2025 Reflection and 2026 Goals

I'm going to take my post from last year and use it as a template. I am nothing if not efficient.

Here were my 2025 goals:

Start:

• Planning two long weekend getaways of some kind. We have a Las Vegas stay to redeem. (spirit, family, love)
• I kind of did this. I planned an overnight camping trip for us, which wasn't a long weekend, but it was a plan! We also did a CA trip for the 4th of July which was an extended weekend, and we went to CA for Thanksgiving. 
• Spending at least 5 minutes outside each day. (spirit)
• I was pretty good about this on weekdays, and on Sundays with decent weather. 
• Using my PTO instead of accumulating it and not resting. (work, spirit)
• I consciously scheduled my PTO and ended up with about 3 days to roll over. I wish it were more, but with a toddler and daycare closures, it just wasn't in the cards. 
• Sitting in my feelings and naming them appropriately. (spirit)
• Still suck at this. 
• Learning about instructional design (work) 
• I've read my manager's ADDIE manual. I've done some trainings on LinkedIn Learning. I've dabbled in Vyond, and have just started to learn Storyline. 
• Reviewing finances as a couple each month (money, love)
• I probably shouldn't make goals that involve someone else. We didn't do this, but I was in Every Dollar basically every weekday managing finances, and keeping Matthew updated.
• Five Senses Journal from Gretchen Rubin (mind, spirit)
• Matthew bought this for me, but I didn't do it. 
• Weekly meal prep or planning of some kind (body, family)
• We did this some weeks, but not most. 
• Eating to improve fertility/egg quality (body, family)
• My eating is kind of the same, with lots of supplements. 

Stop: 

• Bypassing my social media time limits. (spirit, body)
• I have a long streak on my current Instagram and Facebook limits; I don't bypass the time restrictions. But I often bypass the 9:30pm restriction. 
• Using my phone past 9pm. (spirit, body)
• I'm not good at this. It's really hard when AJ goes to bed at 8:30 and doesn't even fall asleep for another hour. 

Continue:

• Paying down the debt on my new floors (money) 
• This will be paid off in March! So excited. 
• Saving for a car, home, and AJ (money) 
• We've progressed here, just more slowly because of my salary change. But I did hit a huge milestone in my 401k. 
• Reading at bedtime, 1 paperback each month (hobbies)
• This hasn't happened due to a much later bed time for AJ. When he went to bed at 7-7:30, I had an extra hour to read and do red light. 
• Trying a new restaurant monthly (hobbies)
• We tried lots of new restaurants this year!
• Listening to audiobooks (mind) 
• You know it. 
• Daily breathing practice (spirit)
• This was mostly box checking, honestly. With AJ's late bed time, I really haven't often actually taken the time to breathe even when I start my timer. 
• Daily gratitude (spirit)
• Three good things err day. 
• Weekly relationship check-ins (love)
• No. 
• Quarterly dates (love)
• I think we may have gone on dates more often than quarterly this year, which is great. Canny Kids offers date night care once a month, so we had a date in October, one in November, and one in December! Plus we went to a Borns concert. 
• Weight lifting (body)
• Four days a week. Almost never miss. 
• Blogging (family)
• Here we are. Doing the thing every month. 
• Planning the summer activities (family)
• I think we did OK. Not as much pool time in August as I would've liked, but we did some fun things. 
• Planning October/fall activities (family)
• Cornbelly's saw a lot of us. We did the pumpkin patch too. We didn't carve pumpkins until after Halloween so that was a fail. But we did go Trick or Treating! 
• Planning December/holiday activities (family)
• We've decorated. We've done Luminaria. We did baking. I did a cookie exchange with Matthew's family. We did a cookie exchange at church. We watched Christmas movies. 

Reflection - General 

What am I most grateful for from this year?

• Being able to dedicate more time and energy to the things I enjoy as AJ has gotten older. 
• My health, always, for allowing me to do the things I enjoy. 
• Being able to start working with a NaPro provider. 
• Stability. Home. Work. Cars. Health. All the things we take for granted daily. 

What were my biggest challenges this year? 

• The move and the rental house, for sure. With no air conditioning and a terrible earwig infestation, I've had a hard time. The house is old and smelly and outdated, and I've questioned my decision every day for seven months. 
• Learning a new job. 
• Trying to conceive. 
• AJ's late bed time and sleep delays. It's left me with no time in the evening for myself or my goals. I typically watch a show with Matthew or we try to conceive. So my reading and red light time are basically out. 

What were my biggest wins this year?

• Preparing for and getting through a power lifting meet.
• Showing up to the gym at 5:20am 2-3 days a week (plus Saturdays).
• Starting a new job and expanding my skill set. 
• 365 days of movement on my Apple watch.
• Achieved my reading goal, which was 55 books. I read 69. This is more than the previous two years, but it's all via audiobook. 
• Continued my Duo Lingo Spanish streak. 

