Why My Last Year's Goals Failed (and no, it wasn't all because of COVID)

I'm seeing lots of rueful laughter on social media right now about the folly of having bothered to purchase a planner for 2020. This was the year when the best-laid plans of all of us (in a butchering of Robert Burns's famous words) ganged a-gley. 

I launched 2020 with a sprawling, unwieldy, unworkable plan already doomed to early abandonment. Even though I am a veteran life-planner who knows that simple goals are best, I opted for my most complicated and convoluted set of plans ever. Faced with looming family crises, I decided that mere survival was too dispiriting a goal for the year. Instead, I would work on improving my health on EIGHT different dimensions: physical, mental, emotional, social, professional, financial, environmental, and spiritual - with half a dozen activities listed under each heading.

Some of the mandated activities didn't happen because of COVID. Under "social health," I had "Make sure to have one social outing every week" and "Plan SIX special getaways with friends this year!" HA! Under "environmental health," I had "Buy carbon offsets for flights." WHAT FLIGHTS? 

But mainly I didn't do most of the things I said I was going to do because it made my head hurt to look at that long, daunting list. Plus, some of the things I already knew I would never do, even as I dutifully wrote them down in my little notebook. I already knew I wasn't going to follow through on some additional new form of exercise, when for 66 years the only exercise I've ever loved (and do love passionately) is walking. I already knew I wasn't going to make radical alterations in my food intake, when for 66 years I've mainly lived on English muffins with butter and jam and am the healthiest person I know by far. Some of the things I might have done if they were the ONLY thing I asked of myself for the year, but not as one of several dozen!

The items I did succeed in crossing off the humongous list were the one-and-done things. I made a new will from a free online template (financial health): it felt great to know that if I died from COVID, my family would find my affairs in good order. I deleted the Twitter app on my phone, which took ten seconds and greatly improved the quality of my life (emotional health). 

But basically the list depressed me and didn't motivate me AT ALL. 

Looking back at the year, just in narrowly personal terms (i.e., not thinking about COVID, the election, my family, or the fate of the planet), the best part of the year was writing two verse novels for young readers. Every hour I spent on those projects was BLISS, and the two books those hours produced are the two best things I've ever written (according to all readers so far, including me). I also got clarity on the kinds of projects I DREAD: projects that make me feel bad about myself (teaching courses I'm not qualified to teach, and writing articles I'm not qualified to write). 

I'm going to use these twin insights - about BLISS and DREAD - to make my (VERY simple and VERY minimalist) plan for 2021. Stay tuned!