The Results are in: 10 Goals for 2020

At the beginning of every year, instead of New Year’s Resolutions, I set myself goals instead.

Like last year, I wrote my post and then didn’t check it as planned, mainly because lockdown happened and we couldn’t get much done due to the closure of pretty much everything.

My 10 Goals for 2020 seemed achievable when I wrote them, so how did I get on?

Start saying “No” and delegate more

I do a lot of volunteer work, running the school PFA, helping out at the kids swimming and helping others with childcare.

My mission for this year was to try and cut down on the amount of volunteer work I did and I was successful, as we either were not at school / swimming, or not allowed in the building.

Can I take that as a success?

See friends more often

I definitely failed at this one, thanks to lockdowns and bubbles. Although I did reconnect with a close friend from my 20’s and even stayed in her Airbnb in Somerset. Our kids now speak every week as they are the same age.

Replace our internal doors

YES!!!!!!

Finally, a lack of travel and days out meant that we were not spending an extra money, so I managed to save enough to get eight doors replaced.

We still have a couple of cupboard doors to change, but we are planning on knocking the cupboards together which isn’t cheap.

Get a new Sofa

Our sofa is 11 years old now and it is sagging in the middle and uncomfortable. We haven’t yet got our new sofa, but it is on order and we will have it by March.

Get more exercise

I did chuckle when I read this one, wanting to do more walking and cycling.

We definitely achieved this one as we walked or cycled daily during lockdown and although we don’t walk as much now, we still try to get out 2-3 times a week, exploring our beautiful county of Dorset.

Be more adventurous

We bought our own kayak and paddleboards last year and although we didn’t get to the Jurassic coast with them, we did get out on them on the River Stour on a regular basis.

We also took all the kids kayaking out to Old Harry Rocks, which we all really enjoyed.

Tick more items off my 50 before 50

I first wrote my 50 places to visit before I am 50 post in 2018, but at the beginning of 2020 I had only ticked 11 things off.

Sadly, this year has been a bit of a write off travel wise, however, we did managed to tick a couple of items off, including visiting Cheddar Gorge, Windsor Castle and seeing the Changing of the Guard, albeit at Windsor and not Buckingham Palace.

Improve my blogs

At the end of 2019, I had my travel blog arewenearlythereyet.co.uk redesigned and the plan was to do the same with Chelseamamma. Sadly, both blogs have taken a back seat this year as my husband lost his job due to the pandemic and I started a new job to help pay the bills.

I plan to keep blogging as a hobby, but am unsure whether to go back to it full time. Only time will tell.

Speak to a Financial Advisor

We have wanted to move house for a few years now and have been hit by redundancy or threats of redundancy, so the plan this year was to seriously look into our options.

As I mentioned above, the pandemic put pay to this and we have focused on getting by. Instead, we have embraced our house, spent a little bit of money on it by replacing the leaky flat roof, ancient doors and decorating. I would still like somewhere bigger but it will have to wait.

See Family More

With work, swimming and various other responsibilities visiting family members was almost impossible. We have spent more quality family time together and although we still didn’t get to see each other in the flesh, Zoom was our friend and we had lots of fun quiz nights etc to get us through lockdown.

In hindsight, it has been a strange old year and I am surprised I achieved as much as I did.

Did you set any goals for 2020 – how did you get on?