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Daria

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18 comments on Yearly goals check-in :/

Yearly goals check-in :/

By first, a laugh

I have been slowly journaling about some of my annual goals. Some of my 2026 goals are ongoing (take good care of my mental health) and others are more outcome-based (book a camping trip). There were some goals that were confusing and rather broad.

Disclaimer to self and others: these are ideas to pull from. It is not possible to constantly do them ALL.

1 Take good care of my physical health.

  • Weights
  • Elliptical
  • Swim laps
  • Sauna
  • Washing my hands
  • Using the bathroom when I feel like it (even if students are waiting by the door)
  • Physical therapy for my knee
  • Mammogram and ultra sound
  • Sitting up straight
  • Dentist every six months for cleanings
  • Lying on my acupressure mat
  • Stretching/yoga
  • Wearing a mask in crowded places (jiu jitsu class, conference)
  • Time outside
  • Putting lotion on
  • Flossing and teeth brushing
  • Night time skin routine
  • Morning skin routine
  • Skating

2 Take good care of my mental health

  • Randomly call friends
  • Randomly text friends
  • Sauna
  • Time outside
  • Fresh air
  • Skating
  • Meditation
  • A break in between work-after school activities-home
  • Early bed time (8pm the latest)
  • Space (mental)
  • Space (physical)
  • Alone time
  • Therapy
  • Speaking my mind, openly and respectfully
  • Saying no to people pleasing
  • Saying no
  • Saying yes
  • Blogging
  • Writing on paper with a pen
  • Closing my eyes in the middle of the day and taking breaths
  • Not sweating the small stuff (esp with parenting)
  • Creating good lessons, being good at what I do
  • Travel
  • ADDED later: look put together (slacks, a blouse/sweater, a belt; a dress with tights)
  • ADDED later: have something to look forward to.

Get social – what does that mean?…

This is the hardest category since I have no clue what that means exactly. I am not 20 and I will not go out every night or every weekend. I am not looking to make new friends.

Also, by the time Friday rolls around, I am peopled OUT. Every day I am surrounded by people, many of them still have developing prefrontal cortexes, because…high school.

Here are some social situations but they don’t really fit…

  • Theater and plays (but that’s an introspective experience for me, since I mainly go solo)
  • Chat with folks at jiu jitsu (don’t wanna)
  • Chat with folks after class at the YMCA (maybe)
  • Read blogs and connect with fellow bloggers (enjoyable)
  • Skating
  • While traveling/road tripping

This goal feels forced. I think I am just going to throw it out and be done with it. I honestly don’t know why I added it. To appease someone? To make myself feel like a well-rounded person? To prove to someone (who?) that I’m living da life?…

Nah.

I’m gonna remove it from the goals list and simply go with the flow. If my sister-friends get together, of COURSE I’ll be there. If the Purse has another event in NYC, maybe I’ll go to it. But I cannot wreck my brain constantly thinking about how to “get social.”

That was a lot so I’ll just leave it here.

Would love to know your thoughts.

Picture on the front- a new cut for R

Daria's avatar

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Daria

Mother, teacher, partner, friend. I love coffee, books, and travel with and without kids. I dislike exercise. Nothing glamorous here but do have moments of insight.

18 responses to “Yearly goals check-in :/”

  1. Natka Avatar
    Natka

    I really like all of your mental health goals!

    I think the first 2 bullet-points on your mental-health list cover the “get social” thing. To me, ‘get social” means be part of the society – check in with friends, stop to chat with the neighbors. I think volunteering would count, too. Also, you work with people all day long, talking/interacting/caring – that absolutely counts as “get social”. Makes perfect sense to get rid of it as a separate goal.

    R’s haircut is adorable.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Natasha, what you wrote above is very validating to me. THANK you.

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  2. Sam Avatar
    Sam

    I love the overlap between physical and mental health–exercise, fresh air, sauna. It sounds like the right call to remove the goal–it seems like it was stressing you out and you already have plenty of people time in your life!

