One major goal checked off!

Six months of 2026 done and dusted. The months have flown by faster than I could imagine, and it’s time for a mid-year check-in.

I’m sharing the progress (or lack thereof) I’ve made on my goals in 2026 both to keep myself accountable, and to encourage you to evaluate your year so far. How has it been going? Did you start the year with any goals or dreams you wanted to accomplish? Now is the time to evaluate, adjust, and recommit or let go.

“26 for 26”

I used Gretchen Rubin’s “26 for 26” framework to shape my goals for the year. My list is a combination of small stuff (“Write to Aunt Jary and Aunt Charlotte”), large projects (“Remodel the kitchen”), fun stuff (“Attend an author talk”) and pesky life admin (“Renew passport”). So far, I’ve completed 10 of the tasks on my list (including renewing that passport!), with several others partially completed. Knowing I have just six more months to finish the list is helping motivate me to get going. I can do it if I choose one or two items on my list to work on each month. 

Word(s) of the year

“Mend and tend” have been my guiding words in 2026, and I’ve concentrated specifically on two areas: improving my fitness and finishing our move and home renovations. Since December, I’ve been lifting weights twice a week using YouTube videos, walking twice a week, and practicing yoga. I’m currently doing a second round of Caroline Girvan’s Iron series (no affiliation). Caroline lifts much heavier than I do, but I have definitely gotten stronger and been able to lift heavier weights than when I started. I love the format of 30- to 35-minute workouts. I can easily fit them into my days as well as convince myself to keep going if it feels hard. I want to add a third strength session per week in the next couple of months. 

I’ve also allowed myself to slow down and rest more this year instead of rushing from activity to activity. “Resting” might mean reading a book or surfing the internet for an hour in the afternoon, or on really tired days, lying on the couch with comfort TV playing. I don’t need that often anymore, but I when I do, I don’t feel guilty.

I’m not throwing a pity party for myself, but since 2022 I’ve been on a high-stress ride with the illnesses and deaths of my mother-in-law, mom, and my dream horse of 20+ years. We also sold our family home and moved, and tackled two major home renovations. (Oh, and I forgot about the devastating hurricanes…) I may look functional from the outside, but the inside has been a different story. Emotions have run high and my physical and emotional stamina were completely drained and are just now beginning to recover. 

As far as the move and house renovations go, on Saturday we unpacked the last box that was still in the garage from our move! Some sorting and reorganizing in the garage and elsewhere need to happen, but overall, after nearly two years, we are done. 

Remaining biggish goals

The biggest remaining goal for 2026 is a visit to my family in California and my friend in Seattle. This week I’ve been working on that—scouting airline ticket prices, rental cars, and hotels. This will be the first time a trip to California didn’t mean a visit to my mom’s house and that just feels wrong. I do not like the new normal.

There’s still time

Judging by the pace of the first six months, the end of 2026 is nearly upon us. However, we still have time to seek joy and happiness, set and achieve goals, and savor simple pleasures. Let’s finish 2026 strong.

If you feel comfortable doing so, please share some highlights or challenges of 2026 in the comments below. I’d love to hear what’s been going on with you so far this year.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

And just like that, here we are smack in the middle of 2025. A good time to review how the year is going—if you have any special goals or plans, how are you progressing? Has this year held any surprises?

I feel a little weird doing a mid-year review because I didn’t set any big personal goals in January that need to be checked on. (Did I? *Checks notes* No, I did not. And that “setting goals by quarter idea? Nope, didn’t do that, either.) Still, I think it will be helpful to review what I have done, and think about what I might like to do during the remainder of the year.

Here’s what I did: Other than the normal tasks of life and a bare minimum of writing, the first six months of 2025 have been devoted to preparing and selling our family home of 28 years, and getting settled in our new home.

That’s it, and that’s OK. Most of my time has gone to coordinating (and helping with) home repairs and remodeling, unpacking, organizing, and simply figuring things out. Even though I love my new home, moving is stressful. It takes an emotional and physical toll. I love to check off goals, but some seasons it’s not possible. My personal projects and goals had to step back while I dealt with the admittedly major projects of selling a house and moving.

Looking back over my calendar I also see plenty of meet-ups with friends, a couple of movies with my husband, regular walks and yoga sessions. I’ve read a lot of good books and seen a favorite author in person. And—control your excitement—I renewed my driver’s license. This has been hanging over my head because I had to appear in person with multiple proofs of my existence so I could become Real I.D. compliant. It was a hassle, but it’s done.

All of this is the stuff of a busy season of normal life. Being able to find satisfaction in it is a wonderful thing. I’m learning that I don’t have to check a flurry of personal projects off a list to feel contentment.

25 in 25

That said, I do enjoy setting goals and accomplishing projects. I’d like to be able to have more to show for 2025 than just getting settled after the move.

While I didn’t lay out a bunch of goals to work towards at the beginning of the year, I did fill out Gretchen Rubin’s “25 in 25” list with a combination of things big and small, fun and tedious, that I’d like to have done by the end of the year. I’ve completed 10 out of my 25, including “Finish Agatha in Order project” and “Design and install a closet system for our bedroom closet.”  I’m 90+ percent done with two more. Not bad, about halfway done at the mid-year mark. 

