you!

Another important thing about goals is being able to reflect on them and see how you went - which is the point of this blog. The four pillars that we were asked to write goals around included Career/Business, Relationships/Spirituality, Growth/Mindset and Body/Strength/Progress. Looking back, I am happy to report that I have been able to smash a number of these goals... but others I've dropped the ball on, but that's totally fine!!

So here. are my goals and my reflection on how I went with them this year:

I'm going to start with the ​Career/Business pillar as this is one that I feel that I did great in this year: 
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• Meet new Science revenue targets - in 2020 I was able to help EP secure it's first government contract. As a result, we will be providing EP Science to every Year 7-10 student in Victoria for the next few years! 
• Meet churn target - throughout the year I've been in touch with many teachers to gather feedback on EP Science to make sure that we are offering the best possible resource. I am unsure what my churn % is just yet as it's not finalised until invoicing season is over!
• Increased engagement with customers - one of my 'subgoals' for this overall goal was to blog every day - well we've already established that this didn't happen!! Also, conferences were cancelled due to COVID and we weren't able to hold networking events, but we were able to pivot and run a huge number of webinars and online sessions with teachers which helped to keep the level of engagement up
• Build Content for the platform - this year I wrote 6 (I think it was?!) Science News lessons that are live on our EP platform. The lesson I wrote about COVID has been completed by over 20 thousand students and our Languages team translated it into a number of different languages!!
• Learn more about the business side of the company - I have definitely learnt more about EP as a whole, however, I haven't completed any courses like I would have liked to. 

​The next pillar I thought I'd discuss is the Body/Strength/Progress one, another one I feel like I did extremely well with this year!!

• Close my rings every day - when I close them today and tomorrow, it will be all 366 days with all 3 rings closed!
• Complete all my monthly Apple Watch challenges - I ended up with 7/12. Some of them this year were insanely unrealistic! I made the decision not to complete some of them for my own mental health more than anything!!
• Drink 2-3L of water a day - done :) 
• Hit weekly calorie, protein & fibre goals - this was awesome until December! HAHA
• Build my strength back up and then increase as the year progresses - once I got the all clear from my physio I was back in the gym and working on my strength. I didn't miss a resistance session during lockdown - exercise really helped me get through those long days at home! I came about 2kg off my goal of body weight squats, was able to complete a series of double bodyweight hip thrusts and I'm still working on one unassisted pull up! Injuries have been niggling here and there throughout the year, but I have been working with an awesome physio! 

Pillar 3 to look at is Growth/Mindset

• Read more, scroll less - I may not have read for 20 minutes EVERY day, but I read 15 books of varying lengths and styles including books for self-development and enjoyment
• Sleep 7-9 hours per night - done :) 
• Less take away, more eating at home - this year we explored cooking at home a lot more, I guess thanks to COVID! We explored Hello Fresh and Marley Spoon and I also learnt a lot about nutrition and food that helps me feel good! We still enjoy probably too much take away, but you get that!!
• Be totally OK with the fact I’m turning 40 this year!! - so the big 4-0 came and went with nothing really mind-blowing apart from a small family gathering at home on a day where we had a huge storm and the weather was shit :P 

The last pillar was Relationships/Spirituality and the one where I didn't get to achieve as much I'd like to due to COVID more than anything I guess... 

• Date day/night with hubby once a month - well nope, this didn't happen! But there's always 2021!
• Take my Nan out once a month - we got one outing before she was put into lockdown and I got one visit before the shit hit the fan again! 
• Make the effort to connect with colleagues face to face -  this I was able to do - but it was more via Zoom than face to face than I would have liked!! We made a much bigger effort once restrictions were eased, but we also caught up every day on Slack & Zoom to make sure that everyone was doing ok!
• Reach out to friends & family - again - not so good in this one. No footy games meant I rarely got to see my 'footy fam', Christmas Day restrictions meant that I didn't get to host Christmas Day... but I tried a number of different ways to connect with people via Zoom, Messenger etc!!

So... all in all, looking back 2020 was actually a really decent year for me - despite all of the 'shitstorm' that it turned out to be globally. I look forward to spending some time writing my 2021 goals and being flexible enough to pivot with them if need be... if things don't return to 'normal'!