At the start of every year, I like to set myself five loose goals and this is something that I’ve done on my blog (and in real life) for a good few years now. I also usually come back to my blog at the halfway point and talk about how I’ve been getting on, but guess what, I completely forgot to do that this year. So here I am, about a month late, telling you about how I’m doing with my personal 2021 goals.
In previous years, I’ve been kind of harsh on myself with my goals, so for 2021, I made a conscious decision to make my goals a bit more bitesize and less self-deprecating. I’m not about ‘lose 100 stone by summer’ or anything like that. I need goals that feel easy to achieve and have a clear path to being successful in it. So without further ado, let’s have a look and see how I’m getting on.
1. Establish myself as a knowledgeable Teesside advocate
I actually think I’m doing really well with this. My blog has gone a little quiet lately, mainly because I’m just constantly so busy and I need to make the time to sit down and write, but I’ve managed to get my Indie Tees Collective post up every week, come up with some cool Teesside-themed list posts (like this one about Teesside dog-friendly pubs), and work with some major Tees players, like Enjoy Tees Valley. People have also started messaging me for recommendations and to ask questions, so it feels like I’m really coming across as a passionate Tees fan!
2. Keep going to the gym at least 3 times a week
Well this took a nosedive really hard. At the time of writing these goals, we were in a good routine and enjoying it, but bloomin’ covid threw a spanner in the works. Everything shut up shop again, so we couldn’t go, we tried to get back to the routine, but with Matthew’s working patterns shifting, it was all a mess. And then to top it all off, we’ve actually had covid, so to cut a long story short, we need to get back to the gym routine.
3. Visit more of the UK
Yet again, covid has played a bit of a part in the failure of this goal, but I’m hoping that the second half of the year is going to be a bit better. We’ve booked to go up to Edinburgh, which I know is a common trip to have, but listen, we need to get away! We’re also doing a bit of glamping near Carlisle in September, which will be a new area for both of us, so I’m still keen to achieve this goal.
4. Learn how to budget properly and increase my savings
What’s interesting about this goal is at the time of coming up with it, I didn’t know that I’d start writing for finance clients and writing blog posts about how to budget on the regular. Do you think that this helped me to become better at budgeting? Definitely not! But what has helped is having a fella who is super on top of bills, rent and all that boring stuff, so I know exactly how much is coming out of my account each month, how much we would typically spend on groceries, and how much I’d have to play with. My savings are looking really good, and I’m so proud of myself!
5. Work on my Pinterest and Instagram game
I still get great traffic from Pinterest, so I ought to put more time into it, but it’s sort of fallen by the wayside for me a bit. Instagram, on the other hand, has become a slight obsession… in a good way, of course. But instead of really grafting on my Insta game, I’ve sort of just been going with flow and staying authentic. My photos aren’t as mega polished, I’m really letting my Tees show in my stories, and I’m just having fun with it. Just the other day, I hit 4,000 followers, which is huge for me! I never thought I’d hit 1,000, let alone 4,000!
I’ll be honest, I think I could do some work on a couple of these goals, like the gym one and exploring the UK a bit more, but I’m hoping to get on track with these last few months of the year. Writing this post has spurred me on to try a bit harder, so come December, when I write my goals for 2022 (that year doesn’t even sound real!), I’ll have some good progress to share with you all.
Did you set yourself some goals for 2021? How are you getting on with them?
