2020 Recap and 2021 Look Ahead

I feel very suspicious of this new year, and hopefully I'm not alone in this. I want to be all "new year, fresh start, thank God 2020 is over", but I can't help wondering if 2021 is going to be worse. But come what may, I am striving to trust in God and His sovereign plan.

Now, who's ready to see how well I did on last years goals? Let's dive into it. And if you read to the end, I have a survey I'd love you to take.

2020

In My Life

*laughs hysterically* Lock downs. My first jury duty. Losing my job for 3 months. Not getting to see my grandparents without social distancing. In many ways, 2020 sucked. I don't need to tell you that. We all have our own list of bad things from this year.

But there were good things too. John Krasinki's Some Good News. Finding a new job away from the place that was crushing my soul. Getting to travel to Virginia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. My brother graduating high school.

Through it all, I have seen God's hand at work. My dad had work all through lockdown. God provided every need. He kept us safe and was my rock and strength when I couldn't handle things on my own. 2020 might have changed all of our lives, but God is still in control.

Goals

Personal

Word of the Year: Strong

I'm not sure how I did on this word. I myself felt quite weak this year. But I think that was a good thing. Instead, I learned more on how to be dependent on the real strength in my life- the Lord.

• Grow in my relationship with God. ✅

The Christian walk isn't easy to track. Some days, I felt so close to God. Other days I felt like I was too far away from God. But I hope in the end I have learned things from this year that will help me the rest of my life.

• Do splits on both sides and handstand. ✅ ❌

I have my right splits pretty much flat. My left splits are getting close, but not quite there yet. As for my handstand, I did work on it somewhat, but not as much as I would have liked.

• Travel more. ✅

I think, in spite of everything, I did do this. I went to three different states, even if that's about the only traveling we were able to do. Still, I got to go places I hadn't before and that's always a good experience.

• Take a dance class. ❌

This was kind of more of a want than a goal, and I did not get to it. I did find I enjoy dance workouts, however.

Writing

• Start querying. ❌

This has been on my goals list for a few years now and I still didn't accomplish it this year. I still didn't feel ready, and I want to be able to present agents with my best work.

• Edit New Magic/Missing Magic. ✅

I finished another round of edits on New Magic and then found out I had to completely redraft Missing Magic, now named Lost Magic. LM still needs a lot of work, but I'm glad I started exploring other paths for it.

• Edit a second novel. ✅

While I rested Lost Magic, I got a little caught up in editing Horsemen and Hollows. I made a lot of progress there and enjoyed revisiting my one "scary" story.

• Draft 1 novel. ✅

I drafted Lost Girls for this NaNoWriMo. It was also kind of different from anything I've written, and it needs a lot of work, but it was fun.

• Practice writing more. ❌

I would say I didn't do this. I did try some new things, but I didn't make any intentional practice like I thought I would.

Reading

• Read 100 books. ❌

I really wanted to do this, but I got bogged down at the end of summer/early fall, and was only able to read 90 books. I still think that's good, but I wish I could have hit 100.

• Read 5 non-fiction. ❌

I read three, and started a fourth. If I had been more intentional about finding them, I probably could have done more.

• Read 10 classics. ✅

I did read ten classics, which I'm pretty proud of. I started my Lord of the Rings re-read, and finished the rest of Jane Austen novels.

Blog

• Reach 250 Instagram followers. ❌

At the end of the year, I was at 227 followers. I was just happy to hit 200 this year, so while I didn't reach my goal, I feel content with what I did accomplish.

• Start a newsletter. ✅

This is one of my biggest accomplishments this year. I finally started my newsletter. If you'd like to sign up to get it, and receive an awesome short story, you can do so in the sidebar 😉.

• Have 50 Twitter followers. ❌

I have continued to be inconsistent on Twitter (especially with all the hate and negativity this year) so I still haven't hit fifty. But I'm okay with that.

2021

Personal

Word of the Year: Submit

One of my big struggles is submitting myself to others. I have a hard time letting go and admitting that I can't do something. This year, I want to be more intentional about submitting myself, my time, and my talents to God.

• Cultivate a healthier lifestyle.

I'm not promising any big changes here. I just want to work on eating a little healthier, prioritizing my physical health, and trying to get good sleep. I know I'll make more progress if I work on it bit by bit rather than trying to make giant changes.

• Create art more consistently.

I started off last year with a lot of art, but it was one of things that fell aside as the year went by. I have a lot of art I want to do, so I want to work to get it done.

• Practice handstand and splits.

Will I get further than I did this year? I hope so. But if I don't, I'm okay with that too. As long as I work on them.

Writing

• Query for an agent.

This is going to be one of my top priorities this year. It scares me, but if I want to be a published author, this a hurdle I have to face.

• Edit Wonderland trilogy.

I hope to start work on book three by the end of the year, but editing is such an ambiguous process, and book two needs so much work, I don't know what will happen.

• Write 2 short stories.

Short stories are how I practice different styles and ideas. So I'd love to write two or more short stories this year.

Reading

• Read 100 books.

I hope I can reach that this year. Falling ten books short is so annoying.

• Read 5 non-fiction books.

I want to continue working on books that are harder for me, like non-fiction. Plus, you can learn awesome things from them.

• Read all the unread books I own.

This might be a bit ambitious, but I'd love to read all the books on my shelves that I haven't yet. Not all of them are mine, but there are a lot of good ones there.

• Read 20 books from my Goodreads "to-read" shelf.

I plan to pre-pick these and hopefully work through them. Another rather large goal, but I thought it would be fun and give me a list to work on.

Blogging

• Get 25 newsletter subscribers.

I also need to decide more of a direction for my newsletter, but I hope to grow that list a lot this year.

• Share quality content.

Not a super concrete goal, but I want to remind myself to create things that are high quality and meaningful. Not everything has to be this way, but I don't want to make everything just to put something out there.

If you've made it this far, I'd love if you'd take this quick survey. It has eight questions that will help me in planning the next year for this blog. Thank you in advance.

What's one good thing that happened to you in 2020? What's one goal you have for 2021? Tell me in the comments.

Suggested Posts:

2019 Recap and 2020 Look Ahead

My Favorite Reads of 2020. . .The Second Part