We’ve arrived at the midway point of 2021. So how am I progressing against my goals for the year?
It’s a bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. Full steam ahead on some objectives, but grinding to a halt on others.
Health
All through this year, I’ve performed well against my health-related targets. That remained the case in June.
I developed a case of gout in my right foot towards the end of the month which limited my ability to get out and about. But even so, I still passed 20,000 steps 24 times during the month. So I’m still reaching this goal comfortably in what (for me) was a relatively ‘bad’ month.
While my weight loss deadline came and went in March, I’ve continued to steadily lose around a pound a month regardless. I ended this month at 12 stone 4. That matches my lowest ever weight as an adult, which I first achieved in the early weeks of lockdown last year. My weight isn’t a focus any more but it’s good to know it’s under control.
Despite my gout, I’m still forging ahead on my virtual challenge of completing Route 66 by the end of the year. I’ve eaten into my buffer slightly over the last few days, but I still finished June over 200km ahead of schedule, further along than at the end of May.
Where I am struggling is in my attempts to resume running. Delays to the UK’s exit from pandemic restrictions have pushed back Parkrun’s return, which in turn has punctured my efforts and motivation in this area. And then my gout kicked in. The bottom line is I only ran a couple of times all month.
Parkrun is scheduled to return in late July but I’m going to be kind, cut myself a little slack and move the deadline for this out to the end of September. It’s a nice-to-do rather than a need-to-do, so there’s no hurry here and I can focus on other goals where I’m falling short instead.
I do, however, feel a need to set myself a stretching physical goal for the rest of the year. I’m not sure what that is yet, so I’m going to mull it over in my subconscious and set something next month.
Wealth
I’ve been slack again on these two goals this month. Disappointingly, I’ve made only a tiny amount of progress on the doomsday document and none at all on the will.
This has been partly due to a lack of time. Work has been busy. My gout impacted my sleep quality and energy levels. And there have been the dual distractions of Euro 2020 and the start of the Tour de France. But no excuses. It’s been mostly my own procrastination – again – that has hindered my progress here.
Time to get on with it and get both of these done. I’m giving myself until the end of the school summer holidays to get these completed, or I will be having some serious words with myself.
Self
I haven’t finished any books this month. In truth, I’ve barely picked up my current book – Susie Dent’s Word Perfect – at all. That’s been more due to a lack of time than a lack of willingness on my part. Hopefully that should change in the early part of July as Euro 2020 winds down and the Tour de France ends on the 18th.
What spare time I have enjoyed has often been devoted to cooking for the family and spending quality time with the kids, so I’m still green on both those goals.
As with my ‘wealth’ goals, though, I’ve made minimal progress on sorting out our study. I’m planning to set aside a couple of evenings this month to finally complete this job, and then I can finally tick it off the list.
So overall it’s been an up-and-down sort of month. It’s not the first time I’ve suffered with mid-year blues. I recognise the warning signs. Time to pull myself out of my funk and ensure I don’t allow myself to drift through the second half of the year.
Previous ‘2021 goals’ updates
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