Final Review: 17 Goals for 17 Years

Back in January of this year, almost a month after my birthday, I set myself 17 goals I wanted to accomplish during my 17th year (link).  I checked in on my goals back in July (link) but with my 18th birthday only 10 days away, I want to look back on the goals I set myself and reflect on how I did.

1. Decorate my room so I love it

SUCCESS I am actually very proud of this one.  In the past year I have finally finished painting (link), decorating (link), and rearranging my room into one I love to spend time in.

2. Grow out my hair

SUCCESS Granted this one required little work but I am happy to report that my hair has officially bounced back from the short bob I hated.

3. Bake from scratch

SUCCESS Okay, I only truly baked from scratch once but for me it counts.  This year for Halloween instead of carving my pumpkin, I cut it in half and threw it in the oven.  A couple of hours later I had a pumpkin pie, a pumpkin cheesecake, and a great feeling.

4. Take Ceramics all year

SUCCESS I can't actually remember how many ceramics classes I've taken but I definitely took one this fall, plus I never missed a session so I'm calling this one good.

5. Declutter and buy less

SUCCESS I definitely own less things that I don't use.  But even better than that, everything I own has a specific place in my room and that is a miracle.

6. Spend spare time on test prep books

FAILURE I have not picked up any of my many test prep books except specifically to study for an upcoming SAT or ACT.  I just need to give the others away cause I'm never going to use them.

7. Read a fatty cold war book

FAILURE Same as the test prep books above, I have not picked up any of my cold war books except to work on my EE and I haven't even done that enough.

8. Take a picture everyday

FAILURE hahahahahahahaha I started this project with good intentions but have failed epicly.  I can't even remember the last time I took photos daily. Hopefully with a new phone on the way I will get better at this goal. Here was my attempt: link

9. Go camping

SUCCESS I went camping twice this year.  Once with 3 of my close friends and once with my father (link).

10. Eat more salad

SUCCESS I know this is true because I've begun to order salads at restaurants and crave salads at lunch time.

11. Spend less time on the internet

SUCCESS I wish there was a way to track my time spent on the internet but as I have yet to find a program which does that I'm going to go with my gut instinct which tells me I have in fact spent less time on the internet this year.

12. Make Christmas Cards

FAILURE Yeah, this takes way more effort than I  have when all my college apps are due.

13. Swim 

FAILURE I have swam quite a bit this year but not enough for me to call this a success.  I have yet to find a gym routine that works for me.

14. Stay Hydrated

SUCCESS I have definitely noticed an increase in hydration.  I used to experience blurry vision upon standing at least once a week but now I go entire weeks without it!

15. Write in a Journal

FAILURE While I have finished my journal which I've used for the past 2 years, I can recall many events which did not make it onto the pages of a journal.

16. Make Sushi

FAILURE I think I made sushi about twice this year and both times it did not turn out well.  I just don't have the patience to roll them tight enough!

17. Use reusable bags

SUCCESS I have stopped bagging my food when I go to grocery stores.  When I spent time with my friends in Boston this summer (link) they thought I was really weird for carrying my groceries out in my arms instead of sticking them in a bag.  

With 7 failures and 10 success, I think I did pretty well. Oddly enough, when I wrote this list I knew that making sushi, daily pictures, and my other failures were unlikely to be accomplished.  I want to be pushed into doing these more difficult goals but I can't view them as unlikely.  In that mindset, I have little drive to work toward those goals.  I'm going to keep that in mind while writing my list this year.  I need to create goals which I will need to work on but I still think I can accomplish. 

I also feel the need to say that I have really loved my life this year.  I just looked through all my blog posts from the last year and am really happy with all the things I got to experience and all the fun I've had.  It's easy to forget everything in the day to day shuffle of homework but I am incredible blessed.  Here's to another year of new experiences!