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      It was totally stressing me out!! Whew. I was feeling the pressure but after unpacking, and after reading your comment and Natasha’s comment below, it was the right call.

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  3. Lisa’s Yarns Avatar
    Lisa’s Yarns

    I think an open ended goal like “get social” is too open-ended. I think making a goal to connect with friends once/month or whatever cadence is reasonable is a good way to approach adding more social time into your life. I like my goals to be something I can track/assess. But you are doing great so far! Especially since you’ve established an early-morning gym routine! That is HARD (says the person who struggles to wake up at 6am).

    I need to print my 25 in ’26 grid out so I can mark off what is complete/note what is in progress!

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Agreed! It was weighing on me since I did not know how to approach it.
      I should also add to the post “look put together at work and at home”

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  4. NGS Avatar
    NGS

    I always think of goals as a way to actually measure priorities. I had a goal of doing a creative activity every week and that has just not been a thing I’ve taken the time to do. It’s fine to switch out goals to reflect what IS important to you.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      I think my “get social” goal was just too vague, too big, and too unclear. It’s not like I am a recluse. I say hello to people all the time and that will be part of my “get social” goal

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  5. Common Household Mom Avatar
    Common Household Mom

    It seems to me that several of the items under the mental health category are related to getting social. I am guessing that as an introvert, “get social” means something different to me than to other people. And it sounds to me like releasing yourself from the “get social” goal will contribute positively to your mental health! I am glad you count connecting with fellow bloggers as a positive. It is for me. It improves my outlook to write, and to read about others’ thoughts and lives.

    Also, huge thanks to you for being a teacher. One of the professions I respect the most. I am not a teacher but I come from a long line of them. You have my gratitude.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Oh thank you for your kind words!

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  6. Melissa Avatar
    Melissa

    I have a family and friends section in my 101 Things which I guess is similar to your get social. I include things I would do in this section (birthday dinners with the immediate family for each birthday) and those kinds of things, so nothing that is that difficult. I think your randomly call/text friends falls into the social category, and that is enough. I mean it’s not like you avoid gatherings with your friends (I know I’ve read your accounts of meeting with your friends pretty often on the blog). All that to say is that you seem to put a good amount of effort into your relationships with your husband and children, plus your close friends and you mix with plenty of people at school all week, so you probably don’t **need** further social outlets. Probably at this stage in your life (pretty busy and full) it is just an unnecessary burden.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Agree with what you said above, Melissa. “Get social” really is interwoven into the fabric into every day life: touch bases, texts, walks, saying hello to neighbors.

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  7. Diane Avatar
    Diane

    I don’t have “social” per se, but I do have a goal to make a daily “connection”. It doesn’t have to be a huge outing or big event – it could be a text or a phone call to a friend or exchanging works with someone in line at the store – it’s just a reminder to myself to reach out of myself and acknowledge that there are other humans in the world. Otherwise, especially on days where I don’t go into work, I find I get very insular.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      That’s what I need to do. And I already do.

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  8. J Avatar
    J

    These are great goals! I love the physical and mental health goals especially. I agree with everyone else (and you) about your ‘get social’. If it’s not working for you, you already are a very social person, so why stress yourself out? That goes against the mental health category. I did chuckle at ‘don’t wanna’ about chatting after ju jitsu. HA!

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Exactly!!

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  9. rachelinwales Avatar
    rachelinwales

    These are big goals! The physical health goals are a lot, all good ideas but also might need some slack there too. I think that “get social” is a tricky goal – I often think I should be more social and then I just end up tired and burnt out. The benefits of being social will likely fall under your physical and mental health goals anyways, because both of those overlap with social in some way.

    I like that “say yes” and “say no” are both on your list too. Lists are hard.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      For sure! It’s not possible to do them ALL albeit I want to hehe I look at the lists as a menu to pick from with some things being nonnegotiable (exercise).

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