Halfway (ish) Review of 2021 Goals

Well I’ve been a bit miserable and grumpy this last few weeks – and this has happened a few times since England lost in the final of Euro 2020.

Not convinced that is the causation – it’s probably more a combination of the lack of sunshine, needing a break/holiday, being a bit bored at work, being alone more than normal, sadness/hopelessness over world events like in Afghanistan, drinking too much – I quite enjoy wallowing in misery at times, which is why I watch football.

It’s weird, nothing has changed in my life from when I was answering, “really good” a few weeks ago when people asked me how I was feeling (or they were really just saying hello and not actually asking me how I was feeling despite using those words). Nothing bad has happened, I was even on a run of 5 good roast dinners in a row. I’m simply just not appreciating life at the moment.

I feel like I spend 75% of the time at least quite happy, 20% of the time content, 5% of the time grumpy/miserable – and this is one of those latter times. And one of the things that tends to cheer me up, that I find rather cathartic, is writing. Alas, drinking on my own tends to do the opposite, and I’m currently doing that too.

Anyway, so I thought I’d do a little review of my 2021 goals.

HEALTH

Lose 10kg. Hmmm. I had lost 5kg. I think it is closer to 3kg now. I can do it, but I’d need to have some more detoxes.

The detox, or two. Well I did this. I would like the second detox of around a month at some point. Maybe we’ll get a lockdown before Christmas which would be perfect.

Reduce wine at home. Not really sure I am achieving this.

WORK & FINANCE

Pay rise. Well I’ve had a pay rise. Two, actually, including a general company pay rise. But less than half of what I asked for, and way short of what I would get if I changed jobs.

Invest £10k. I think I’ve invested £8k, approximately. So I will achieve this.

Charity. The goal was to give as much to charity as I did the previous year, currently I make it to be £211, and in the whole of 2020 I did £363. So I’m maybe a tiny bit behind target.

CODING

Learn React and put some React code live. Well, I’m learning but haven’t put any React code live.

Create a web app. I kind of started a social media site, did the back-end but the front-end is a bit messy and not working how I want it to. I doubt I’ll bother finishing it.

Rewrite portfolio. No. Not even started it.

Rewrite a blog. Yes! I have just about finished re-writing my Fish Out Dolan Out blog, with a much tidier design.

STUFF

Upgrade my life. Well I bought an office chair.

Declutter. This is progressing, I still have quite a bit to list on Ebay, and far more that needs to sell, but it’s getting there.

Plants. I planted some seeds. They didn’t grow. Cats or foxes knocked over the planters. Meh.

ENVIRONMENT

Zero food waste. This is impossible.

10% green investments. Think it is closer to 5% at the moment.

20% green charities. Well I’ve forgotten what charities I’ve given to. But I doubt this is 20%.

SUMMARY

Well. It could be worse.

I should really have put “enjoy life” as a goal because I have enjoyed the post-lockdown period, at least until we lost the football, as my mood has been a bit up and down since then. Nothing crazy bad, but just a bit “meh”. The constant cloudy skies really don’t help.

I think concentrating on achieving a few more goals, and working towards my longer term goals will help my mood – and trying to reduce alcohol intake significantly feels key to both mood and productivity.

This is a bit of a boring post, isn’t it?