2019 vs 2020

| Posted by Victoria Lee

Looking back

2019 is over, and as we have all heard about a hundred times by now, it’s the end of the decade. This year was a big one for me. My debut novel got published, I finished a sequel, I finished another book, traveled a lot, and started wrapping up the final year of grad school.

After 2018, I posted my recap of the year and my goals for the coming year. Following in that tradition, I’m back to see how well I did (or didn’t do)!

2019: achievements and failures

Personal Care

  1. Skincare 2x daily
  2. Use whitening strips or charcoal toothpaste – learned that charcoal toothpaste is bad for you, so failed

Self-Improvement

  1. Go to muay thai 4-6 times a week
  2. Maintain a healthy weight
  3. Eat a balanced diet with sweets in moderation
  4. Spend less than $xx extra money a month (trying this again!)
  5. Drink in moderation (cutting down to 3-5 drinks a week)
  6. Anxiety: focus on letting go of things you can’t control
  7. Be bold, take calculated risks professionally and socially
  8. Be comfortable confronting people who violate boundaries.
  9. Say “yes” to all social invitations (unless previous plans or sick).
  10. At least five good deeds

Social and Cultural

  1. Read at least five literary/classic novels by women or POC.
  2. Watch at least five classic films. – failed, but I don’t watch many movies in general
  3. Read 50 books
  4. Do something political every month (call reps, protest, write letter to editor, etc) – sadly, failed

Creative

  1. Write a new book.
  2. Revise the new book.
  3. Submit the new book.
  4. Write 1000 words a day on average (more achievable than my last version!)
  5. Post to instagram daily – lmao failed

Academic

  1. Comprehensive exams
  2. Propose my dissertation
  3. Submit four new papers. – I got three!
  4. Apply for postdoc funding
  5. Submit that Scientific American invited article

Wow, I’m surprised by how much I actually got done this year. Good for me, I guess?

One goal I hadn’t posted on my blog at the time, but was on my private goal sheet, was “come out to my parents as bigender.” I also accomplished this. And to my surprise…they were incredibly supportive.

You can read my coming-out article on Tor.com here.

Okay, time for the hard part. What are my goals for 2020?

2020 Goals

Personal Care

  1. Wear my mouthguard at night.
  2. Skincare 2x daily.

Social and Cultural

  1. Read at least five literary novels (can include genre literary). 
  2. Read 75 books this year.
  3. Do one political thing a month.

Creative

  1. Revise [redacted].
  2. Write a new book.
  3.  Revise the new book. 
  4.  Send new book to agents.
  5. Write at least 1000 first-draft words per day (on average across year).
  6.  Post to Instagram at least four times a week. Post a story daily.

Academic

  1.  Finish dissertation data collection.
  2.  Finish dissertation data analysis.
  3.  Write dissertation.
  4.  Defend dissertation.
  5.  Graduate with my Ph.D.
  6.  Find a job in academia or industry.
  7.  Write another popular science article.

Self-Improvement

  1. Work out 6-7 days a week. Go to Muay Thai for at least half these days.
  2.  Maintain a healthy weight.
  3.  Eat healthily and with bad things in moderation.
  4.  Stop spiraling toward the “end game” when you get anxious. Focus on breaking the cycle and letting go of things you can’t control.
  5.  Learn to be patient with incremental progress.
  6.  Move to a new city.
  7. Do at least five random acts of kindness.

What are your plans for 2020? How will you ensure they’re achievable?

Life Stuff
, , , ,

Comments are closed.