So we’re a good chunk of the way through January already, but I thought it would be a good idea to look back over my 2019 goals and see how far I got before moving on to my new goals for the new year.

Last year, I made two separate lists: one list of “intentions,” or goals that I felt couldn’t quite be quantified or measured, and one list of “goals,” which turned out to be a lot more like a bucket list. Since then I’ve learned a lot about how to properly design and plan goals, so while I wasn’t able to accomplish much last year, I am hoping for a lot more success in 2020.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the two lists and see how I did!

2019 Intentions

1. Take more couple photos – SUCCESS! My fiance and I are still not the type of couple to whip out our phones and start snapping selfies at any random time, but if we take a special trip or go out for a special occasion, we do take pictures now. I have a lot of pictures of us from last year so I feel pretty good about that.
2. Seriously focus on my Korean studies – success??? I spent a lot of time studying Korean in the first few months of 2019 to prepare for the TOPIK II, but I wasn’t using the most appropriate resources, and after the test I stopped studying completely. Since I did study seriously at one point but quit, I’m not sure that I can confidently call this a success.
3. Don’t let work drain me – success??? I was able to switch schools last year, so I am out of the stressful environment that caused me to make this an intention. But I didn’t actively do anything to change my mindset so again, I’m not sure I can confidently call this a success. Now I have a new problem at my new workplace – extreme boredom!!
4. Make healthy choices – FAIL! I didn’t make any significant changes to my lifestyle and didn’t visit any doctors, dentists etc in order to stay on top of my health.
5. Create content consistently – FAIL! I totally stopped doing anything social media-related for several months.

2019 Goals

1. Lose 10 kilograms – FAIL! I weight the exact same that I did when I originally made this goal. T-T
2. Move – success??? I have trouble taking credit for this because I originally expected to undertake moving on my own, but I ended up joining forces with my awesome boyfriend and we found a great place together. He did most of the heavy lifting so I feel like I really owe this one to him.
3. Get a pet – FAIL! But I’m okay with this. I wanted a pet to keep me company but now that I no longer live alone, I don’t feel like I need a pet just yet. But definitely want a pet in the future!
4. Go up Lotte (Jamsil) Tower – FAIL! I never made the time for it and the few times the opportunity presented itself, I punked out because the line is always really long and the ticket is expensive.
5. Visit one new city – SUCCESS! I actually visited two! We took two day trips out of town, one to Daebudo (blog coming soon) and one to Naejangsan.
6. Eat one new thing – FAIL! I mean, I may have eaten something slightly new, but I don’t feel like I really challenged myself to go out of my comfort zone.
7. Make something – FAIL! I started to crochet a scarf but never finished. I have half of a scarf just waiting for me to get back into crocheting…
8. Read 12 books – SUCCESS! I read 12 books just in the nick of time. I will be posting about the books I read shortly, both on this blog and on Youtube, so please stay tuned!
9. Post 12 blog posts – FAIL! Like I mentioned, I took many months away from social media, which unfortunately included this blog.
10. Volunteer – FAIL! I didn’t volunteer once. In fact, I didn’t even research opportunities to volunteer or look into any organizations at all. I don’t know that I will make this a goal again any time soon, but I am open to donating money to worthwhile charities.
11. Do a thorough spring cleaning – success??? I was expecting to do a spring cleaning just based on the principle that everyone should deep clean their house at least once a year, but I ended up doing some cleaning as part of the moving out process. So I cleaned, but not in the way that I planned.
12. Register to vote – success??? I did my best to register to vote as an American expat. I had to do the applications by international mail so I have no idea what will happen now that I’ve sent the documents out into the world, but hopefully I’m registered!
13. Take the TOPIK II – SUCCESS! I was able to sign up for and sit the TOPIK II exam and let me tell you, it was long, grueling, and soul-crushingly difficult. I managed to scrape a level 3, so I’m glad I at least didn’t totally fail it.
14. Take a long walk – FAIL! I wanted to walk the entire length of the Cheonggyecheon stream, which starts in Gwanghwamun and ends where I used to live, but I never made the time for it..
15. Hit 10K subscribers – FAIL! This is no surprise to me because I didn’t keep up with any of my social media or post any regular content to Youtube.

So to neatly sum everything up for you, I was able to successfully complete 3 of my 5 intentions, and 6 of my 15 goals. While I’m glad that I was able to accomplish anything, I am personally not satisfied with these stats. So I’ve been working really hard to prepare myself for a really productive and awesome 2020! I can’t wait to share with you everything that I’ll be working on this year, so keep an eye out for more goal-related content from me in the near future.

Thanks for reading!

Veronica