Who and what helped me get through the year?

• Exercise. It keeps me sane. 
• Positive work environment. It's a lot lower stress than I am used to, and it helps. 
• Friends. Marco Polo. Having people who care. 

What were the top three lessons I learned this year? 

• Trusting life's timing. While I very much want a baby, I know that for whatever reason the timing isn't right. I know it will happen. 
• I don't trust doctors or western medicine in general. It has its place, and I am grateful for it at those moments. But mostly I just think our system is so flawed. The only one really interested in my healing and well-being is ME. 
• Individuals on opposite sides of an issue can both be good humans. Things are so much more nuanced than most people want to believe.

*Note: I answered the above question without looking at last year's response and think it's funny how similar my answers are. 

What did I discover about myself this year? 

• I can do hard things. (Get up at 5am. Finish a power lifting meet I was disqualified from in the first round. Learn a new job. Survive an old gross house with no a/c.) 
• I am still a teacher. I have loved teaching ESL at my job. I will always be a teacher at heart. 
• I still need to learn to give myself permission to rest, and permission to feel (especially anger). 

How would I describe the type of person I was this year? 

• Gritty. I pushed myself to do hard things. 
• Positive and grateful. I have had a pattern of negativity in my life--it's actually the natural human tendency (negativity bias). But I have found that I'm mostly focused on what is going well and what I am grateful for, rather than being overtaken by the things I'm stressed about.

What type of person do I want to become next year? 

• A person who rests. 
• A person who cries. 

*Note: I answered the above question without looking at last year's response and again am frustrated and amused by the similar answers. 

Reflection - Enneagram 1 specific 

What rules did I break this year? How did it feel in my body to rebel? 

• I don't know that I really broke any rules. 

How did expressing healthy anger lead to positive outcomes this year? Make a list. 

• I don't know that I expressed healthy anger. 

Can you look back and note times this past year where you felt light? Times when you laughed?

• Matthew makes me laugh pretty often. 
• I don't know that I really felt light. Maybe over Thanksgiving break. There are challenges with traveling, but being out of my home environment where I feel obligated to clean or do chores helped me actually rest and enjoy being present. 
• Times where I am really present with AJ. Where I'm looking at his face, listening to his voice, really leaning into being with him. I feel light at those times. And I laugh because he is funny and weird. 

*Again some coincidental alignment with my responses from last year. 

What systems worked for you this year? What systems do you need to tweak or toss out? 

• Tweak: I said this last year but will say again: I want to remember in the evening to do a task or two from my cleaning list so I don't feel the need to do it on Friday and Saturday. I want to accept the whole house won't be clean at the same time, and that is OK because everything is still getting cleaned regularly. I almost feel like I cannot enjoy my time until my house is clean (especially because this house is so gross), so my "rules" about cleaning hold me back from enjoying my free time. 
• Tweak: Bath and bed time. The 8:30 bed time and not falling asleep until 9 or 9:30 is rough for me. I've reviewed the Taking Cara Babies schedules for 3-4 year olds. If AJ takes a nap I wake him up by 2 or 2:30 at the latest, and we are trying to get him to bed by 7:30 or 8pm at the latest. 
• Worked: This is weird to say but Chat GPT has been super helpful for me the last few months as it helps me analyze what my fertility team is seeing, or what my options are for treating my sinus, etc. I know there are ethical concerns with the water and energy usage of AI, so I try to be mindful of my use. 

2026 Word of the Year

You know, I keep choosing a word of the year and absolutely failing to come back to it on a regular basis. Maybe I should touch base on this in my GBOMBs. Here are a few suggested words for Enneagram 1s. 

I'm feeling a little rebellious at the moment and am thinking that actually I should release myself from setting any goals or resolutions for 2026. I know myself and know I won't let any habits go. I've been exercising regularly for 15 years; I love it, and it isn't hard for me. I've got a long streak on Duo Lingo and Insight Timer. I am always listening to audiobooks. I'm constantly updating our budget and tracking spending and proactively saving. I've blogged monthly for a long time. I'm not trying to say I can't improve, but I want to free myself from the expectation of doing so. I'm torn because I also think it is important to live with intention (e.g. You can't have a great relationship without intentionally making it that way.)

Maybe my goal is to relax.

Maybe my goal is to rest. 

Maybe my goal is to feel. 

Maybe my goal is to play. 

These are the REAL stretches for me. And I know backwards planning is the key. How can I relax/rest/play and feel? If I treat it like I treat everything else, I schedule it. Maybe I take a Friday or two off in the new year and just do what I want to do. Maybe on my non-lifting days I do the sauna at the gym? Maybe I take ONE Friday after work (half day) and do what I want to do - go to a movie or something. Tweaking my cleaning schedule can help. Planning the relaxation can help. Let's rest this year.