[Yearly Review] Part 2: did I achieve my goals in 2013?

Part two of my end of year review, and I'm again looking back at 2013. This time I'm going to look at the goals I set myself for the year, and see how successful I was at achieving them. 2012 didn't go too well, so have I managed to go any better this time around?

General

Sort out my life post St Andrews - This was a soft goal, as I had to do it or end up back at home! In the end I was pretty lucky, and managed to get a job fairly quickly, in the field I wanted.

Save at least £2000 - Not even close! I spent a lot more than I thought I would finishing off my PhD, and I'm a long way away from recouping that loss, let alone adding to my savings.

Maintain my weight at 12st - I don't know about this one at the moment, as I can't weigh myself at home. It's been up and down a little bit this year, but has fluctuated between 12st and 12.5st

Write some games reviews on this blog - I managed a few book reviews, and even a bit of TV, but again it's been mostly films that I've reviewed.

Work

Decide on my initial career direction - Postdoc it is, although I did apply for jobs in science outreach.

Finish my PhD - Again, I didn't have much choice with this one!

Publish my fourth paper. - I'm close though. It was submitted to the journal several weeks before Christmas, and I'm waiting to hear back from the referee.

Reading

Read 30 fiction books - I destroyed this goal; the count stands at 45 fiction books read, the most since I started keeping records. Admittedly there were quite a few novellas in there, and fewer big, chunky epics than before, but I'll take it.

Read 5 non-fiction books - I made it to three.

Replace my e-reader - I got a replacement, of the exact same model, from my parents for my birthday.

Buy some bookshelves - Ok, so I didn't 'buy' them. They were donated by my parents. But it still counts!

TV and film

Watch two TV series from my collection - I managed one series, Samurai Jack, but got caught up in watching YouTube videos and streamed TV rather than watching what I already have.

Watch at least 3 films from my collection - I watched a single film only from my vast collection. That's not to say that I didn't watch many films, but that like the television shows I saw, they were streamed.

Wargaming

Paint 26 models - Only 21 sadly, and 5 of those were pieces of scenery. Most of the rest contributed to the next goal. I started a lot of models as part of the Lost Hemisphere Challenge, but never finished them off.

Finish painting my Aquan Prime fleet - It's not all of the Aquans I own, but I've painted a starter fleet plus carrier, as well as some escorts.

Finish painting my 50pt Deneghra list - Fell down on this one again. The Mechanithralls are at least half done now though.

Build my WW2 tanks - Still no progress here either. But I do have a better idea of games system to use them in.

Participate in at least one tournament -  I made it to quite a few tournaments and organised play events in the end, and had a blast at all of them. My overall record isn't great (41%), but that's not important.

Play at least one game of at least two different systems - I played a decent number of games, but it was all Warmachine/Hordes. And I refuse to count them as different systems.

Board gaming

Play at least five new games - This one turned out to be very easy indeed. My brother has started getting into board games in a big way too, and my move back to Warwick has given me access to the Warwick Sci-Fi society again. In the end I played the grand total of 16 new games.

Computer gaming

Finish 2 games single-player - Again, I fell short. One game completed (Gears of War 3), but a lot that I'm midway through.

Play online multiplayer at least once - Nope, and I'm giving up on this one for the foreseeable future. I enjoyed it when I did play online, but these days I'm more of a solo console gamer I think.

Lifesaving

Improve at least two Personal Bests - Against all odds, I actually managed this one! I improved my line-throw (non-speeds) PB, and my long-course (and overall) swim-tow PB, admittedly towing someone much lighter than my usual casualties!

Run a successful BULSCA Championships event - It was stressful, but I did eventually pull off the Champs. Feedback was generally very positive, and unprompted. Looking back, it's one of my greatest achievements in lifesaving.

Win at least one medal at the Scottish Short Course - It was exactly one, but it counts.

Win a BULSCA league medal. - Not even close. I didn't even manage to compete at all the events in the second half of my final competition season.

Fully qualify as a Survive & Save Trainer-Assessor - Now I just need to use it!

Train a new captain for the St Andrews Seacows. - Sadly the time for this just never materialised, what with my teaching duties at the club. But as numbers were dropping, and competitions were gradually becoming less of a priority for the club, I'm not too unhappy. I do still wish I'd managed to find just half an hour one evening though for it.


Looking back at these, they still mostly look realistic too me. The ones that I missed I was often close to achieving, or at least made some amount of progress on, and failed to meet owing to 'too many hobbies, too little time'. Still, of 28 goals I completed 13 (possibly 14), which isn't bad.

In part 3 I'll be setting my goals for 2014. If I can at least match this year's success I'll be very happy indeed.