At the beginning of 2012, I gave myself nine goals, nine things to achieve before the year was up. I know it’s a little early, but I thought I’d review them and see what I accomplished, or didn’t.
1. Finish another full-length work.
A definite failure, but the funny thing is, I probably wrote enough separate chapters to fill a novel. If only my mind could stick to one WIP…
2. Read 50 books.
Okay, I knew I had absolutely no chance. The fun was seeing how many I could actually read. As of today (Dec 17th) I’ve read 20. Failure. Could be worse!
3. Do well enough in college to get into university.
Finally, a success! I needed BCC to get onto my course of choice, and came out with ABC. In the end, I chose to take a year off, but it’s pretty cool to know that I achieved the grades nonetheless.
4. Be generally healthier.
Overall, a massive failure. End of story.
5. Spend less time wasting time.
Another success! Though there have been some day where all I’ve wanted to do is sit and do nothing, the majority of my time I’ve managed to fill with some sort of beneficial activity.
6. Write an article for an online website.
I started a blog, wrote articles for it, it’s online. Success. I’m also working on articles for other writing websites, but the main focus at the moment is Cinders Day.
7. Read a Brothers Grimm story every day.
I got the complete Brothers Grimm collection for Christmas last year, and worked out that if I read one tale a day, I could finish it in less than a year and add another book to my 50. For whatever reason, I never finished the book. Maybe I just fell out of habit. It’s a shame, the tales are good. So this one was a failure, but I might try this one again in 2013.
8. Get a job.
When I made this list of goals, my plans still involved going to university that year, so the job was only meant to be a part-time thing. But since I was taking a whole year off, I had to get a full-time job. I got one in a photo shop, so this one is a success.
9. Start learning to drive.
Another success. I started learning to drive in March, and I’m happy to say that I’m only a few more lessons away from taking the practical test for the first time.
Other achievements:
I’m trying to think of some other things I achieved in 2012. I did complete the Mass Effect trilogy twice, which comes to something like 200+ hours of game time altogether. Good times. Probably why I never finished a WIP. I also watched every single episode of Doctor Who since the 2005 revival and read the entire A Song of Ice and Fire series (which is probably why I only read 20 books – those novels are gargantuan!) I also fulfilled a long-time goal of becoming generally more confident.
Verdict: I completed 5/9 of my goals, so not a bad year altogether. I really enjoyed giving myself some goals to achieve, it felt like I was constantly working towards something. I’m going to give myself some more for 2013, which I’ll decide in a future post.
What goals have you guys achieved this year?
‘Till next time!
CINDERS DAY 
I only set one goal (or did I have a list too…?) and it was one I stole of you: read 50 books…. I failed even more than you did, since I got to a mere 7.
I did achieve other things though, even if they weren’t goals. I’m also definitely spending less time wasting time, am learning to drive, learned to play bass (a bit) and drew two great maps. All in all, not bad either, I think.
And I give you a big thumbs up for your achievements. You did well. 🙂