Monday Musings: 21 for 21 Mid Year Check In

For the last several years, I've created the ultimate "to-do" list based on the numbers in the year. So, this year, 21 goals for 2021. This idea is based on Gretchen Rubin's books and podcast series. I've talked about it at length here and here.

I'm making quite a bit of progress on this year's list, especially with some of the restrictions lifted from COVID-19 this spring. It's given us more freedom to travel, both locally and nationally. With the recent increases in cases, I'm so glad we took advantage of this moment when we could.

By my count, I've successfully completed nine of my 21 for 21 goals, including the following:

1. Get to 500 Instagram followers. Thanks to this community, we have more than doubled this number, and continue to grow. So, thank you!

2. Three home projects per month. I share some of these projects here on the blog, including our office updates here, and the new table that now fills a corner of our family room.

3. Purchase a new car. We did this back in February, and we're really enjoying our VW Atlas. We replaced a 13 year-old vehicle, and we typically keep our cars for a very long time, so it's exciting when we get a new one!

4. Set alarm for 6-7 a.m. Yes!

5. Read two books per month. I have set this goal for several years now, and usually exceed this number. I love to share favorites with our And She Writes readers.

There are a few goals that will take a year to see how they play out, like my goal to be a tourist once per month. While we did not do this in May (such a busy month!), we have already been to the zoo and played putt-putt this month, so I feel caught up and on track to achieve this one.

Then there are few that are just utter failures. For example, I really wanted to be off my phone by 9 p.m. every night. Well, that has literally only happened a handful of times! However, I restrict my web browsing to things like vintage shopping sites and needlepoint Instagram handles, so I actually find it fairly relaxing. I do still feel like my intention to not read agitating info on the web late at night led me to this compromise, so this exercise was still worth it.

I really recommend trying something like this--a word of the year or a 21 for 21--to set some yearlong goals. It has worked well for both Samantha and I, and we appreciate the opportunity to hold ourselves accountable by sharing here!

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