2024 Goals in Review
Jan. 1st, 2025 12:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithI have reviewed my goals for 2024. Out of 61 goals and one blank, I met 58 plus five extra fill in the blanks. I did quite well, better than last year. \o/
Let's take a look at what worked ...
* A goal of looking at the goal list definitely raises the chance of actually meeting more goals. So does keeping track of accomplishments in an updatable list. If you're making a list of goals, rather than just one resolution, I highly recommend this.
* Filling in the desk calendar (which I've started for this year but not finished yet) is good because it's best done in January. Try to include some stuff you'll likely complete before you run out of motivation in a week or two.
* The highest success was "Make at least one new recipe each month." I recorded 3 in January, 4 in February, 2 in March, 2 in April, 2 in May, 5 in June, 2 in July, 4 in August, 5 in September, 3 in October, 1 in November, and 2 in December, for a total of 35 -- which is 5 more than last year. I probably forgot to list a few.
Of these, some were not impressive. However, more than a handful became instant favorites, and some others may reappear occasionally. I mark the best recipes with a * so after that point you can identify them. I starred 30 of them, several more than the 23 of last year, thus a high success rate though a modest total number of recipes made. Recipes we have already made or used at least twice: ** Snarf Snarf Chicken and Tomatoes 4/14/24, ** maple sunbutter smoothie 5/6/24, ** dragonfruit strawberry pineapple-orange smoothie 5/22/24, ** Morning Blend and Tropical Fruit Blend dragonfruit smoothie 7/22/24, ** Morning Blend and fresh pineapple smoothie 8/2/24, ** Lemon Echinacea and Tropical Fruit Blend dragonfruit smoothie 9/4/24, ** caramel apple cider maple pear smoothie 9/21/24, maple yogurt and cashew butter smoothie 9/23/24, ** apple cider pear smoothie 10/11/24, ** Gypsy Chicken Stir-Fry 10/15/24, ** Morning Blend-Daybreak Blend smoothie 12/8/24.
That's 9 repeats, down one from last year's 10. The Snarf Snarf Chicken and Tomatoes has become a reason to eat at Naf Naf: to get the pomegranate vinaigrette. The Gypsy Chicken Stir-Fry is a reason to buy more Gypsy peppers in spring, now my favorite pepper. Also we just remade last year's Crockpot African Black-Eyed Peas for New Year's Eve. \o/
* Fill in the blank lets me credit myself for goals that I discover and set during the year. I aim for at least one of these, and usually get 2-3. This year I managed 5 but two of those were involuntary as our refrigerator-freezer died and needed replacement. >_< This goal encourages me to keep doing stuff even after I've checked off a majority of my list. Getting the new garden shed was an exciting high point of the year. \o/
* If you do this every year, make sure to chip away the cruft of goals you no longer can or want to meet. I leave a few old ones that I may never meet but still hope to, but most of the time if I haven't met a goal after a few tries, I drop it. If you let old ones build up, they drag down your success percentage and undermine your sense of accomplishment even if you got a lot of other stuff done. However, do keep goals that are working for you. I repeat many of mine every year. I just try to add and drop a few things each time.
* Ironically, timing and numbers are my friends. I am more likely to meet goals, and remember to mark them, if they have a specific number (do X three times) or timeframe (do X once a month) attached. I am also most prone to overfill the periodic goals. Defined goals are easier to fulfill and recognize than vague or year-long ones. YMMV, but I definitely recommend this.
* We added a pair of 'Royal Family' hollies to our Midwinter Grove. Last year's Colorado blue spruce is battered from the hot dry summer but doing better in the wet winter
* Tracking community posts by linking all of them to the goals post is tedious and easy to forget. It will likely be easier to link the first few and then use some shortcut.
* The Charleston Food Forest was an exciting discovery and I plan to return in 2025. I'm also excited to see what grows from the seeds and roots I already gathered.
* I intended to visit the same Pagan store three times, but wound up visiting three different ones -- a good thing, since Three Crows Emporium sadly closed. But we've visited Akasha Zamora several times and Sarah Lee's Healing Mountain Crystals twice.
