Goal Stuff 2026

Last year I did pretty well with hitting almost all of my goals, especially since I'd hoped I'd finish only half. So here's hoping for 2026 being similar in that way.

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Intro

I'll try to keep this short and simple.

I love my planner, it's plain and boring and perfect for me to customize with washi tape, highlighting, stickers, and colored pens. My current go-to is the Passion Planner (wait for the sales) largely because of the layout but also because to how I like the way it approaches goals and the year.

Core Values

It starts with you picking your core values. I know mine, but I want to tweak them for the year and pick which values I want to focus on the most this year and how I define them, even if they aren't what I consider true core values that I try to hold to. For this year, I picked Honesty, Self-Sufficiency, and Community as what I'm focused on.

• Honesty: I already feel like I do well with being honest with myself, but I could do better with speaking up more often and not doing the stonewalling thing I do where I know how I'm really feeling but I swallow it. I made improvements on that during the second half of last year, but I want to continue improving on it and focus on reducing my anxiety when I do so and with better delivery.

  
  

• Self-Sufficiency: This feels weird to put this on the list because I'm pretty independent in a lot of ways, for better or worse, but this is different. This is more of a narrowly-focused goal.

  
  

  It's more about feeling capable of pulling my own weight and contributing financially to the household so it doesn't fall entirely on my husband. With an uncertain economy and also for more mobility of where we could live as a family, both of us having a job gives more options. But there are steps to get there, and those are part of the goals I'll be sharing.

  
  

• Community: This is a hard one. I want friends. But I also need a community, which is similar but still different. Community to me is more a group of people that I could feel a connection of belonging to and a sense of sameness. Losing that sense of community when I left the church was both unexpected and incredibly hard. I have been incredibly lucky though. None of my friends cut me off, and a few people from the ward, like my friend Heidi, or the recently former bishop and his wife, have still shown love and kindness towards us (though they aren't the only ones). But finding a group where there's a sense of belonging is still something I'm hoping I can find this year. There will be more on this below, too.

The Roadmap

Next up was setting up a roadmap of what I wanted/goals at different intervals from lifetime, the next three years, one year from now, and three months from now. I then had to pick just one from all the goals that I want to focus on.

Vision Board

I think everyone knows what this looks like. I printed off pictures, stickers, and ideas and glued them to the page.

Habit Tracker

It was one of those too, and I am going to do my best to use those pages as well.

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The Goals

I have a lot, and some of what I list are sometimes more wish-list-level, but I'm hopeful they'll still happen.

Healthy/Fitness:

• My A1C/Cleaner Eating in General: I talked with my doctor about my blood sugar and A1C, and she recommended the Lingo Biosensor. It's been really helpful seeing what foods spike my blood sugar and what don't. The sensor I use is meant for people who aren't diabetic or are prediabetic.

  
  

  I've also been listening to podcasts and learning more about how the gut impacts the rest of the body and mind, so eating cleaner is a higher priority. In general, I eat pretty well, but sometimes I slack off and eat more processed food than necessary. I do well at meal prepping. It's a habit that I've consistently kept.

  
  

• Cutting: I am currently focused on cutting weight. I bought a Hume Pod, which is basically a fancy scale that is supposed to be as close to an at home DEXA Scan as you can get. It'll measure many similar metrics to a DEXA, which is nice when lifting and cutting weight. I think right now it's not completely accurate, but as I keep using it and it keeps gathering data about me, it does seem to be improving in accuracy. I'm curious about the band they sell, but I'm going to wait to see how the scale works out first.

  
  

  With all that said...I hate telling people that I'm cutting for a lot of reasons. I know I'm thin, but I also haven't tried to loose weight in over a year, so this is the first time in a while that I've really intentionally focused on it. I've been breaking through plateaus with weight lifting lately, so I know I've been gaining muscle, and with that also fat. Still...I fear I sound like Regina in Mean Girls when she wants to lose weight.

  
  
  
  

  It sounds ridiculous. But in reality, I'd like to lose closer to ten pounds, which is an overshoot of where I'd like to actually land when all is said in done. I know whenever I cut, I usually end up gaining two pounds back, so I try to account for that. Though it's less about the scale and more about the percentage range I'd like to be in (ideally I'd like to be in the athletic/lean category, so around 17-23%. Anything less and I know my body is going to start fighting me hard and I'll wind up miserable). I'm being flexible with the weight loss, but still very focused. Unfortunately, it's requiring me to eat a little over a thousand calories, which is not a lot. Because of that, the food gets monotonous and boring fast. Past deficits taught me that eating the same thing over and over again just leads to me breaking, so I have to keep it interesting. So, any recipes or tips, please send them my way.

  
  

• Lifting: still building overall strength, but I'd like to focus on growing more my shoulders, back and glutes. I found out I can do weighted pull ups. I'd like to be able to do more than just one rep per set though.

  
  

• Cholesterol: I'd like to better understand my standing there and either how to improve or maintain, depending on how it looks.

  
  

• Supplements: Do better at taking them consistently. I was doing well for a while, but I hate those powders and pills, so I need to get back at it.

  
  

• Steps: Simply moving more. I've got my watch back up and running, so I'm doing my best to get the steps in.

  
  

• Mobility/ Balance: I got my Gibbon board! I'm excited. I'd like to improve my balance significantly as well as overall mobility. I follow several people on Instagram and a few on Facebook on ways to improve on stabilization and body awareness.

