Thursday, 1 January 2026

2025 Year in Review

 Happy New Year! Like normal, I wanted to take a look back at the goals I set for 2025, to see what worked and what didn't. Like 2024, I tried some different goal-setting methods:

  • I started the year with some monthly goals:
    • January I set two goals: I wanted to do Yoga twice a week (which I wasn't able to keep up), and I wanted to make plans for the times I am prone to falling off-track with my goals. This last one was a success, but I never actually used those plans after making them. :/
    • In March, I set two goals: recover from illness (I assume I recovered? I don't think I ever really updated that goal), and I wanted to resume Karin Dmitrova's Beyond Flexibility program 3x a week, which was a failure because I kept injuring myself. :(
    • In April, I set two more goals: I again tried to do Beyond Flexibility 3x a week, and I wanted to "focus on fibre." These were both failures.
    • Then in May, I wanted to continue stretching my calf muscles, and commit to measuring my portions for better carb counting. At the time the first was a failure, but I was later able to get myself into the habit of stretching (I'm getting a little ahead of myself with that though).
  • I also tried setting an intention for the year, "I want to be the healthiest version of myself that I can be." When I set that intention, I admitted that it didn't 100% make sense to me. I've used one of Intelligent Change's journals for the last few months, and they want you to set an intention every week, which I generally don't because I still don't really get it. 
  • In June, I discovered the idea of microresolutions. I started setting two of those every few months to varying degrees of success:
    • June and July: 
      • Stretch my calf muscles daily right after I brush my teeth - this has been my most successful microresolution to date. I tied stretching with an existing habit, and have continued to stretch my calves almost daily. The only exception to that rule has been once I started physio stretching, so sometimes I don't re-stretch my calves because I've just stretched them. But sometimes I do stretch them anyway to keep up the habit. :)
      • I will get out of bed immediately with my main alarm - this one never really worked out for me.
    • August and September - these ones had trouble from the start because August was a really busy month with attending a wedding, visiting with out of town family, then going on a road trip of our own.
      • I tried the getting out of bed immediately with my main alarm again, but ultimately ended up discontinuing this one.
      • I tried to do some breathing after my work day, but I never successfully tied it to a habit.
    •  October:
      • I will put my food down between bites at dinner to savour what I'm eating - this one never became a successful habit, but I have slowed down my eating a bit. I could probably get there with more work.
      • I will stop looking at screens at least one hour before bed - I was pretty successful with this one for awhile, but because my phone is my alarm clock in the morning, my phone is next to me, so sometimes I end up on my phone later than planned. I also find if my partner and I are playing video games late, I don't end up with an hour without screens.
    • Then in December, I needed to pause the microresolutions because I had two much going on. 
Besides all of the goals I attempted this year, I had a lot of success using the Finch app. I now have a good morning routine that involves wall pushups, shoulder rolls, and taking some deep breaths. It's a really nice way to start my morning. 

I've also been using the Intelligent Change Five Minute Journal: Fit Edition every day for a few months. While there are aspects I don't really like about it, it has gotten me to think a little more about the little victories I have during a day, which is a good thing. 

Finally, I've been stretching a lot more in the last few months thanks to physio. My calf muscles are finally actually hurting less (I'm sad to report that the stretches my chiropractor recommended, even though I was doing them daily for around 8 months, weren't really helping - they would help a bit, but never really got rid of the pain completely). 

So while I didn't succeed with a lot of the goals I set for myself this year, I'm very happy with the success I had elsewhere. :)

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