I did... ok on my annual goals last year. I abandoned the baking goal and did not write or do pomodoros, and I only recently got back into my regular yoga practice. I did have fun listening to new music. The key for me is to expose myself deliberately to music reviews and news about music-- this reminds me that I want to listen to it.
The best thing about 2025 was also the most surprising: running-- I loved it so much. Ben and I kept talking about that on vacation as we ran a 5K on the beach and returned to the beach to run every morning but one when we ran through Harbour Town. On that run, we discovered a tiny little cemetery we've never seen before with graves dating back to the early 1800s, and we even ran on a golf course for a bit. It was so fun to see our favorite place in a whole new way. I am grateful for every mile I logged and sad it took me 47 years to become a runner.
For this year's list, I thought about 3 domains with 8 goals (2+6) in each area. This only gave me 24, so I also want to think about 2 HUGE areas and how to develop SMART goals for them each season
BIG GOALS:
creative writing
professional development
Hobbies and Home
Re-design my blog
Keep track of blog content
Use IG to promote blog posts
Read a book a week on my Kindle
Meet up with 2 new blog friends and keep current connections
Buy: lamps, pillows, duvet covers, seasonal candles
Buy a house in Peoria?
Perfect toll house cookies
Fitness:
Increase run to 40 minutes/day
Run just about every day in 2026 (think about what to do if I can't)
Run 3 races including a 10K
Hit protein and fiber macros MOST day (how many is most? 90%?)
Take a barre class
Ingest less sugar
Get a new friend for Annabel (that'll make me walk more)
Join a gym with Cooper
Celebrations:
Make a big deal about milestones:
Make sure to book Xmas pop up restaurant and outdoor globe
Buy flying wish paper for NYE 2026
Bake a variety of cookies for Christmas 2026
Stuff my own stocking
Shop early for holidays
Make Hanukkah special (December 4-December 12)
Visit BU and UW-EC once each semester
That's a lot of goals, Sarah! I wish you the best of luck with all of them. My own goals are evergreen and extremely nebulous and hard to quantify, although I do have a specific goal of getting a first draft of my second novel done. We will see! I think I'll be able to do it! And Inhale Exhale comes out soon, so there will be lots to do with that. Eeee!
ReplyDeleteI’m doing 25 in ‘26 since 25 in ‘25 worked well for me. I have to be careful about goal setting as it can be shame-triggering if I don’t achieve everything and so much can change in a year. So my list is more of a to do list with lots of fun things and not really any stretch goals which I am ok with.
ReplyDeletewell, I always love seeing goals lists!! There are some SERIOUSLY big goals there (buy a house!), exciting! Do you want to get faster or just run more quantity? I feel like you might love entering the wide world of training plans . . .
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed with your running! I love that you're loving it.
ReplyDeleteI have pretty relaxed goals (again) for this year and I'm okay with that. We're going to temporarily move to Europe for a while so that feels big. But, also, I'm thinking I'm just not as driven as I used to be. Mostly that's a good thing, but I do get pangs of regret when I see astonishing goals lists crop up!
My goals of the year clearly indicated that my priorities were not my goals. LOL. Hopefully that changes next year!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! I know a goal digger when I see one!
ReplyDelete2026 will be a lot of travel and a lot of living my best life! More to come!
Well, you have some intriguing goals- a friend for Annabel??? Oooh! Buy a house in Peoria? That sounds like a big one. I'm also intrigued about this blog re-design.
ReplyDeleteYou know I love all the running!!! You may have started late, but now you have the rest of your life to run.
“Buy a house” next to “Perfect toll house cookie” - I love you.
ReplyDelete“Stuff my own stocking” - I need to know more. In my house, if I did not stuff my own stocking, it would not have anything. Of course, I could say, “You know, it kind of sucks that I have to do this for myself” but I don’t want to. Or I could leave it empty one year, but I don’t want to. I could laugh a little too hard at the SNL skit where the mom gets a robe. I could not put anything in anyone’s stocking. OR, I could put all of the best things that I want in my stocking, realizing that it is important to me and not really to anyone else. Still, I do sometimes wish there were something in there that was a surprise. My husband offered to help me fill them this year, but what that meant was putting the things I had bought in there, not that he would do any of the other work, thinking, planning, whatever. (Full transparency - planning this year was panic buying treats at 7-11 on my Christmas Eve morning walk.)
I feel you. Please put all the best things in your own stocking AND ask for a little surprise from your husband.
DeleteBen is actually a terrific stocking stuffer, but we both bought things for ourselves to add in this year and really liked it. We thought we would try stuffing our own and see if we could buy little treats all year and be delighted on xmas morning.
DeleteLove these goals, very ambitious. Mine are more of a wish-list style, I know I am going to travel so I know it'll happen and t seems silly to make it a "goal" since I don't stretch myself when I travel. I just do it because that's who I am.
ReplyDeleteExercise and fitness will be my focus this year. I do not love any of it, lazy, I guess, and I must start doing something- something - every day.
Buy a house - wow, that's a big goal. I'm excited for you on this one. That would be so awesome for your two jobs in two different cities, and now with a kid studying there. Good luck. Hooray that you discovered a love for running. I am a late in life running person too. My body isn't always on board with me running anymore. My achy breaky back. Wahh. A run on the beach - delightful.
ReplyDeleteI'm not big on setting goals. I might try to delegate or tackle household tasks more evenly so we don't end up scrambling when the place is out of hand.
I'd like to be midway through revisions of my book by year end. I think this is doable as the first draft is almost done.
Love the glimpse of your "ins and outs." I'm all for a more relaxed vibe!
ReplyDeleteI am so, so inspired by your running (as I've probably said before) and plan (famous last words) to start in a small way when the podiatrist clears me (hopefully, sometime this month).
I'm older and more importantly my kids are older, so all I've done for the past few years is promise that I'll show up for myself and others in the best way I can that day. (This year seems like a good year to do just that at whatever level I can manage.)
The "ins and outs" remind me (Just realized) of similar columns in old-style women's mags. I miss those!!
DeleteJust chiming in to say that barre had me shredded when I was consistent lol. I can't remember why I stopped going, other than it's kind of expensive and I think I got a little bored, but it's a good workout. I did that plus indoor cycling (I hate running but love indoor cycling) and it was kind of a magic combo
ReplyDeleteI love your goals! Some big ones - buy a house! a friend for Annabel! Re-design blog! - and some really fun ones like perfecting Tollhouse cookies. :)
ReplyDeleteI am trying the spreadsheet version of keeping up with my goals, but we'll see if I can keep it up throughout the year. I also really like setting smaller monthly goals that help me meet the bigger annual goals, so that's also an option!
We must get coffee because I NEED UPDATES.
ReplyDelete