A Year in Review: Did I Reach My Set Goals?
Every year since middle school, I have been in the habit of writing out intentional, attainable goals for myself. Activities and pursuits I look forward to in the short-term, like summer vacation, which I wanted to spend with purpose, and goals I aspired to achieve personally, whether it be clocking a specific personal best time on swim team or making an “A” in science class.
As an adult, my goals (to me) feel a lot simpler and even more laid back than in my youth. I acknowledge that in this stage of life, I do not want the added pressure of living up to any other standards than God’s. I want our trips to not be a goal to reach, but a regular, fluid part of our family calendar. I don’t feel the need to set a deadline on losing weight like I may have done in high school, but instead, I would choose to be aware and intentional with my time and activity levels on a regular basis.
Last year, I had help to design and released beautiful goal-setting sheets through my Etsy Shop Hippy and Spice. I took time to set some goals for myself, not family goals so to say (like paying off debt) but things I was doing in my own spare time.
A few weeks ago, I posted a poll asking who wanted to know if I accomplished them- so this blog post is for you!
You may be aware that I sell and use Young Living. Last year was when I joined, and some of my goals were centered around growing it as a business versus just personal use once I realized how much I enjoyed the products. I hoped to help sign someone up into Young Living last April, which I did! Another Young Living centered goal I had was to “pay off my kit” by December 2020, which meant that I’d have made enough of an income to cover what I spent to buy my starter kit, which I also did, and I’m pretty sure before that deadline too. The third Young Living Goal I had was to obtain the next seller’s rank in a a year’s time, which I also accomplished sooner than planned, as I’m working now to reach the next level of ranking this month!
Publishing Sown was next on my list of accomplishments! I was so excited about that. To date, that was one of the hardest things I’ve done in life next to giving birth and graduating college. That was such an experience, and I’m so glad I saw it through to completion. It’s one of my proudest accomplishments in life, and I continue to pray that God will use it as He sees fit!
Along with that goal of publishing, I had hopes that by February 2021 I could go on two “book tours” with Sown, and to my astonishment, by November 2020 I had gone on THREE!
Sown is sold online as well as in a local East Texas bookstore, Books and Barrels and The Foundry Coffeeshop. I still have one last campaign for my book this year, before I move onto book-baby two, but this has been one of the most exciting things I think I’ve yet to do in life!
The last area I had personal goals for this past year was with my shop Hippy and Spice. I wanted to add one new item to my shop by August 2020, which I surpassed! I wanted to make a holiday set to sell too, which I did in the winter, even though the sets themselves didn’t sell. I’ve learned so much in the business world through Hippy and Spice that’s pushed and grown me in ways I didn’t know I was capable. I still have so much to learn, and am having to slow my growth to keep up with everything and do it all well. We hope that in about a year or two we’ll be able to open a physical store with Hippy and Spice, so everything we do from this point forward, we are trying to do with the intention and hope that we will grow in a forward trajectory!
That is my year of goals! I’m glad to know I was able to accomplish them without too many breakdowns or stressful days. I’m excited to see what this next year has in store!
