Q2 Goals Check In

We are halfway through the Easter school holidays, which means Q1 has ended, and Q2 is beginning. (I divide my year into 5 quintiles, based around the school calendar. Q1 is Term 1 which runs late Jan - April/Easter, Q2 is Term 2, which runs late April to June, Q3 is Term 3, which runs July - September, Q4 is Term 4, which runs October to early December, and Q5 is our summer holidays, which run early December - late January.) I enjoyed reading Lisa's goals check in, and decided to do one myself.

This year I really got into goal-setting, and published a whole series of posts: Word of the Year and Personal Goals,, Health Fitness and Home, Family/Relationships and Work, and my 2025 Bucket List. I'll report on my goals this post, and then report on my Bucket List next post (as I think its too many to cover all in one post!).

Photo by Wix

Word of the year: Courage. - Umm, to be honest I haven't referred to this much this year. Last year my word was Care and I referred to it a lot. Oh well, I haven't felt like I've really NEEDED a word this year like I did last year, so maybe it doesn't really matter (at least this far into the year).

Personal Goals:

Read 25 Books in 2025 - On track. I haven't been reliably tracking this, which I originally intended to do. BUT I do think I'm on track. I think I've read about 6 books so far this year (including a couple of re-reads - but I think that still counts?). A mix of fiction and non-fiction.

Create a blogging rhythm - Not really yet, but I am getting a bit more consistent with my blogging (around 2 posts a week), and I can see this is coming. Any suggestions from bloggers about how (and where) they fit blogging into their schedules would be very welcome.

Move my blog to a different host - No. But I've decided perhaps this isn't a high priority for now. The comments have seemed to get a bit better (they allow commenting with a name without registering which is an improvement). Still not the best host, but not bad enough to go to the trouble of moving.

Have one solo day off ("shouldless" day) per school term. No, I have not done this yet this term. BUT I haven't felt the need as much this term. I'm sure I'll have at least a couple this year.

Write daily in my new 5 year journal. No. I've actually found this surprisingly hard to remember and prioritise this! I thought it would be easy. I've only written in it a handful of times (maybe around 20% of days)? I really do want this record, so I have to build up the habit somehow.

Health/fitness:

See a dermatologist - YES! I did this, (and got the fasting blood test I needed too) and have a script to start Isotretinoin (Roaccutane) to pick up today. Its a very low dose so hopefully side effects won't be too bad. I'm proud of myself for finally making this happen after many years of thinking about it.

Start a strength training habit - Not yet. I did try an online program but it wasn't for me. I have now joined a gym, although I am yet to start going. It's been a very busy few weeks so I'm being kind to myself about this fact. I am determined, however, that I will start in April.

Walk dailyish. Yes! This is a continuation from last year, and as always, I don't find walking hard because I really enjoy it. This month I'm doing it every day because of Cool Bloggers Walking Club.

Schedule dental check ups for the whole family. 1/4 complete. E is done (through a free school program which is great), and we now have dental cover through our private health insurance. So this should happen this year.

Home:

Paint the interior of the house white. No- has not been a priority this quintile.

Replace the carpets in the bedrooms, and window coverings on all the windows. Ditto, not on the priority list yet.

Set up/rearrange the bedrooms. YES! Much happier with our new bedrooms set up, and the office desk out in the family area.

Undertake a quarterly house declutter. Yes. The room re-arrangement forced us to do some decluttering along the way - a couple of big bags worth of rubbish/recycling and some books to donate.

Daily tidy/sweep/laundry load. - Not consistently, but a few times a week this gets done, and it has improved things. Would like this to become daily.

Family/relationships

Al and I have a monthly date. No, this has not happened yet. BUT we have gone to an adult party together earlier in the year, and next week we are going on a two night mini-break together. So there is SOME couple fun happening. Definitely could have a bit more, however.

Reach out to friends monthly. Yes - just via message, but I've had some good connections with 3 old friends so far this year, with plans to see them in person or over video call soon.

Schedule a "mummy outing" with each E and O individually each quarter. I have spent some time individually with each kid this year, which has been nice, but not where they've gotten to choose the activity. So this will be a goal for next Quintile.

Work goals (this includes my main academic role, and my side-hustle):

Lean into my new teaching role. Yes! Not much choice with this, but I've enjoyed working on mastering the new aspects of my new role.

Write and submit two peer-reviewed scientific journal articles for publication. Not yet, but they are in progress. So I think the first one will be submitted by end of Q2, which will make me on track.

Submit two competitive grant applications for research funding. These are underway (one is due early May, one is due late May). So should have this achieved by mid-year.

Launch my new side business website, and two new product offerings. - Nup. I decided to pivot, as I realised that this really would require a significant time commitment, what with full-time work would just be too much. I do a little bit of work on the side already, and for now that's enough. Instead, this goal is now "Write the first draft of a new novel". I'm really enjoying working on this a little bit every day, and with the kids that bit older, I feel like I can make progress in a way that was difficult even a year ago (4 year old O is much more chill, happy and self-sufficient than 3 year old O was - hooray!).

So that's where I'm at so far. I'm pretty happy with my progress, and have learnt over many years to be patient with myself, and flexible based on the unpredictability of life.

Your turn - anyone else set some goals this year? How are things progressing? Any big achievements or big challenges?