This is the time of year that everyone is posting things they learned and accomplished in 2016, and while I want to jump on that bandwagon and write SOME kind of conclusion to that hell of a year, I feel like it’s kind of amazing to me how much I DIDN’T accomplish in 2016 that I set out to.
2016 was a very strange year for me. I had so many highs and did so many fun and amazing things, but there were also some very extreme lows, not just personally but on a global level. That’s probably why it’s so easy for me to see clearly what I didn’t do that I meant to, how many things I let slip through the cracks. A lot of my goals were simply too lofty for me to complete – I’m a big-time dreamer, but a lot of times I forget about the little things and the whole operation falls apart. Other goals I just got lazy with, quite frankly, or pushed aside in favor of other things.
I’m not sharing this to be hard on myself. Actually the opposite – I think it’s important to look back on our failures and learn from them (and in some cases, laugh at what I thought was feasible while working full-time and traveling practically every weekend and also trying to have a social life every once in a while.) It’s hard to build a blog and a business and still be a functional human and honestly, truly, sometimes you just have to let a goal go for the time being rather than let every other area of your life suffer in order to achieve it. So without further ado, here are all of the goals I set in my personal and professional life that I DIDN’T meet in 2016!
Things I Dropped the Ball On in 2016:
- weight loss (in fact, I met my weight loss goal and then gained it all back. Whoops.)
- reading 20 books (after spending all day everyday reading work stuff, it just wasn’t that appealing to read even more afterwards. I read a lot of blogs, does that count?)
- write both a novel and an eBook (I did neither)
- send out a newsletter every week (LOL)
- starting a YouTube channel
- tarot readings (did you guys even know that I sell those? my advertising strategy kinda sucks.)
- blogging twice a week (try “once a week maybe if I remember”)
- visiting Seattle
- going to a blogging conference
- meditating every day (unless naps count)
- yoga every day (unless stretching to reach the peanut butter on the top shelf counts)
- going all-out for the Sabbats (I nailed Beltane and Mabon though!)
- having a savings account (no comment)
It’s easy to see a huge list of failures and feel a little defeated. But there were good times, too!
Things I Nailed in 2016:
- road tripping all over the Midwest
- moving out of my parents’ house and into a perfect apartment, and my boyfriend moving in with me a few months after that
- launching my first e-course, and then another one later in the year (!)
- dyeing my hair BLONDE (a lifelong dream) and then discovering red is my best color after all
- growing my Instagram from 0 in January to almost 2k followers now (THANK YOU, everyone!!)
- writing my first guest post
- making so many amazing friends
- landing my first freelance writing job
- starting a book club despite my social anxiety
- successfully switching from Blogger to WordPress through blood, sweat, and tears
- sticking with this blog for a WHOLE YEAR despite everything else going on in my life
- connecting with YOU, who is reading this RIGHT NOW
The moral of the story is that you can’t measure a year by what you did or did not accomplish. It’s both of those and more – the things you accomplished but felt bad about, the things you let slide but realized you were better off without, the goals you set but then laughed about later and the achievements you made that you didn’t expect at all.
If you’re looking at all of those 2016 reflection posts and feeling bummed that you didn’t achieve your goals, don’t. Don’t beat yourself up about what you meant to achieve last year but didn’t. Look at all of the marvelous things that happened to you anyway!
Happy New Year. Let’s kick some buns in 2017. ♥ What do you want to accomplish this year? Let me know in the comments!
Sounds like you had a pretty kickass year after all! I have some business and personal things I want to accomplish this coming year, but I think if I can survive with my mental health intact I’ll call it good enough. 😛
That’s always the main goal, isn’t it? <3 I believe in you!! Let's rock this year!
Dana! Sounds like you had an rollercoaster of a year – all too familiar. I think 2016 was a rocky one for a lot of us. A lot of really, really high points and a lot of major, head-spinning crashes. Nothing a little magick and yoga can’t get us through though, am I right?
I missed you, girl – sorry to have been MIA the past few months. Got swept up in a new and unexpected relationship… but starting 2017 off fresh and determined (and single).
I was actually JUST going to email and ask how you were!! I’m sorry to hear the relationship didn’t work out </3 I'm so looking forward to seeing your blog posts again in 2017! I hope it'll be a much better (and more stable) year for all of us!