My Word and Goals for 2026

 

I wasn't sure that I was going to have a word to focus on this year.  In the past, I have had a word of focus some years, but not all.  After looking back at posts in my blog, I found that these are the words I have focused on in the past.

2017 - Go and Do

2020 - Intentional

2021 - Strong

2022 - Continue

2025 - Hopeful

It was interesting to recall what was going on in my life during these years and how each word corresponded with that. 

After giving it some serious thought over the past few days, I decided that my word for 2026 is PROGRESS.

Why did I choose the word PROGRESS?  This year promises many changes for me and for my family.  We are buying another house and will be moving there, and selling our current house in a few months.  Josh will be moving out and into his own place.  I will be retiring from teaching at the end of the school year in May, and we will be going through all of the financial changes that come with that.  As all of these changes come, I feel that I need to move forward one step at a time, doing what is right for me and my family in the eyes of God. That, to me is PROGRESS.  

Now onto some of my 2026 goals.    My goals for 2026 are simply to do better than I have in the 2025 in these areas:

Physical - I want to continue being healthy in 2026.  I lost a little bit of weight in 2025 and would like to continue and lose about five more pounds in 2026.  To do this, I plan to watch/limit my calories and exercise every day.  My goal is to walk at least two miles, or exercise for 30-40 minutes a day 5-6 days a week.  

Mental  - I want to find better ways of dealing with stress, anxiety, and depression. I need to respect my own limits and boundaries, get enough sleep, eat healthy foods, limit caffeine intake, and exercise.   I will deal with depression through building strong and healthy relationships, praying, and being grateful for my blessings.

Spiritual  - I want to continue reading the word of God in scripture every day, and attending church and the temple.  I will continue to pray daily, and also whenever I need help or inspiration, or just want to talk to God.   I need to be willing and able to follow inspiration that comes from the Holy Spirit. 

Relationships - I want to continue to build strong relationships with important people in my life - my husband, children, grandchildren, mother, cousin and friends. I want to spend time with these important individuals, and make sure that they know how much I love them and how important they are to me! I want to perform daily acts of kindness whenever I can, and continue to make family my #1 priority.  I also want to make some new friends in my new community when we move this coming summer. 

Finances -  This is a big area for me because I am going to retire at the end of the school year.  We want to sell our current house and clear enough to pay off other properties.  I need to find and enroll in good supplemental Medicare insurance.  I need to apply for Social Security and my state pension.  We need to pay off any excess debt and keep our expenditures in line with our new retirement income.   I want to be debt free (including mortgages), as much as possible, by this time next year. 

Career  - I want to retire at the end of May!  I also want to find out how to retain my teaching license in retirement, in the unlikely event that I decide to do a little substitute teaching to supplement my income (which at this time I am not planning to do). 

Personal Growth - I want to continue reading every day.  I hope to read 1-2 hours every day in retirement.  I would like to surpass the number of books I read in 2025 (67) in 2026.  I would like to get a piano and try to regain musical skills I once had.  

Of course, I will adjust my goals as circumstances deem necessary.  What about you?  Any goals for 2026?  How about a special word for the year?

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

"The secret of progress

is to get started."

~Mark Twain

Blessings, Goals and My Theme for 2022

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!  

MAY THE YEAR 2022 BRING MANY GOOD THINGS TO EACH OF US! 

It is so important to look for the good in life and be grateful for the blessing that come each day.  As I look back over the past year, these are some of the good things that 2021 has brought us (in no particular order):

Health. Our immediate family has managed to stay Covid free.  I did lose an aunt to Covid last January, but other family members are OK, so for the most part, we survived Covid Year 2. We did not have any other major health problems or issues last year either. Praise God!

Vaccines and boosters.  I am grateful that the vaccine and other precautions like masking up have helped us stay safe and healthy. 

Travel.  We were able to do a lot of traveling in 2021.  We made nine trips to various places and each trip was good in its own way.  I am grateful for the ability to travel and make good memories, and get the life experiences and perspective that only travel can offer. 

Education.  Josh has almost finished up his Associate's degree at Ensign College.  His grades are good and he has learned a lot.  He has applied to a four year college to finish a Bachelor's degree.  I have been able to complete FREE (and low cost) college classes online to move toward a salary level increase.

Having enough.  After many years of hardship and struggle early in our marriage, it finally feels like we have "enough."  We are not rich, but we have not had to really worry about paying the bills and making it to the end of the month.  Our income properties have stayed rented to good tenants and have increased in value.  One of  our homes has literally more than doubled in value since we purchased it in 2016.  We are grateful that we have everything we need. 

