Similar to previous years, in 2023 I drafted a shorthand list of my goals that I can refer to throughout the year. Totaling 23 goals for 2023, I left four slots empty for goals that I plan to add during each quarter of the year.
Now that we’re at the end of the year, it’s time for a final check in on my goals to see what I was able to accomplish.
Here are my 23 goals for 2023 and the progress I was able to make:
Reading Goals (You can see me chat about all of my reading-related goals in this video).
- Read 300+ books throughout the year. I read over 350 books this year, so this goal is complete! (You can always see what I’m currently reading by connecting with me on Goodreads.)
- Read at least 23 books each month in 2023. I read at least 23 books in each of the 12 months of the year, so this goal is also done!
- Complete an alphabet reading challenge each month (choosing a random letter and picking 5 books from my Kindle that start with that letter) to read more books that I already own. This continues to be such a fun challenge and I love that it helps me read books that I already own. I was able to complete the challenge all 12 months of this year. (You can see my videos about this challenge each month on my YouTube channel.)
- Complete a self-designed Book of the Month Challenge where I read at least 24 books from the BoM club list in 2023. This year, I read 24+ books that were from the Book of the Month list. This was another really fun challenge to work toward this past year.
- Complete/get current on 23 book series throughout the year. This challenge was completed in Q3! I’ve caught up or completed 23+ series so far: Evie Blackwell, Bergman Brothers, Box 88, DS Manon, Truly Devious, Virgin River, After the End, Kathryn Dance, Joe Pickett, Cork O’Connor, Colter Shaw, Knockemout, Wilde, A Court of Thorns and Roses, Alchemical Journeys, Ruth Galloway, When in Rome, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Edge of Collapse, Six of Crows, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Bellinger Sisters, Cursebreakers, Stormlight Archive, and Anne of Green Gables.
- Read Patricia Cornwell’s entire Kay Scarpetta series (27 books). I did it right under the deadline! I really enjoyed diving into such a long and established mystery series this year.
- Read Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives series (6 books). I started this series in June and finished it in August as one of my summer reading goals. I loved reading these longer books over the summer.
- Read L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series (8 books). I also started this series in June and was able to wrap it up in September. What a lovely series of books! Since I had read some of these books as a child, they were very fun to revisit as an adult.
- Keep up with posting at least two videos per month to my YouTube channel related to books and reading (you can see my videos here). I kept up with this goal through posting a TBR video (what I’m hoping to read) and a TBR debrief video (what I actually read) each month of 2023.
Goals that support my wellness & health
- Practice intuitive exercise. I got into more of a groove toward the end of Q1 with exercising and I’ve been able to keep it up. I’m mostly walking, biking, and doing yoga. I set a summer goal of 6k minutes on the Peloton app, which I was able to accomplish. Although I didn’t get to the annual goal of 20k minutes on the Peloton app, I’m really happy with how I expanded my movement practices this year.
- Take at least a week of vacation off from work. Done! I took a week off in late March and it was so wonderful. You can hear me debrief this retreat period in this podcast episode. I also took another two weeks off in late June/early July and I loved that extra time away from the office.
- Get a massage. Done! I completed this in late September and it was just as wonderful as I thought it would be.
Professional and Personal Development
- Listen to at least five podcast episodes each month. Done! I really appreciated having this goal to motivate me to get back into podcast listening by trying out some new shows and catching up on old favorites.
- Celebrate turning 40 in a way that’s meaningful to me. Done! As I talked about in this podcast episode, I wrapped up earning an MS in Organizational Leadership in December of this year.
- Journal through all the questions in Debbie Millman’s The Remarkable Life Deck (“a ten-year plan for achieving your dreams”). I started this journaling project in Q2 by responding to six of the different questions in the deck. I wrapped up most of the remaining questions in Q4 of the year. This was a really fun exercise and I noticed some new patterns in my reflections that have given me some things to think about.
Miscellaneous
- Pay off 20% of our current mortgage balance. Done! I got a little impatient in September and decided to just pay the rest of this out of some savings. It felt great to check this off my list and I feel really proud of staying accountable to this multi-year financial goal.
- Watch the entire Dawson’s Creek television series. I made it through Season 4, but then stalled before finishing the last couple of seasons. I’ll add the remaining seasons to my must-watch list in 2024.
- Watch all the X-Men movies. This is done! I was able to wrap up the remaining movies in Q4.
- Listen to every Taylor Swift song in album order. Done! I admit that I skipped the Taylor’s Version albums to meet this goal, but I can look forward to listening to those in the future.
TBD
- Apply for and receive approval for Level 1 coach training accreditation with ICF (Q1). My first goal that I added for Q1 was related to a new accreditation for my coach training program. I’m currently a Level 2 program, but would also like to be accredited as a Level 1 program since it will help my coach training participants. I got this application completed and submitted in Q1 and then learned of it’s approval in Q2!
- Transition into new job responsibilities (Q2). As I mentioned on this podcast episode, in Q2 I was asked to take on some new responsibilities at work, which meant inheriting a new team and adjusting my title. This was not a change that I had expected when I set my annual goals for the year, so it’s a perfect example of why I leave some of these goal spots open to fill in each quarter!
- Officially pay off one-third of our total mortgage (Q3). Over the past two years since we moved to Denver and purchased our home here, my partner and I have been making pretty aggressive extra payments toward our mortgage principle. We just paid off one-third of the total amount, which equates to slightly more than ten years of fewer payments on our thirty year loan. As you can imagine, this also saves us a lot in interest over time. I’m proud of our progress on this financial goal and looking forward to seeing how quickly we can pay off the total!
- Turn in the revisions for my book project (Q4). The second edition of The Blended Course Design Workbook was due in November and it felt so satisfying to get it turned in.
What are you most proud of from your 2023 goals?