25 before 25: Final Review

If you have been in tune with The Keen Kind (previously named "With Grace") for the past year you may recall my 24 Before 25 post. Beginning on the day of my 24th birthday, I sought to complete 24 (later turned 25) goals before I turned the big two-five.

I tracked my progress here on the blog with a six-month check-in. At this point, I still had a ways to go before completing my list. But I was confident! In fact, I even added an additional item to my to-dos. Lofty ambitions, much?

So now it is time for the final, one year check in. And it is safe to say...

I straight up failed.

1. GET A NEW JOB

Completed 3/1

2. TRAVEL

Completed 12/16, 12/28 - 1/4

3. MAKE A STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT

Monthly since x-mas

4. SUBMIT TO ANOTHER ART SHOW

Completed 2/1, 3/2, 6/12

5. EXPAND PAINTING PORTFOLIO

Eugh, once again I did not complete this. I made the work, I just haven’t photographed it yet.

6. MAKE WORKING OUT A HABIT

3x a week since April (minus a week or two here & there…)

And then I fell off the bandwagon a bit…but by that I mean I still worked out yet only once a week. Better than not at all!

7. STOP SMOKING

Eugh still no. My drunk self still smokes every now and then, though I usually always regret it.

8. YOGA YOGA YOGA

3x a week since March…kind of

In march I did a yoga class once a week, additional youtube yoga twice a week, an an occasional jog in between. But when my yoga class ended, so did my motivation to do it. I picked up doing yoga three times a week when I signed up for a month trial at a local yoga studio. But once that ended I just could not afford it anymore. Why is yoga so expensive!? I love it, I miss it, it makes me feel so good….but damn I cannot afford $100 a month to go to 4+ classes.

9. BE CONSCIOUS OF MY DIET

Completed in June

Vitamins and a conscious effort to eat protein and drink water. I’d say that’s a success.

10. FINALLY GET A CREDIT CARD

Yeah, still no. God knows I need a cc, though. My car recently broke down and, with no credit, finding a new car that fit my “wants” (instead of needs) was impossible.

11. MAKE ANOTHER FOUR BRINES

Never happened. Maybe it will happen in 2018? Who knows.

12. EXPAND GRAPHIC DESIGN PORTFOLIO

Completed 4/1

13. VOLUNTEER

Completed in November

Yes! Though I only volunteered once a for a few hours, it was something.

14. GO TO THE BEACH

Never happened :(

15. CAMPING

Eugh, nope. Never occurred either.

16. MESA VERDE OR THE ALLIGATOR FARM OR THE SAND DUNES

Another thing I failed to do

17. UPGRADE MY IPHONE

Completed 12/14

18. HORROR MOVIE FESTIVAL

So every. single. horror. movie. festival in Colorado was cancelled this year. That makes three, three, that didn’t happen. So I’m counting this one as out of my control.

19. LIVE COMEDY OR PODCAST SHOW

Eugh I wish I wish.

20. GO TO A (MUSIC) SHOW

Completed in May

Saw a not-my-cup-of-tea band. But it was still cool to be in a loud, dark venue around a bunch of head-bobbing hipsters and flashing lights.

21. GO TO A LIVE SHOW WITH MY GRANDMA

Even though I did not do this, I’m pretty sure I’m still her favorite grandchild. ;)

22. BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET

I don’t think I deserve to check this off. I wanted my savings to the 4 or 5k mark and I am not even close. Nonetheless, I still maintained a good cash “cushion” throughout the entire year. So maybe I should give myself some credit. I sort of did this.

23. COMMIT TO NEW FRIENDS

Yeah I don’t think this happened. Damn I really dropped the ball on this list.

24. IMPROVE SOCIAL MEDIA

Yeah, nope. I just made a facebook page a few weeks ago.

25. PSYCHIC READING

I wish! I would of loved to do this. However, I learned psychic readings are a lot more expensive than I expected. I assumed I could throw down $20 for a palm reading. But nope, more like $50 to $100.

If this list was a test, I would have received a fat F. I only completed 11 out of 25 goals –- which is a whopping 44% completion rate. That’s pretty lame.

I am disappointed to see how poor I have done, especially since I regularly checked in with myself on my progress. But you know what's worse than that? Most of the stuff I failed to do was fun: go camping, see a live show, a psychic reading, and more. I spent more time checking off necessary to-do's rather than treat-yo-self moments.

It is clear to me that I need to treat the exciting points on my list as seriously as I do the lifestyle changes. Just because I need to workout or make student loan payments does not mean I cannot enjoy a show here or there. For my next list, 26 before 26, I will keep that in mind.

Throughout this next year I hope to balance the must-do's with the want-to-do's. Both are important.

Did you create a list of goals to complete before your next birthday? Or perhaps you had a few goals for the New Year?

Let me know how you did in 2017 in the comments below. Or, share some of your goals for 2018.