Family.  We continue to work to reconnect and to have good relationships with all of our children and grandchildren.  We feel that we are moving closer to this, and pray that God will continue to heal hearts and minds and help us all to forgive, reconcile and move forward.  Although our oldest daughter's divorce was hard to hear about, we honestly feel that the marriage was unhealthy for many reasons, and the divorce will end up being a blessing in the long run.  We will continue to pray and reach out to all of our children and grandchildren, and let them know that we love and care about them.  I have also been blessed by renewed connections with other family members, namely my sisters, birth mom and cousins. Those relationships have blessed and continue to bless my life. 

Friends.  I am grateful for the many friends that I have and I am working on reconnecting with friends who I didn't see much during Covid.  I am also grateful for blogging friends who enrich my life in many ways. The bloggers in my blogging community are some of the nicest people ever.  😀

I think that good goals are important in life.  Here is a review of my 2021 goals and a look at how I did with each goal. 

• Read the scriptures every day.  I would say that I read scriptures 75% - 85% of the days in 2021
• Complete the 2021 Come Follow Me Scripture Study. I accomplished this. 
• Index at least 500 records. I accomplished this goal and indexed over 1250 records in 2021. 
• Reach out in a positive way to a family member who does not live with me every week.  This can be different family members, including siblings, cousins, aunts, children and grandchildren.   This can including calling, texting, emailing, or sending a card, gift or letter. I have done this probably 50%  - 60% (estimate) of the weeks this year.  
• Continue to post on my blog at once every week. Yes, I did this - 100%.
• Reach out to a friend (other than work associates) once a week - call, text, email, card or letter. I have done this 75% or more of the weeks this year. 
• Eat healthy - fruits and vegetables with every meal. Limit sugar. I am doing pretty well at this.  
• Continue to count calories - strive for 1500 or less. I am doing well at this and have lost a few pound recently. 
• Exercise every day. I estimate that I exercised 85% - 90% or more of days this past year. 
• Limit time on social media - FaceBook and Twitter to 15 minutes a day.  I have done well with this and have given up scrolling FaceBook, although I do occasionally post. I scoll Instagram 3-5 times per week for 5 minutes or less. 
• Read at least 30 books this year - 15 of those books from personal existing "to read" book stash.  Aim for 30-60 minutes of reading time each day. I read 63 books this year.  I need to do better at reading books from  my "to read" stash.  I did make better use of the library in 2021.  I would estimate that I read 20-30 minutes 85% - 90% of the days this past year. 
• 
  

For 2022, I am going to make my goals a little differently than I have in the past, focusing on four areas. 

• Spiritual
• Social
• Intellectual
• Physical

I have made 3-4 goals in each area. These goals are S.M.A.R.T. goals - the kind I teach my students to make.  S.M.A.R.T. goals are:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Relevant

Time Based

Here are my 2022 goals:

• Spiritual 

1. Read/Study The Bible daily - 80% of the days in the year. That means that I will read/study my scriptures 292 days next year. That comes to basically six days a week, or 25 days each month. 
2. Make a daily gratitude list 80% of the days in the year.
3. Read six relevant, faith-based, books in the 2022.

• Social

1. Meet up with a friend of group of friends, for lunch, breakfast or dinner once a month. 
2. Continue participation in at least one book group.
3. Reach out to at least one family member (who doesn't live with me) or friend (blogging friends included but contact must be more than a blog comment) once a week, via text, email, snail mail (gift, card or letter) or phone call.
4. Perform one act of service or kindness each day, 80% or 6 out of 7 days a week.

• Intellectual

1. Read at least 35 books during 2022.
2. Complete the remaining 20 hours of college level coursework for salary advancement.
3. Read at least one intellectually stimulating/challenging nonfiction book each month for a total for at least 12 nonfiction books.

• Physical 

1. Exercise at least 40 minutes a day 6 days a week - 80% of the days in 2022.
2. Eat at least one fruit or vegetable with each meal of the day.
3. Fast one meal two days per week, 80% of the weeks during the year, or 42 weeks during the year. 
4. Count calories and keep my calories intake at 1500 or below 5 out of 7 days each week.

Each year,  also like to have a word or words that will be a theme for my year.  After some thought, I want to make this my theme for the year.  

Yes, just "Be Kind."  It's as simple and straightforward as that.  I don't think the past two years have brought out the best in many people, and often find myself feeling exasperated and annoyed with attitudes and actions I don't agree with.  While I may not agree with others, I can always try to see their point of view, have some compassion, and BE KIND.   I want to do better at keeping the second great commandment, "Love thy neighbor as thyself."  That means I need to love myself, and that means I need to be kind to myself and compassionate with my own humanity and human frailties and failings.  My goal is to do better with this in the coming year, and to stop beating myself up for the choices of others.  Just BE KIND!

