Before moving on to my new goals for the current year, I first like to look back and assess what I achieved and also where I fell short. Today let’s do a quick rundown of my goals from last year!

Last year, I had a lot of fun creating special goal pages in my bullet journal. You can see pictures embedded in this blog post. I focused on 5 life categories which included: health, self-care & development, home & organization, languages, and future career. For each category, I thought of four specific goals or general habits that I wanted to work on in 2021. I didn’t achieve everything on my list, but I did make some good progress and I also gained some clarity on what I’d like to work on in 2022.

So let’s break it down, category by category, and see how I did!

Health

1. Lose 10 kilograms. – This goal was a definite FAIL. I didn’t lose any weight! I actually started a rigorous exercise routine and made a video all about how I was trying to get healthy, but very shortly after starting that new routine, I found out I was pregnant and had to stop!
2. Prepare for pregnancy. – This was kind of a success? I wanted to learn about how to conceive, but we were able to conceive right away without any effort, so the research really wasn’t necessary. I’m learning by experience now!
3. Go to various doctors appointments. – I wanted to have checkups for my overall physical health, my back issues, maybe do an eye exam, and definitely visit the dentist since it’s been a few years. I kept putting these off because visiting Korean hospitals intimidates me and I also have a phobia of the dentist. In the summer I did an eye exam with my husband, and since being pregnant I’ve obviously had doctors monitoring my overall health, and also I got COVID vaccinated and boosted. However, visiting the dentist for non-urgent procedures while pregnant is not recommended, so that has to be postponed. I give myself a half-pass for this goal.
4. Get better sleep. – This goal was also kind of a fail. Last year, I didn’t do much to try to fix my sleep and so of course didn’t experience much improvement. One thing that has changed though is my attitude towards naps. I used to avoid naps at all costs because they usually make me groggy, grumpy and disoriented. Now that I’m pregnant I often tired and need a nap, so I’m a lot more lenient now and choose to take a nap from time to time. However, my overnight sleep is still not very good.

Self-care & Development

1. Read 36 Books. – I only read 18 books, so I failed this one. I wanted to do some major reading after leaving my job, but time just got away from me.
2. Write a diary every day. – I was pretty good about writing in my diary, nearly every day, until October when I found out I was pregnant. (Are you starting to notice a pattern here???) I feel kind of sorry that I stopped but I’ve been documenting my pregnancy in other ways so I’m not too regretful. Technically though, I failed this one.
3. Refresh my skincare routine. – I did a little research on skincare products but never wanted to shell out the cash to buy new products. However after getting pregnant, I’ve had to completely dump my old routine and start from scratch. So many ingredients to avoid… I guess technically I completed this goal but in a way I totally did not expect!
4. “Look presentable always.” – Nope! Not even close! Once I started staying home full-time, my desire to properly get dressed totally disappeared. And during my first trimester when I felt like crap, I barely even left the house, let alone the bed/couch, so I really looked like a slob.

Home & Organization

1. Konmari before moving. – This was a half pass. I got through the major categories (clothes, books, papers) and some of the “komono” (like beauty products, electronics, and stationery), but ran out of time to do the rest before our moving date.
2. Renovate the new place before moving. – This was a great success! We had our kitchen remodeled, and my husband and I worked really hard to clean up and paint everything before our moving date. I think we did a great job!
3. Have a successful move. – This was a pass, but I’m not really sure how we could have failed! We hired a moving company to do all of the heavy lifting, and with me staying home, I was able to unpack and organize everything pretty quickly.
4. Clear out my email inboxes. – Complete fail! I didn’t touch a single email last year. I really have a big project ahead of me in 2022.

Languages

1. Finish 1 Korean textbook. – Fail! I started a few different textbooks, even committed to one and worked on it for a few days straight, but I just couldn’t stick to it.
2. Take the A1 Spanish test on Busuu. – Success! And I passed the test! I really enjoyed completing lessons on Busuu and using that platform to review vocabulary and grammar. I’d like to write a review and share it on this blog soon!
3. Read 3 Korean things. – I only read one thing, so I failed this goal. I finished a webtoon about midway through the year, and planned to read one novel and one non-fiction book after that, but didn’t get around to them.
4. Watch 4 korean dramas. – This was a success, and a very fun one at that! I watched three K-dramas and one Korean sitcom and had a lot of fun watching each of them. I’m thinking about doing a little roundup post with a short review for each, so keep an eye out!

Future Career

1. Change my visa. – Thankfully, this one was another success. I was really stressed and worried about getting all of the necessary paperwork, but with my organizational skills and my husband’s native Korean skills, we were able to change my teaching visa to a spousal visa in the spring!
2. Decide whether or not to quit teaching. – When I made this goal I ultimately knew that I wanted to quit but I was scared and doubtful about whether it was the right choice. After discussing it with my husband and getting feedback from friends and family, I finally decided to take the plunge and leave my job after six years of teaching! So this goal was a pass!
3. Grow my social media accounts. – You can probably tell for yourselves, I definitely failed this one. I was too preoccupied with my visa change, renovating our new place and then moving, wrapping things up at my job, and finally, getting pregnant, to really put my time and effort into this blog or my YouTube channel. I’m pretty disappointed in myself for this one.
4. Create a digital product. – I’m gonna say that this one is a fail, even though I did come up with a few digital designs last year. I thought about sharing them as free downloads just to get my feet wet, but ultimately I chickened out and never shared them. I have to work on being more brave and confident in myself.

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So out of these 20 goals and habits from last year, I successfully completed 8, and I gave myself partial passes for 2 more. Some goals that I failed will be reappearing for 2022, and others, I’ve realized no longer apply to my life or are no longer important to me.

I’ll be posting my new goals here soon! I’m excited to work on some new projects and to share them with you all.

Hope you also had a successful 2021! Thanks for reading!