December is the perfect time of year for reflection; for looking back at both the goals you had set yourself and your achievements. At the end of last year, I did a similar post and set out my 2019 goals.
What I wanted to do in 2019
The idea had been to utilise the suggestion of Warren Buffet and pick my top goals and concentrate on them. To that end, I had compiled a list which included 6 items from the Kettle list, 5 from the 40×40, and 5 from the Bristol bucket List.
Having looked over the old post, I noticed that one of the tasks had put in the wrong place, so it was actually only 5 Kettle List tasks, and 6 40×40 tasks, but in the grand scheme of things it makes little difference.
The Kettle List Tasks
On my list for 2019 I had:
- Visit another European country
- Visit the USA
- Continue to make my 1000 cranes
- Start driving lessons
(There was also a ‘visit a spa’ task, but that was the one that should have been on the next list)
How did I do?
The plan had been to do a weekend in Spain or Portugal in June with one of my friends, but she had a few family issues that meant she couldn’t go. As the year progressed, I realised I would be better off saving the money towards our ‘big holiday’.
That ‘big holiday’ was our trip to America. This was Hannah’s ’18th Birthday Trip’ – an expensive tradition I started with Harriet’s holiday in Japan in 2017. We started in Dublin airport, where I was able to tick off one of my ‘50 coffees’ (though traveller rules dictate that I cannot tick off Ireland as a country I have visited as airports don’t count).
From there I was able to tick off a number of the cumulative tasks: coffees, coasts, and a beautiful sunset over the Santa Monica Coast. When we went to our 2nd hotel in Hollywood – which deserves a post all of its own! – we were able to clearly see the Hollywood sign, and the stars on the Boulevard were practically outside our door.
I was able to convince the family that they wanted to visit Little Tokyo, so was able to Japanify the holiday. There are a number of shops: Miniso, Uniqlo and Muji, which all stocked Japanese goods; it was like two holidays in one! It also reminded me of the other task on my focus list: To work on making some more cranes for my Senbazuru.
On my desk, I have 100’s of sheets of origami paper and I have fully intended to use paper folding as a destressing activity this year to get me closer to my 1,000 cranes. I am currently still in the 50-60 range, so really need to up my game for next year. That’s why it is a task that will be going back on the Focus 2020 list.
The final task was to start driving lessons, which I did in January. I managed to update the task by passing my theory test in April. Completing this task by passing my driving test is on the list for 2020.
The 40×40 List
On the list for 2019:
- Drive a car
- Lose a stone
- Go ‘waist-deep’ into the sea
- Crochet a top
- Go on a Spa Day
Not done as well on this list. While I obviously managed to drive a car – it’s kind of what I spend my lessons doing!- and I also got to visit a Spa with Rin, the other tasks all eluded me.
My weight, instead of going down, has gone back up and at one stage I was almost at my pre-loss weight from 2015. As someone who has previously lost 3 stone in 6 months I know, I am fully capable of doing this and need to stop relying on junk food and crisps to pad my diet out. I was able to lose the weight last time be forgoing all crisp, biscuits and sweets, which is not the easiest of tasks over Christmas.
Therefore New Year 2020 will be the start of my new diet and health regime. I will eat better, try and drink fewer coffees and hopefully take up some kind of exercise class. Dance classes maybe?
Despite spending some of my holiday on a beach I only managed to go ankle-deep into the sea this year. Again, this will be something that will be going back on the 2020 focus list. I’m thinking it may be a little longer next year!
As for the crochet top, I have not so much as picked up a hook this year, so I may pick another of my crafts to concentrate on.
The Bristol Bucket List
The things that appeared on this list were:
- Visit the Arnolfini
- Find an amazing independent coffee shop
- Visit the Wild Place
- Attend Upfest
- Go indoor climbing
Again, I have only completed 2 of these, but to be fair UPFEST did not take place this year. The 2020 event is supposed to be bigger and better, so that is one task that will certainly get completed next year.
The Arnolfini remains unvisited, and the indoor walls remained unclimbed. But I did manage to discover the vegan cafe at The Exchange, which certainly sells some of the best coffee in Bristol (as well as cake!)
We also managed to get to the Wild Place, where we did some outdoor climbing and walked a Barefoot trail.
Looking forward to 2020
I am now working on my 2020 focus list – which will appear as a post later in the month, which will include a few of the above, as well as some new tasks. It will need to take into account plans I already have, as well some adventures I can plan into my year.
Do you have anything planned for 2020? Any grand adventures, or maybe something you have been hoping to do for a while?
Let us know in the comments below.