2011 Resolutions: A Look Back

Completed Resolutions

> Graduate from college: Three cheers for a super big, life-list-if-I-made-list-lists goal achieved! The beginning part of my 2011 was crazy, filled with anxiety and worry I wouldn’t graduate on time or somehow my professors would begin to think I hadn’t learned enough to graduate. Luckily, I slipped through the cracks and got my degree!

> Begin working a full-time job, utilizing my degree: I would say this was the biggest goal on my list and I thank God every day that I found a job less than three months after graduating. And that it’s an amazing job with plenty of room for growth and professional development.

> Read 60 books: Check! Last night, I finished my 70th book. Finishing 71 total is a possibility but I exceeded my expectations with this goal.

> Travel: While I didn’t travel all over the world (or even step foot on a plane…), I’m still marking this goal as complete as I left the country for the first time ever. My cruise was the brightest part of my year and I look back on it with such fondness. I also made it up to Orlando a few times this year.

> Join a book club: I’m going to mark this as complete because of #twookclub and #SummerofHarry! Reading through the entire Harry Potter series with fellow bloggers and chatting about it every Thursday night was so much fun and I decided to bring it back in the form of a Twitter book chat. The group is bigger than I ever dreamed and I’ve met so many great people from it. We’ve only had one chat so far but it was amazing and I cannot wait to see what 2012 brings for our book club!

> Pay off all my credit cards: I’m marking this resolution as complete, even though it isn’t 100% complete. I’m still much closer to this goal of being credit card debt-free than I was a year ago. Of the three credit cards I have, one of them will be paid off (and then removed from my account) in January. The other two were paid off… until Christmas.

Resolutions Not Completed

> Run a half-marathon: I’m not sure if a half-marathon will ever be a possibility for me (I have weak ankles…) so while I tried training to run the Irongirl Half-Marathon, it just didn’t happen. (I ran the 5K instead.)

> Complete Project 365: I tried this twice in 2011, both horrific failures. I started this project over on my birthday and doing much better at capturing special everyday moments so I’m hoping I can keep it up this time!

> Get to my goal weight of 115-120 pounds: Not. Even. A. Little. Bit. Close.

> Begin therapy: This wasn’t a possibility due to not having health insurance for 11 months out of the year. But it is a huge goal of mine for 2012!

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Six completed goals out of ten. Not too shabby, I must say. I think the three biggest goals I wanted to complete were to graduate, get a job, and get to my goal weight. So the fact that I completed two out of those three? That’s pretty amazing.

My 2012 goals will be posted next week, in a slightly different format. I have more goals but since school and a menial job isn’t overtaking my life anymore, I think I can handle more things to shoot for. I really, really love setting goals and setting things in motion to achieve them. I don’t see anything bad in wanting change, although I do want to learn to take appreciation in the here and now. The “When…then” syndrome is something I struggle with (When I’m skinny, then I will be happy…) so I want to take time to slow down and appreciate what is happening in my life in the present, not what I hope will be happening in my life if I achieve a goal.

Do you set New Year’s Resolutions? What are your thoughts on the “When…then” syndrome?