What goals do you have for this year?  Do you have a word or theme for your year? I would love to hear about it. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a Happy New Year.  May 2022 be a good year for us all. 

😊Deb💚

"Be kind whenever possible.  It is always possible."

~The 14th Dalai Lama

A Few Goals for the New Year

I debated with myself all day as to whether or not I should do a post about my goals for 2020. I wrote them in my journal earlier today, but was not sure I should post them. Tonight, as I was folding laundry and listening to a podcast by Dr. Phil, I learned that 60-70% of Americans make New Year's resolutions, but only about 8% actually keep those resolutions.  Most people only make it to about January 12 before they give up on their resolutions.  With that in mind, I decided to post my goals for 2020 and then really do my best to make them happen.

My Goals for 2020

• Read the scriptures every day
• Make a gratitude list every day
• Post on my blog at least once every week
• Read at least 25 books
• Go to the temple at least 15 times
• Index at least 500 records
• Lose 10 lbs.
• Eat fish at least 1-2 times per week
• Have weekly positive communication (talk, text, email or one-on-one time) with at least one family member other than Charly
• When the weather gets better, try at least five new hikes I have not done before

I admit that I am not always a big Dr. Phil fan, but he does have some interesting ideas about how to keep resolutions on the December 30, 2019 episode of his podcast, Phil in the blanks.  If you are into podcasts and resolutions, give it a listen.  I will be checking back on the 2020 goals tI have made throughout the year and will let you know how I am doing.

Thankfulness and Accountability

Thursday night, I am thankful for the pleasures of home and family.

 This is what my family room looks like now that we have sold this:

I enjoyed the eliptical and used it alot, but now that it just causes pain to my knees, I am so thankful we were able to sell it to someone who can use it to get healthier, and now I have...

...a comfy reading corner and a much less cluttered family room.  There will be more de-cluttering and paring down to come.  I am thankful to have a comfortable home that we are working on making even more comfortable.

Charly had a training class last night and came home later than normal.  I took the opportunity to call my birth mom and we had a good chat while a worked on this puzzle.  I am thankful for the relationship I have with my birth mom.  While she could never replace the mom who raised me, she has become a good friend and I enjoy our chats.  She offers a listening ear and a different perspective on challenges and problems.  

I am also thankful for a blogging friend, Karen at Life is Good for reminding me how challenging, yet relaxing puzzles can be.  I went to the Dollar Store last night and came home with three more puzzles which I am excited to put together when the current one is complete!

I am thankful for this book, The Happiness Makeover by M.J. Ryan.  This was a Christmas gift from my husband and it was excellent!  This upbeat and positive book teaches that we are all responsible for our own happiness and there are ways to change the attitudes that become obstacles to happiness.  There were some excellent strategies and ideas in this book and I will be referring back to it often, especially on those days when I might not be feeling as happy as I could.  I am also thankful to my husband for gifting me this book at Christmas.  I had looked at it several times at the bookstore, but frugality always won out and I had never purchased it.  I am glad that he decided to give it to me.  

Other things I am thankful for this evening:

Apologies - have received and given several this week.

Laughter - with husband and son at the dinner table tonight.

Walks - those I take right after dinner almost every evening with my husband.  We didn't get to walk last night due to his training class which made tonight's walk together even sweeter.  I love being outside in the fresh air, discussing important or trivial things with my husband and just enjoying his company.

New Days - the opportunity to begin new each day and try a little harder to be the kind of person I want to be

At the beginning of January, I made several goals for the new year, and have decided to hold myself accountable for accomplishing them by reporting on my progress each month in my blog.  

Here are my goals for 2014 and what I have done toward them so far:

1. Read at least 28 books in 2014 - so far I have completed two books and have started on a third so I am on track with this goal.

2. Index 500 names at Family Search Indexing - so far I have indexed 25 names from an 1881 Canadian Census.  

3. Complete 14 more graduate level hours (5-7 classes) so I can go up on the salary scale at work - I have started another online class that will give me 2 hours toward this goal.   I am currently 1/6 of the way complete with the class.

4.  Record and track all expenditures - I am keeping track of the money I have spent since the first of the year.  I will add it up and categorize it at the end of the month so get a better picture of where the money goes.

5. Continue reading the scriptures every day - I have done this every day so far this year.

6.  Stop drinking soda - Although I have never been a big soda drinker, I had gotten into the habit of having a pick-me-up diet cola in the late afternoon.  I found however, that it increased my anxiety during the evening hours and decreased my ability to get to sleep on some nights.  Since making this goal, I have had only one afternoon soda.   That evening I felt anxious and had a hard time getting to sleep, so I renewed my goal to cut out the soda and I have not had any since then.

I end this post with a a quote from Christian Apologist G.K. Chesteron:

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."

Be thankful.  Be happy!