Welcome to 2021. Happy New Year! 2020 was definitely a bizarre and challenging year that many of us will be happy to see the back of. Before we jump headlong into 2021, let’s say “farewell 2020” with a look back on the year that was – or maybe the year that wasn’t is a better way of looking at it.

First, I’ll wrap up 2020 with a look at the highlights of the year on my blog, including my most popular posts of the year. Then, I’ll recap how I did on the eco-friendly living and other goals I set at the beginning of last year.

I’ve got something different and exciting lined up for 2021 on the blog. I’ll have more on that in tomorrow’s post. For now, let’s put a bow on 2020.

Blogging highlights of 2020

2020 was my first full year of blogging. It was definitely a year of growth and learning. At the beginning of the year, I set a goal to publish one new blog post a week. Maybe it was the pandemic but, by March, I was writing two posts a week. By mid-May, I increased to three posts a week which I kept up for the rest of the year.

Some highlights of the year from a blogging perspective:

• 159 posts published
• Close to 12,000 views
• I ventured beyond eco-friendly living to write about some different topics.
• For the first time, I participated in Blogmas. Publishing 25 posts in 25 days was a lot of work, but it was really fun and introduced my blog to some new readers.
• I learned a lot about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Pinterest, DA (Domain Authority), and using Canva to design images.
• I made some great blogging friends and did a couple of collaborations with other bloggers.

Overall, I’m really happy with how the year went from a blogging perspective. Here are the 10 posts that got the most views:

• Reflections on 30 years in the group retirement business
• Why I switched to home pedicures
• Easy 4-ingredient DIY toilet cleaner…that works!
• Changing career direction – Do it your way!
• Discover the magic of matcha
• Acceptable workplace behaviour – then and now
• Tips to make working from home work for you
• Try these zero-waste hair removal options
• Why I reject some zero-waste swaps

But, blogging isn’t all about the numbers. Here are the three posts I’m most proud of from 2020:

• Best ways to support someone with cancer
• How a breast self exam saved my life!

Year-end goals report card

The end of a year is a good opportunity to look back and reflect on how we did on our goals for the year.

Beyond the blog, I set some goals at the beginning of the year related to eco-friendly living. Here’s how the year went.

Eco-Friendly Living Goals

Buy no new clothes

As I shared in Why it’s time to ditch fast fashion, clothing waste is a huge environmental issue. With that in mind, I set a goal to buy no new clothes in 2020.

Overall, I’m happy with how I did with this. I bought a grand total of 5 items of new clothing last year: two blouses, a pair of workout shorts, a pair of workout leggings, and a pair of red leggings to wear at Christmas.

I’ll give myself a B+ on this one.

Declutter my home

After a slow start, I really ramped up my decluttering efforts in the second half of the year. I participated in the October decluttering challenge put out by Bonnie at Beautiful Minimal Millennial. That made a huge difference.

I still have work to do, but I think I’ve earned a B+ on this one too.

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Other goals

I also set a few goals that aren’t related to eco-friendly living. Here’s an update on them:

• Work out for at least 30 minutes 4 times a week – Working from home made it a lot easier to meet this goal. I found some new home workout programs and averaged 4.4 workouts a week for the year. A+
• Average 10,000 steps a day – I met this goal for most of the year. The winter weather and dark evenings have made it a little more challenging to get my steps in over the last few weeks. I finished the year with an average daily step count of 9,680. A
• Lose 10 pounds. I finally achieved this one! A
• Pass the ISCEBS continuing education exam. I completed this one the first week of June. A+
• Connect with friends more. Here’s one that COVID has made more difficult. I really need to make more of an effort to connect online or by phone this year. D

Looking ahead to 2021

2020 was a year like no other. Overall, I’m happy with how things went. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, I was able to achieve most of my goals. Like many of you, I learned to make the best of a bad situation.

I’m putting the finishing touches on my goals for 2021. I’ll share them next week.

How did you do on your 2020 goals? Tell us about it below.