Word of the year

Ease was and is a great choice to guide me in 2025. It reminds me not to pack too much into my days, weeks, and months. It also encourages me to look for the ease-ful way to approach various challenges. Instead of rushing headlong into whatever-it-is, take a beat to consider what might be the most mental- and physical-energy saving way to proceed. Also consider whether that whatever-it-is is necessary at all. Especially during summer, I’m better off conserving my energy for what is truly important. When I have a choice of activities, I consider which one feels more aligned with ease.

Now what?

Which brings me to what’s next. We’re not done with house stuff (will we ever be?!). There’s a leak in a wall which pushed our prospective bathroom reno higher on the schedule. We need cabinetry installed in our laundry room. My office is still a work in progress, and I still have some sorting and storing to do. My husband and I need to take at least a weekend getaway to completely disconnect from all of the above. I still want to go to California to visit family, but that has been pushed into the fall because of a family member’s surgery.

After so much turmoil over the past couple of years, I want to feel calm, joyful, and at least a little bit in control of my days. I want to be relaxed, but also productive. Maybe that means choosing just one or two goals or projects, rather than 12 which is my usual tendency. Concentrate on the house and on scheduling that weekend getaway.  Fight the urge to commit to more. For July, August, and September, keeping it simple and low-key feels right. October, November, and December will have a different vibe, usually a more energetic one, and I hope and plan to capture that energy.

I share my goals and mid-year reviews here because I think part of a happy life includes, as Gretchen Rubin puts it, an atmosphere of growth. I like sharing progress with you, my online friends, because I hope it sparks ideas for what could add happiness to your life. I share missteps because that’s real life, no matter what social media tells you. Mistakes Will Be Made. We all fall short from time to time, we all sometimes take a different path from the one we thought we’d be on, sometimes on purpose and sometimes because of life being life-y.

If you’d like to share what you’ve been up to so far in 2025, please do so in the comments below. I’d love to hear how it’s going, and what plans you have for the remainder of the year!

Photo by Isabela Kronemberger on Unsplash

The year is halfway done. How’s it going so far?

Overall, 2024 is a much better year for me than 2023. (It could hardly be worse…and that is NOT a challenge to the Universe.) But I do still feel like I’m finding my feet again. Aside from healing from grief, I’m also figuring out what to do next with my time since my caregiving duties are done. I’d let my freelancing work slide because of the uncertainty around Carol’s condition, and now that I have control of my time back, I honestly don’t know if I want to go back to how I was working before. I also don’t know what else I would do! It’s a problem I’m still mulling over.

So 2024 is sort of a rebuilding year. Part healing, part restoration, part figuring out what I want for the future, regarding my purpose and how I contribute to our family through unpaid labor and income. I chose a word of the year (build) that I thought would help guide my life back into a shape I could love. And I set a few goals that I thought would get me back into the habit of accomplishment, not just survival.

In February, I did a quick goal check-in here on Catching Happiness, mentioning my three top goals for the year:

Write a draft of a book I’ve been thinking about for years.

Declutter (to some extent) my whole house.

Complete an online dog training course and train my dog, Luna.

How am I doing?

Succeeding and…

The only goal I’m making consistent progress with is decluttering my house. In fact, I’m almost done! I have just two rooms and my storage area in the garage left, and I also need to spend some time revisiting areas that have “magically” become cluttered again. I should be able to finish by September at the latest, giving myself extra time because of the energy-drain I always feel in summertime.

Failing better?

The other two goals? Though I haven’t done as much as I wanted to, I have done some, and I haven’t given up. I’ve continued trying, even though it’s in fits and starts. Maybe I’m failing better?

Book writing and dog training, are both new-to-me activities. I’m bad at them. I’m uncomfortable doing them. I have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable as I give myself time to get better. Both the dog training and book writing goals need and deserve deliberately scheduled time, and I haven’t been good at this. I frequently let the time I have available dribble away on other pursuits. Even when I write these goals as to-dos in my daily planner, I still blow them off all too often. I am not giving up, though. I’ll keep trying different strategies at least until the end of 2024.

The good news is…I can keep working on these goals, and I have six more months of 2024 to achieve them!

Beyond the goals list

When we evaluate the first half of our year, we should remember to look at more than just how we’re doing on our stated goals. How are we doing physically, mentally, emotionally? Are we having fun? How are our relationships faring? What unexpected events have challenged us? A happy life is more than just a series of goals checked off a list, though setting and achieving goals is one aspect of a well-rounded life.

When I reflect on the first six months of 2024, I realize that my emotions have mostly leveled out and I’m not falling prey to as many down days as I was at the beginning of the year. The emotional turmoil has settled down. Tank is doing great. I’m getting together with friends, reading good books, planning a weekend at the beach with my husband. I feel energy returning, and I find myself feeling grateful more often without having to force myself to look for the good.

And on we go into the second half of 2024!

What has 2024 held for you so far? We’d love to hear about your accomplishments, challenges, dreams—and anything else you’d like to share—in the comments section below!

More on the mid-year check-in:

Mid-Year Goal Planner Check-In: Goal Setting Mindmaps, Resets, And More! 

Best Laid Plans podcast: Happy Mid Year!

*Title stolen from Sarah Hart-Unger’s July newsletter!