Nine by Nineteen: how did I do for Q4?
You can read my Nine by Nineteen goals here
1.Afternoon tea
This resolution went fully out of the window by the end of summer. An increase in workload at my office job made me grab coffee over tea almost every day. That said, at home I’ve been brewing more tea over the weekends. A side effect of the colder months making me want to get cosy whenever I can. I did not finish the box of bedtime tea because I’ve noticed it actually had the opposite effect for me? However, I’m almost out of a certain black tea infused with orange peel and cardamon, so that’s at least one tea box I can declutter. For christmas I was gifted a beautiful matcha tea set, which should be great motivator to use up all the matcha tea stored in our cupboard.
Conclusion: Semi-semi. I used up quite some tea that I wasn’t fond of but you wouldn’t say it if you saw our tea cupboard as it’s still brimming with tea boxes and bags.
2. Analyse wardrobe
This has been on the backburner since my last check-in. I find it hard to make some time to update my dataset. Nevertheless, I’m more conscious of my purchases and I’ve been getting better at knowing what I love and works for me. This is definitely a goal I want to keep working on in 2020. Especially since I’ve been buying more second hand and I’ve felt less inclined to go clothes shopping than in the past.
Conclusion: I’d say I’ve done fairly well over the year. I managed to complete my dataset and curate my wardrobe more over the year. I’m well aware that this is a process that could take years (maybe even a lifetime) and right now I also understand that I shouldn’t be too hard on myself for having off periods once and a while. I’m motivated to keep this goal in my life.
3. Keep capture
This is going fairly well. I sometimes have on or off periods when it comes to photography but when I look back at my journal, I do see that I’ve captured a great deal of my life events in 2019. But online not so much so. Somewhere in October I really felt like I made a switch from online to offline and I feel no regrets about that. My Instagram is basically non-active at the moment and I’ve switched back to Flickr. Though the latter is still a bit on the downlow at the moment.
Conclusion: I’d say I succeeded in this one.
4. One video
I’ve succeeded in this goal and then some. I’ve created two videos (one for Japan and one for Budapest) and failed at another (I filmed our Toronto trip but once I imported the footage, I felft it was unusable and have subsequently ditched the project). There may be one I’m working on for my birthday city break in London. Hopefully, the footage I made is good enough to work with. I’ve learned much from each project (especially the failed one – don’t underestimate what you can learn from mistakes) and am motivated to keep on learning more video tricks.
Conclusion: Succeeded!
5. Learn to sew
As mentioned before, this one is on hold for the future
Conclusion: On hold
6. Less phone, more books/movies
I’ve completely lost sight of this goal. I did manage to see a couple of films and series but when it comes to books, I’m struggling to get through Jane Austen’s Manfield Park. I don’t think I’m in the right mindset for an Austen novel and am thinking of switching to something else on my book list. When it comes to staying off the phone, heh, well, that’s not really working out. Though I did manage to stay off Facebook with a little help from my phone’s screen time limitations.
Conclusion: Less than ideal. I do want to make more time for reading in the future. Being less on my phone, I guess that’s just not going to happen.
7. Wake up early
This just isn’t a priority for me anymore. I can get up early when needed but if I don’t need to, I don’t need to. It’s better to snooze a bit longer if that’s what your body needs.
Conclusion: Failed
8. Plastic free
For Christmas I was gifted reusable cotton rounds, so that’s one step closer to limit waste. But apart from that, there isn’t much more that I’ve done really.
Conclusion: Not sure. I’ve certainly taken steps in the right direction this year but I don’t feel like I’m really going out of my way to avoid plastic or single use waste.
9. Minimize clutter
I’ve done a big clearout of makeup clutter (probably prompted by a future empties post) this week. Apart from that, I haven’t felt the itch to declutter much. Though it helps that we haven’t bought many things besides from practical tools and such. I do feel like doing a couple of declutter sessions between now and the end of the year. There are some house renovation plans and the less stuff we have, the less things need to be covered or can get damaged during the renovation.
Conclusion: Not sure. Like with the plastic free goal, I don’t think I’ve gone actively out of my way to work on this but on the other hand, I have formed habits that make it easier to passively work on this goal.
What did I learn from keeping yearly goals?
- Make your goals tangible
The goal I thought would be hardest, was actually the easiest to succeed in. Making one video is a very tangible goal and that made it easy to get it. In hindsight, I believe some goals could have benefitted from a similar approach (Finish up X tea boxes, Read/watch X books/films,…)
- You can learn a lot from failing a goal
In the case of waking up early or learning to sew, I have learned that I failed these goals because they simply were not something I could prioritise in my life right now. There’s no shame in failing a goal but if you do, it pays to reflect on why you failed and if there’s something you could do to meet your goal next time.
- Your goal priorities will change
Some goals change course over the year. For capture, I’ve noticed a shift from digital photography to film photography and a shift from online sharing to offline private memories are something I needed in my life right now.