I’m slightly late with it, but it’s that time of year when I get all introspective and retrospective and all the spectives, really, and think about what I achieved in the last year and what I’d like to achieve next year/this year. It’s been difficult to get into that headspace this year – even though the time between Christmas and new year is usually my most productive and thoughtful time, it hasn’t come naturally, probably because – well, look at the state of this year.

Regardless, I’d like to have a little think about it, look at my previous goals and set some new ones. So this is what I said I wanted to achieve in 2020:

  • Progress to the second year of my PhD
  • Go to a conference related to my PhD
  • Continue to write and be published
  • Buy a house
  • Go to Florida again
  • Visit somewhere in the UK I haven’t been to before
  • Inject cancer-related chat into conversations around trauma, anxiety and mental health as much as possible and advocate for our experiences to be heard
  • Continue to be healthy

I did progress to the second year of my PhD! And I did go to some conferences, although they were all online. I even presented at my university’s post-graduate conference. I did continue to write and be published – see my list of 2020 publications here. I also bought a house, which I love, and that was the highlight of the year, if not one of the highlights of my entire life. I didn’t go to Florida again, because pandemic. The same goes for visiting somewhere in the UK I haven’t been to before. I did try to advocate for cancer survivors and talk about cancer trauma, at conferences, in social media and in my writing. And I did continue to be healthy, as far as I know – one appointment has been delayed due to the pandemic so I don’t want to assume too much. But that’s six of eight goals achieved, and those were only missed because we weren’t allowed to travel. Pretty happy with that!

My goals for 2021 are:

  • Progress to the third year of my PhD
  • Publish my memoir (due to be released on 7th February) and reach as many people as possible with my story
  • Start a podcast (due to be launched on 2nd January) and get some listeners/subscribers
  • Give some webinars/online workshops
  • Continue to write and be published
  • Go to Center Parcs again
  • Book another trip to Florida (to take in 2022, hopefully!)
  • Stay healthy
  • Enjoy the year

Happy new year, everyone.