Finances/Working:

• Office Skills: There are a few places online, like Udemy or Skillshare where there are courses that will teach different apps/platforms/programs/tools. I know Excel and Word can do crazy things now, but I don't know how. I'm hoping finding a few courses that teach Microsoft Office and other tools will give me something to list under the skills portion of a resume.

  
  

• Paralegal Certificate: I keep bumping this one up the priority list. I had originally planned to hopefully have it by the end of 2026, but now I'm wondering if it's possible to start the five month certification program in March and be looking for a job by the end of summer.

  
  

• Understanding of Finances: I normally track the majority of the day to day bills and finances by making sure payments go through and whatnot. But I don't fully understand how a 401(k) works, different loans, other debt payoff methods other than the ones I already know about, saving options, investments, and financial stuff past basic knowledge.

  
  

  Finances are not my strength and that has always bothered me. I've never been the best with money, but I want to improve at that. I'm trying to find podcasts and other more on-the-go sources I can to learn from. I'm also trying to spend less, and—don't laugh—believe it or not I am doing better. Maybe not as good as I'd like, but I know I'll get there.

  
  

  If anything, I've definitely improved on using only my allowance/personal funds to pay for things. It's slowed me down and made me think more carefully about if I actually want something (like the Hume Pod or the Gibbon Board). I've learned a few tricks to curb my more impulsive spending and I'm happy with that so far, but I'm still looking for more.

Travel/Vacations:

• Another National Park: Love them so, so much. I don't know where I want to go this year, but I'm leaning towards something in California. Yosemite looks incredible, as do the Redwoods. But honestly it's hard to pick one. I'll look up parks in the state and just sit there overwhelmed because just about every one of them looks awesome. But I have a while before I pick one, so I'll have to stew on it for a while.

  
  

• Camping More in General (including local): I want to focus on this one this year. Texas does have some cool places, and this summer it could be really fun to take the kids to Big Bend or some of the state parks in the hill country.

  
  

  I'm desperate enough to get a site out at Brazos Bend State Park as I side eye the gators there. It's close and I know a few people who will go out there for the weekend (it's probably 35 minutes from us). Also Huntsville State Park. I hear good things about it and maybe I could convince my sister and her family to join as it's pretty close to her.

  
  

  But I think it'd be good to get the kids out and unplug and get outside. I'm fairly convinced modern society has given us all a bit of zoochosis. Getting out and camping I think might help combat that a little bit.

  
  

• Fun in New Braunfels or Fredericksburg. These are known for being pretty fun towns down here. There are some really cool rentals I follow in both towns, including "treehouses" or fun themed Airbnb's. I'd like to rent a kayak or some inner tubes and go play in the water (sans gators) with the kiddos. I won't list them all, but there's a lot we could do out there and have some fun.

  
  

• Ozarks for Spring Break? I got pretty dang good hotel deal when I went to Bass Pro Shop a few months ago. We have to sit through some presentation (I was promised it wasn't a timeshare), but it seems worth it for package we got. There's a good chance I'm going to regret it later.

  
  

  Regardless, we need to schedule a stay and one of the locations I think includes either Missouri or Arkansas. Not camping, but we can still go hike, find some cool caves to explore, and whatever else is nearby.

  
  

  I need to sit down and do some research of what's out there before I book it, but the benefit is we wouldn't have to fly. I think it would be maybe a nine hour drive, maybe less.

  
  

• Utah Again. Because I love seeing my friends and honestly Utah knows how to make Halloween extra fun. Might take Hannah again since she loved it so much last time, too.

  
  

• The Narrows, damn it. I'm still deeply annoyed I didn't get to hike them. I need to start checking every week for some weekend getaway to Vegas so I can fly in and drive up and hike them on some weekend but before or after the flooding season. You can get tickets for under a hundred, and if I I timed it right with the prices, I bet I could make it a rather cheap trip.

  
  

• Saving for Bigger trips and Researching them. Because I like to plan trips. It makes me all happy. Like cats and catnip. But these trips are different from the ones above. I'd like to visit a few places not in the US, especially since we have passports now.

  
  

  There are so many incredible places I'd love to go, but they require a lot more prep and money than what I currently have. So. More planning and actually deciding on when and where. And saving.

Miscellaneous:

• Pets: The pups need more training. It's good for their little brains. Mando is also behind in his. So. Training, training, training. I bought some treat bags. I need to just spend a few minutes a day working with them. The kids also like to help, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing.

  
  

• Community/Friends: I've got some friend finding apps downloaded and some Facebook groups I've joined. I've also found events where I can get to know people too, like this one called "Curiosity Brews" where different speakers will give lectures at each event and then people can mix and mingle afterwards and discuss what was talked about. It seems fun and it usually sells out. I have two separate events I've got a ticket to. So I'm excited about that.

  
  

• Read More/Learn More: I am determined to find time to read more, but I need to start implementing better ways to keep that going. Funnily enough, one podcast I was listening to today had some tips on that.

  
  

  I've been enjoying my podcasts, and in the past month I found another one: The Huberman Lab. You can find it on Spotify and I think the other platforms. Dr. Andrew Huberman is a neuroscientist and professor at Stanford. He dives into the science on a lot of really cool topics with guests. I listened to one on setting goals that I absolutely loved.

  
  

  Link to Apple and Spotify options to the same YouTube episode below.