My 2020 Year In Review
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I want to give credit where credit is due: James Clear inspired me to begin writing these yearly recaps. His book, Atomic Habits, was my favorite book of 2020 and inspired me to begin documenting my successes and failures publicly. I will be doing this every year moving forward.
Here are the three questions I’ll be focused on:
What went well this year?
What didn’t go so well this year?
What are my 2021 goals?
With that, let’s begin my 2020 Year In Review!
What went well this year?
Fitness
After pushing myself day in and day out I’m proud to say that I’m in the best shape of my life. Fitness has been a priority for me since August of 2019 when my lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits caught up with me. This began to take a toll both physically and mentally, and I desperately needed to make a change. I started playing Tennis 2-3 times a week and I joined a competitive adult league (level 3.5) that had one practice and one match each week. I combined Tennis with weight lifting at LA Fitness 2-4 times a week and began to see results quickly. I constantly iterated my workouts and learned from my mistakes and got stronger and more confident at the gym. My goal was to be in the best shape possible for traveling to Peru with my friend in February 2020. I worked my ass off leading up to that trip.
Then, when the pandemic hit, I struggled to stay mentally strong and used fitness as a healthy outlet. Tennis was canceled and I couldn’t go to the gym, so I needed to adapt. I learned how to work out at home and bought the necessary home workout equipment to get the job done. For cardio, I ran, played basketball at the local middle school hoops, and played soccer at my local turf field. Likewise, I began running (1-6 miles) and/or walking (2-10 miles) to get time outside of my little one-bedroom apartment. This was majorly beneficial, as I could catch up on my podcasts and think freely while getting some sunshine.
2021 Fitness Goal: Continue working out a minimum of 3-5 times per week. Gain 8+ pounds of muscle growth before Jan. 1, 2022. Play in a Tennis League (Level 3.5/4.0) and/or Join a competitive Adult Soccer League once I have the vaccine.
Healthy Diet
When the pandemic hit I was doing a good job of working out; however, my eating habits were terrible. I was still eating way too much fast food and rarely made my own lunch and dinner. I entirely transformed my eating habits as of March 2020 when we began to quarantine and I have maintained these habits throughout most of 2020. I’m proud to say I’m grocery shopping, cooking home-cooked meals, and snacking on healthy foods. Sustaining this was one of the biggest challenges of the year. I firmly believe that, without my fitness program and healthy eating, my mental health may have spiraled out of control multiple times throughout the year.
October 9th, 2019
September 3rd, 2020
2021 Healthy Eating Goal: Continue habits of eating healthy and cooking food at home whenever possible. This doesn’t mean cutting down on portions; protein is important. Continue cutting down on fast food & binge drinking. Limit to one fast food meal per week.
Relationships
The pandemic provided an opportunity to spend more time with my immediate family over the course of 2020. Because of quarantine, my family were the only people included in my “close circle,” so I found myself spending a lot of quality time with them when I needed to escape my one-bedroom apartment. I’m thankful that I live close to both sides of the family.
Side note: I adopted “Lilly” (our family cat on my Dad’s side) in March and she’s been an amazing roommate over the course of this year. I may have gone crazy without someone else to talk to early on in my small one-bedroom apartment.
Also, for the first time in a long time, I’m in a committed relationship and loving every second of it. She’s an absolute catch and I’m so glad the stars aligned despite us being in the middle of a pandemic. She’s made the second half of 2020 absolutely amazing and I’m excited to continue our journey together in 2021.
Lastly, the pandemic has provided a unique challenge to try and stay close with my friends. Lockdown essentially shut down most in-person hangouts, and adjusting wasn’t easy for anyone. However, despite the hardships, I’m thankful to have so many amazing people in my life. I can’t freaking wait for this pandemic to be behind us.
2021 Relationships Goal: Don’t get in my own way. Live life in the present and remember to value each and every day I have with my loved ones. Eliminate toxic banter and focus on raising my family and friends up. Don’t be afraid to kick people out of my life if they’re repeatedly bringing me down.
