I’m not late to the game with this post.
I just waited nearly two months into 2021 before announcing the goals I made for myself in the new year.
My reasoning behind the delay is simple: I wanted to give myself some time to form habits to make sure those goals stick (or at least give me a better chance of success).
So with that, here are three goals I hope to maintain/achieve in 2021
Photography
As I mentioned in a previous post, I finally broke down and bought a brand new Canon EOS R6 mirrorless digital camera.
The camera was not cheap. New lenses are even more expensive. But during the pandemic, my itch to get creative continues to grow.
I bought the camera in the first week of February. My goal going forward is to post one photo a week to the blog and write about it.
I unintentionally started doing this last week (again, see previous post).
I will have a second photograph posted later in the week.
Reading
I previously stated this goal on the Goodreads app: Read one book a month throughout 2021.
This goal is completely achievable. I just need to continue to set aside the time put down my iPhone and do it.
So far, I read Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton in January after seeing the George Clooney adaptation of the book on Netflix.
I already read The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton for February. My mother-in-law gave the book to my wife as a birthday gift during a visit the first week of the month. I casually picked it up to skim the first few pages and found I could not put it down.
I also started reading A Promised Land by Barack Obama, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
I would like to read a few books by Octavia E. Butler and find a sci-fi/fantasy series that I can truly get lost in in the coming months. (Recommendations welcome)
I’m also debating on writing reviews of each book moving forward as I finish them. If I feel really ambitious, I might even post reflections on the two books I have already read.
Fitness
I gained a LOT of weight since the pandemic began. The weight gain was the result of apathy towards exercise, overeating and over-imbibing fueled by massive amounts of anxiety.
After tipping the scale higher than ever before, I decided to sign up for the weight loss program Noom on Dec. 23. So far, and depending on the day, I’ve lost between 15-to-17 pounds through counting calories and a return to running.
My fitness goal for the year is two-fold.
First, I want to work my way down to a healthy weight. If all the charts, graphs and trends on Noom play out, I should hit that target weight sometime in June.
The weight loss plays into my bigger, secondary fitness goal — to set a new PR in either a 5K, 10K, or –gulp– half marathon, hopefully by year’s end.
I will occasionally will provide updates on my fitness journey too.
So, there you have it. My 2021 goals.
Do they sound doable? Any tips, tricks or recommendations? Feel free to share them, and your own goals, in the comments below.