2021 Annual Review
In preparation of reviewing 2021, I took the time to re-read my post last year’s post—2021 Resolutions + Goals—and I reviewed my weekly recap journalling template. My goals morphed throughout the year.
I had also forgotten about my distinction between a resolution (more of a vague theme for the year) and a goal (a task to complete).
On top of reflecting on accountability to strivings throughout the year, a lot has also happened in terms of life impact:
- I graduated Army flight school becoming a commercially rated helicopter pilot, as well as an Army pilot
- We moved back to Denver
- My sister moved in with us (it’s hard negotiating a roommate again)
- My older daughter started kindergarten
- My wife started a master’s degree
- I started back at work
- I returned to my unit and am working through progression as an Army pilot
Here’s the breakdown of everything…
Resolutions
Year of the Family
I’ve tried to find little ways to connect with the girls more. I’ve employed them helping me in the garage just as my dad did. I get it now. I need to find more of my hobbies that I can share with them, because they’ll be excited to just be together. They sure like tape measures 😉
Emphasis on Mental Health
Journaling—Writing in a journal is how I work out my thoughts. I’m much more articulate in my writing than in spoken word. I like finding my way through a problem as the words get typed out. This is an easy way for me to release the pressure building up, like how in Getting Things Done, once it’s out of your head and stored somewhere securely, you can relax.
Therapy—I did see a counselor in flight school, which helped me find ways to deal with the stress of a military schoolhouse, as well as navigate my relationship with my kids better (i.e. finding things to do with them).
Solitude—I love my morning alone time. I need to use that, though, for self-development more. I’d like to wake up, do my scripture study, journal, and exercise all before starting work.
No Social Media on Phone—I’ve been off-and-on with this one for so long, but it’s working out having it on my iPad to play around on before bed but not on my phone where I’ll reach for my device instead of being present.
Stretch Daily with Intention
This one started out pretty good, and I was using a buddy’s ROMWOD subscription to close each day in a thorough stretch, but it just didn’t last. I am finishing my workouts with a 6-minute stretch using the Precor 240i Commercial Series StretchTrainer at the gym. I don’t feel more flexible, and it’d certainly help with my neck, but slow and steady progress, I suppose.
Honor the Sabbath
Honoring the Sabbath has been a good mindset to come back to every Sunday.
Documentary Sunday—We haven’t done one of these in a long time. It’s a nice break in our media consumption, but Shalene’s in a master’s program, so she does a lot of heavy reading on Sundays.
No Video Games—I’ve been consistent with this one!
No Studying—I have not been consistent with this one.
No Caffeine—Nor this one. The idea here was that I have the time and space in my schedule to nap, so choose a nap over caffeine.
Goals
Read the Book of Mormon
My thought process here is that if I’m reading 50+ books per year, I ought to put some of that time toward one of our most important religious texts. I started feeling guilty about not making progress, but I kept saying I’ll do it when we move back to Colorado. I started the audio version in October and wrapped up in January. I’m going to call this a win, because I otherwise wouldn’t have gotten another iteration of the Book of Mormon in this year.
Read The Saints, Volume 1
This is both an overarching narrative of the early members of my faith as well as many personal stories of individuals. I started it at the beginning of the year in an effort to read more religious books, and it’s been really easy to pick up and put down with how short its chapters are.
Read One Academic Paper per Week
The thought was that I would read an academic paper each week to start preparing for a master’s degree and thinking about potential theses or research topics. I’m ultimately pursuing a non-thesis master’s, but I’d like a PhD after that, so it’s still relevant. I was just too busy studying for flight school to take on some more serious reading.
Be Google-free
I’m definitely not Google-free, but I’ve transitioned a lot of my stuff away from Google. If there’s a viable non-Google option, I’m trying to go for that. I’ve been using Brave with Duck Duck Go, but Army websites basically only work with Chrome. I’m still using Gmail, but I’d eventually like to host my own server and not use Google. We’re using Google Calendar for now, but the more I think about it, the more I’d prefer Apple over Google, and they almost always have a comparable product.
Marriage Meeting Template
Finally, a goal that has gone really well! We’ve been earnestly attempting to have a sit-down marriage meeting every Sunday. I’ve continued to refine our template in Evernote that progresses us through the conversation, tracks action items, and helps discuss calendar items. Here’s the current version of my template.
Journaling Template
Here’s what the second half of my weekly recap journaling template looked like for the year:
2021 Resolutions
Family
- Year of the Family—Already discussed.
- Marriage Meeting—Already discussed.
Faith
- Honor the Sabbath—Already discussed.
- Read The Book of Mormon—Already discussed.
- Read The Saints, Volume 1—Already discussed.
Finance
- Entrepreneurship—I already have two jobs, but I thought that by bringing up entrepreneurship each week, it would keep me frosty looking for new ideas. In fact, there has been a company I’ve been working to take over, it has just stalled out a bit. I need to get going on that again 🤔
Fitness
- Stretching—Already discussed.
- Caffeine—I wanted to limit my caffeine consumption because I’m pretty dependent on it every day (okay, cut me some slack, what American isn’t?). I notice it makes me more irritable, and I don’t drink water without my lil flavor packet that has caffeine. I feel like it’s a vice, and I would have better regulation over my day without caffeine. But we also run ourselves thin, so could I actually survive? TBD. I did attend a 3-week Army course where caffeine wasn’t allowed, so it’s possible I guess.
- Mental Health—Already discussed.
Flight
- It doesn’t get better than graduating flight school! Now to work my way through the progression process with my unit and become a capable and competent Aviator.
Sustainability
- It’s really important to me to do what I can for the environment. I probably didn’t need to be journalling about it every week (and I often didn’t), but in the same way I liked reflecting on entrepreneurship each week, I liked keeping this top-of-mind, because it matters to me.
Learning
- Academic Papers—Already discussed.
- 52 Books—See Books of 2021.
I ironically enjoyed my 2020 Annual Review notes much more than my 2021 Resolutions + Goals post. It felt much more manageable and much more…me. It gave me the freedom to dabble in things that excite me rather than feel beholden to self-imposed constraints. It’s hard to be halfway through a year and still feel obligated to hold myself to the vision I had for future Jonny at the beginning of the year!