Mental Health
One huge bright spot, quite ironically, was the improvement of my Mental Health in the middle of a pandemic. Yes, it was REALLY HARD to maintain a positive outlook despite our hellish real-world situation; however, my positive habits carried me to the strongest point in my mental health journey. The three biggest factors, in my opinion:
Fitness & Healthy Eating
Podcasts & Books
Strong Relationships
I can’t believe how good I felt after changing my diet and working out daily. Remember, we’re all just one big science experiment. You need to treat your body well for peak performance in all aspects of your life. My worst mental health came when I didn’t work out, ate fast food for every meal, and had a few beers almost nightly. After eliminating these things and adding healthy habits instead I feel like a new person, with newfound confidence. Likewise, I doubled down on solving my mental health problems by listening to podcasts and reading books. I spent a lot of time with my own thoughts and continue to work out my mental issues. This was so so so hard yet extremely beneficial, and I will continue to have these hard conversations with myself moving forward. Lastly, having strong relationships with my family and friends added that extra level of support when I was at my lowest this year. It feels good to be surrounded by people that care. There’s no doubt this year was extremely hard on my mental health; however, this year compounded five years of self-growth into 12 months. For that I’m grateful.
2021 Mental Health Goal: Continue my mental health journey and build upon a successful 2020. Explore mindfulness and continue to go above and beyond my comfort zone, both personally and professionally, to grow into a better version of myself. Grow my confidence and take charge of my life.
Writing
I absolutely love writing, but I never made an effort to publish articles or write blog posts consistently until this year. Now, I’m getting better and better at getting my thoughts on paper and publicly sharing them with family and friends. This helps me improve my writing abilities and gives me another healthy outlet, which I love.
2021 Writing Goal: Write and publish more, period. Continue getting better at making my articles and blog posts more entertaining and captivating to read.
Travel
*Before the Pandemic
In February 2020, before the pandemic hit, my friend and I traveled to Peru to explore South America for the first time. We spent time in Cusco, Lima, and the Peruvian Jungle. It’s important to me to spend time exploring this beautiful earth, and I was set on leaving my comfort zone to do something crazy. This turned out to be the BEST TIMING because the pandemic shut everything down right when we returned. I hope to take another big trip sometime in late 2021 or early 2022.
2021 Travel Goal (Or whenever it’s safe to travel again): Go out of my comfort zone and explore another natural wonder outside of the United States. Life is short, explore the beauty of this world while I’m young. Create stories and discover more about nature.
What Didn’t go so well this year?
The World; AKA the US
I mean, yikes. The pandemic, our politics, protests, etc. I could go on FOREVER. We need to see real change in our country NOW. I’m so tired of living history every single day. What a shit show. I’ll just stop here.
2021 Goal: Stand up for issues that are important to me or others whose voices are silenced. Continue to have hard conversations and be a part of the solution for a better, more empathetic world. Watch less mainstream news and listen to more educational podcasts. Work towards understanding other Americans who may disagree with me with peaceful, understanding rhetoric.
Career
I was laid off from my full-time job in the Event Industry due to the Pandemic and have struggled to find another job. Competition is fierce, which challenged me to get better in my field and level up my effort. I started my own freelancing business, Rose City Marketing, which has been very fun, fulfilling, and challenging; however, it’s not paying the bills as of now. Despite my current job situation, this pandemic has allowed for a lot of personal and professional growth and that, when I find the right opportunity, these hard times will act as a slingshot to my career rather than a setback. I’m positioning myself to be successful, and I’m confident I’ll be ready to step up.
2021 Career Goal: Don’t Settle. Find a good job, surround myself with amazing people, and reach my full potential. Continue to grow my additional revenue streams and keep exploring ways to grow wealth. Be ready to act quickly on a good idea or opportunity.
Bad Habits
Despite my addition of many healthy habits, I of course have a multitude of toxic habits I’d like to work on. I spend too much time watching TV. I use my phone right before I go to bed. I need to continue cutting down on casual drinking. I need to do a better job of keeping my kitchen clean. I need to do a better job of reaching out to my family and friends. I need to remember names when I meet someone new. I could go on and on and on, but the important thing is to understand my faults and actively work on solutions.
2021 Habits Goal: Document ALL of my habits, both good and bad, and keep track of them in a journal. Once I have data, set goals to actively work on improving, reducing, or eliminating these toxic habits and add healthy ones.
Reading
Going into 2020 I wanted to read more books, point-blank. I did that; however, I wish I made a better effort year-round. I was inconsistent and didn’t get through as many pages as I originally hoped for. I’m going to level up in 2021. No questions about it.
2021 Reading Goal: Read at least one page (Yes, just one!!) every day.
That wraps up my 2020 year in review. Cheers to a good 2021!
Hayden Schuster
