Last year I set myself a few life goals and whilst I didn't do too badly, I did not do anywhere near as well as I wanted to, this year I have some different goals and a continuation of some of the same ones. Let’s see how this year plays out.
So how did I do at last years goals? Here is a run-down:
Reach target weight of 155lbs: Semi-failed Annoyingly I'm only about 2lb lighter than this time last year, however I am quite considerably thinner as I've managed to replace a fair amount of the fat with muscle. I'm still no where near the fitness level I want to be though and although I am thinner, I'm still a big lad and I’d like that to change.
Attend martial arts classes: Technical **Success** I DID attend a martial arts class, I went for about three months until the cost became prohibitive. However it did become almost enjoyable. I probably won’t attend another class this year as I intend to focus more on body toning than weight loss and I feel that the gym will be more than enough for that.
Set up a sustainable recycling system: Success and fail at the same time My system is not much different than it was last year, I've added an extra bin for compost-able waste but that’s about it. However I've gotten a lot better at organising it, each bin has a different place in the kitchen now and I manage it quite well.
Get a hidden litter tray for puddles (My Cat): Success due to moving the goal-posts. The original intention was to get a hidden litter tray, however I instead managed to find one which was REALLY easy to maintain, whilst it’s not hidden, it looks a lot tidier than the old one I had and it never smells.
Buy some plants: Success I now have a mini herb garden on my windowsill which I manage to kill completely every few months, however the plants are cheap and easy to replace so I still count it as a win.
Buy new shelves: Success I now have some really nice ‘Billy bookcase’ shelves from Ikea which have solved my storage problem and then some.
Find a way to make more space and I want a new desk: Success I worked out that I never use my kitchen table so I converted it into a desk which freed up a lot of space in my flat, I am about to move though and I can’t take the table with me so both of these points are now moot.
Attend at least two college courses: Utter Failure I stopped attending the one course I was on and never picked another up. However again, the goals changed a little here, once my course finished myself and a few friends on that course decided to start our own writing group which has proven to be of great value to me.
Read one book per week : Close but no cigar I have managed about two books per month, however I've been reading some quite long books this year (including some very difficult reads) so I still consider this a reasonable achievement.
Finish either Emily Bell, The Ghost of you or preferably; both: Fail I've been terrible at writing this year, the first half I did really well and made some great progress, I wrote a short story called Harry’s Song which is the first story I've ever managed to finish, however I've not written anything on my novels since September. This will change in 2013 though.
Learn to Drive: Complete and total failure I never made any progress on this goal at all.
Begin learning an instrument: Technical success. I bought a ukulele and inherited an electric keyboard. I did begin to start playing the former but I'm still terrible and I've not touched it in months.
So I didn't do TERRIBLY but I made no where near as much progress I wanted to. I'll be making a new goals list soon so let's see how I do this year!