* I tried a set of seasonal goals for the first time and they were a roaring success. I love these and will definitely keep doing them.
Let's take a look at what worked ...
* A goal of looking at the goal list definitely raises the chance of actually meeting more goals. So does keeping track of accomplishments in an updatable list. If you're making a list of goals, rather than just one resolution, I highly recommend this.
* Filling in the desk calendar (which I've started for this year but not finished yet) is good because it's best done in January. Try to include some stuff you'll likely complete before you run out of motivation in a week or two.
* The highest success was "Make at least one new recipe each month." I recorded 3 in January, 4 in February, 2 in March, 2 in April, 2 in May, 5 in June, 2 in July, 4 in August, 5 in September, 3 in October, 1 in November, and 2 in December, for a total of 35 -- which is 5 more than last year. I probably forgot to list a few.
Of these, some were not impressive. However, more than a handful became instant favorites, and some others may reappear occasionally. I mark the best recipes with a * so after that point you can identify them. I starred 30 of them, several more than the 23 of last year, thus a high success rate though a modest total number of recipes made. Recipes we have already made or used at least twice: ** Snarf Snarf Chicken and Tomatoes 4/14/24, ** maple sunbutter smoothie 5/6/24, ** dragonfruit strawberry pineapple-orange smoothie 5/22/24, ** Morning Blend and Tropical Fruit Blend dragonfruit smoothie 7/22/24, ** Morning Blend and fresh pineapple smoothie 8/2/24, ** Lemon Echinacea and Tropical Fruit Blend dragonfruit smoothie 9/4/24, ** caramel apple cider maple pear smoothie 9/21/24, maple yogurt and cashew butter smoothie 9/23/24, ** apple cider pear smoothie 10/11/24, ** Gypsy Chicken Stir-Fry 10/15/24, ** Morning Blend-Daybreak Blend smoothie 12/8/24.
That's 9 repeats, down one from last year's 10. The Snarf Snarf Chicken and Tomatoes has become a reason to eat at Naf Naf: to get the pomegranate vinaigrette. The Gypsy Chicken Stir-Fry is a reason to buy more Gypsy peppers in spring, now my favorite pepper. Also we just remade last year's Crockpot African Black-Eyed Peas for New Year's Eve. \o/
* Fill in the blank lets me credit myself for goals that I discover and set during the year. I aim for at least one of these, and usually get 2-3. This year I managed 5 but two of those were involuntary as our refrigerator-freezer died and needed replacement. >_< This goal encourages me to keep doing stuff even after I've checked off a majority of my list. Getting the new garden shed was an exciting high point of the year. \o/
* If you do this every year, make sure to chip away the cruft of goals you no longer can or want to meet. I leave a few old ones that I may never meet but still hope to, but most of the time if I haven't met a goal after a few tries, I drop it. If you let old ones build up, they drag down your success percentage and undermine your sense of accomplishment even if you got a lot of other stuff done. However, do keep goals that are working for you. I repeat many of mine every year. I just try to add and drop a few things each time.
* Ironically, timing and numbers are my friends. I am more likely to meet goals, and remember to mark them, if they have a specific number (do X three times) or timeframe (do X once a month) attached. I am also most prone to overfill the periodic goals. Defined goals are easier to fulfill and recognize than vague or year-long ones. YMMV, but I definitely recommend this.
* We added a pair of 'Royal Family' hollies to our Midwinter Grove. Last year's Colorado blue spruce is battered from the hot dry summer but doing better in the wet winter
* Tracking community posts by linking all of them to the goals post is tedious and easy to forget. It will likely be easier to link the first few and then use some shortcut.
* The Charleston Food Forest was an exciting discovery and I plan to return in 2025. I'm also excited to see what grows from the seeds and roots I already gathered.
* I intended to visit the same Pagan store three times, but wound up visiting three different ones -- a good thing, since Three Crows Emporium sadly closed. But we've visited Akasha Zamora several times and Sarah Lee's Healing Mountain Crystals twice.
* I tried a set of seasonal goals for the first time and they were a roaring success. I love these and will definitely keep doing them.
