This post contains affiliate links that I could make commission off of. All opinions are my own. Learn more.
What a weird time to be thinking about goal setting, am I right? With everything that’s been happening around the world with COVID-19, all plans are up in the air.
BUT my 101 in 1001 list makes me so happy, and we’re now 80% of the way through, so I’m taking this break from all things pandemic to check on my progress.
3 Goals Being Changed
Now that we’re getting close to crunch time with my list, I’ve been doing a lot of analyzing of the remaining items and why they’re still there after two years. Do they still serve me? And if not, what could I replace them with?
I’ve done quite a bit of swapping this time around. Here’s what’s getting changed:
37. Donate at least $250 $150 to the ACLU of Kentucky via my business income.
This one was a simple swap—I know I’m likely not going to make much more from my blog in the near future (more on that in a bit), so I cut this down to what I’ve already donated. It’s still a lot of money and I’m really proud of that! I’ll continue donating as I make money here and there, but I don’t want to tie a goal to it.
38. Make $1,000 in one month from And Possibly Dinosaurs. Write 5 product review posts with affiliate links in an effort to make more passive income.
On a similar note, I took out the goal for how much money I want to make with my blog. For some people, this is really motivating, and that’s great! But I’ve had this as a goal for years and never got close to it, so I always felt like a failure for never crossing it off.
The biggest issue is that it’s not something I have complete control over–I can promote the shit out of a product, but if people aren’t buying it, there’s not much I can do besides exhaust myself to oblivion trying to make a product people want. I decided to change it to an action that I am making instead of an action others are making.
42. Rebrand Let go of the InDesign Adventure Guide.
This one was hard… and making this decision is what led me to the other changes. I’ve been talking about relaunching the InDesign Adventure Guide for more than a year, but every time I looked at the to do list, my heart sank. It wasn’t because it was overwhelming (though, yes, that was part of it), it was mostly because my heart isn’t in it any more.
The course will be available on Teachable / in links in old blog posts still, but I’m not going to do any relaunches, rebrands, or new promotions of it from here on out. (And because that’s was my biggest money maker, that’s why I changed the rest of my money-related goals!)
10 Goals Completed
After two check-ins in a row with one goal completed each, it feels so good to have so many goals checked off this time around!
5. Have a conversation in Spanish.
While I was hoping to cross this one off during our upcoming (now canceled) trip to Barcelona, I’m actually super proud of this one—my coworker Margaret is from Puerto Rico, and she knows I’ve been practicing my Spanish, so she’s been helping me out during work. We actually worked together to write one of my marketing emails in Spanish, which was so cool! And we talked through a lot of the process en español.
13. Create a go-to hair style for nice events / going out (excluding having my hair down).
Back in December, I tried out a bunch of “up-dos” to see what I could accomplish on my own and what looked good on me. When I did one that I thought was really nice, Sean commented that it looked good, but I look best with my hair down. Then I realized I could do a deep part and pin back half of my hair with sparkly pins, and it looked great! Plus, it’s easy to do. A win-win!
23. Find a reliable home workout routine that I enjoy.
This is all thanks to my Ring Fit. It’s crazy expensive online / hard to right now, because it’s made in China and Chinese factories haven’t been operating for several months, but we were able to snag one in February (I think Sean found the last one in Kalamazoo) and it’s made me so happy. Gameifying workouts for the win!
34. Get a promotion and / or raise outside of an annual review.
This one is technically still in progress, but I’m counting it as done! In December, my boss and her boss got approval to add a new staff member to our team, and in doing so, we realigned my position and my boss’s position. It’s basically like they tossed our two jobs into a hat (along with a wish list of things we’d like to accomplish and never have the time to do) and pulled three positions out of it. The new team member started this week, and I’ve been working on my new job duties, which is really exciting!
37. Donate at least $150 to the ACLU of Kentucky via my business income.
I set aside 10% of any business income for the ACLU of Kentucky, and I’m really proud to have earned enough income from my business over the past two years to be able to donate more than $150!
42. Let go of the InDesign Adventure Guide.
See explanation above. A hard choice to make, but I feel so much lighter.
52. Replace my vanity.
This was an unexpected one that I crossed off this month! My grandma has moved to a nursing home, so we’ve been downsizing her belongings, and I got a beautiful writing desk that she purchased back in the late 50s. It’s so special to me!
55. Organize the bathroom closet.
This one was so satisfying. There’s definitely more we’d like to do with the bathroom as a whole, but the closet is no longer a black hole. The main purpose of the space is to be able to access the pipes for the bathtub and shower—meaning you need to be able to access a hole in the floor and a door on the side wall. Previously there was literally a hole in the floor covered by a cutting board. 🤢
The first step was getting a shelf for the opposite corner of the bathroom, where we can store towels, wash clothes, etc., which freed up space and functionality in the closet. We then cut a piece of plywood the shape of the floor to cover up the hole. We can still access the pipes if needed, but it’s now a solid floor! This enabled us to get a rolling cart that we can use to store all of our cleaning supplies, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. When we need to access the pipes, we simply roll it out of the closet, lift up the plywood, and we’re good to go! 🙌🏻
P.S. I wrote a blog post all about it!
89. Try 10 different amber beers.
I’m so glad I tried this, but I’ve decided: I’m just not an amber beer person.
100. Take a pottery class.
I’m so glad I made this a priority. I knew there were ceramics classes available at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, but they’re… not cheap. I finally told Sean that I really wanted to join one, and he saw how important it was to me, so we prioritized it in our budget. I started a 12-week course in January and loved it! The class was supposed to end next week, but thanks to COVID-19, the final two weeks have been canceled. We’ll see if we get to reschedule!
7 Goals in Progress
And, of course, I’m still chipping away at other goals.
3. Read 75 books.
I’ve been reading a bunch this year, so I’m now at 63! That’s 12 more than the last check-in. 😳Here’s hoping I get this one crossed off by the next check-in!
4. Read (or attempt to read) and get rid of 25 books that I already own.
Got rid of one more book, putting me at 21 of 25!
11. Pay off our student loans.
Almost there!
38. Write 5 product review posts with affiliate links in an effort to make more passive income.
I’ve written two so far! Passion Planner & Passion Planner Daily and My Favorite Home Organization Purchases.
56. Organize the basement.
I made so much progress last week. We have a pretty small pantry, so I cleaned out the shelves right at the base of the stairs to the basement (the stairs lead from the pantry into the basement) and we now use it for bulk food and bulk cleaning supplies, plus rarely-used appliances. It’s so nice! Still a lot to do, but awesome progress nonetheless.
81. Visit 25 new-to-me places in Kalamazoo (as of Sept. 1, 2019).
With 7 more visits, we’re now at 17! I visited Riviera Maya Bar & Grill, Lee’s Adventure Sports, Pacific Rim Foods, The Blue Dolphin, Cravings Deli, Kalamazoo Kitty, and Nonla Bahn Mi Togo! Hopefully COVID-19 will end soon (though I unfortunately doubt it) so I can visit the remaining 8.
86. Experiment with 10 different cocktail recipes.
I’ve tried 2 more, putting my total at 5: the Civilized Brutini and a Piña Colada.
I’m still not on track to accomplish everything (and I doubt I’ll be able to do a lot of the travel-based ones if we need to hunker down for the long haul, which sounds likely), but I’m still so proud to be at 61!
Leave a Reply