Wrapping Up My 2023 Goals

I’m going to blink and 2023 will be over. For the first time in a looonnnggg time, I’m not planning to set any goals for myself for an entire calendar year. This feels like a good – and, frankly, long overdue – reset. I’m sure I’ll still accomplish plenty of things that are goal-worthy and I plan to celebrate those occasions…but without any pressure to cross something off a formal list.

That said, I did make goals in 2023 and this is my final recap of how things went throughout the year.

1. Track my visits with Mom and Dad. Done. I had a little notebook stashed in the front pocket of my planner and recorded every single visit/event (location + a quick blurb about what we did together) during their winter stint in Nova Scotia. We “monitor what we measure” and I love having a recorded (written) snapshot of our time together in the winter of 2023.
2. Plan our summer. Done. It was still hard and exhausting, but I think the kids will look back on it as a great experience. I view summer as “their season” since it’s always intense for me and I’m mostly relieved to survive it! There were so. many. camps. A trip to the beach. Time at my parents’ house on the lake. LOTS of ice cream. I’m genuinely excited for summer 2024 – perhaps the first time since becoming a mother I’m looking forward to an extended school break. I should be more available mentally without the added pressures of the PM role and I want to lean in to all this season has to offer.
3. Get laser eye surgery. Done (May). This ended up being more of a shemozzle than I expected (I had to have PRK instead of LASIK) but slowly and surely things are getting better. I think Omega 3 supplements have made the biggest impact, surprisingly.
4. Do some exterior landscaping on our back/side yard. Done! This was a big undertaking. In addition to regrassing a huge portion of the lawn and putting in a paving-stone pad, we’ve added twinkle lights to the storage shed and painted a hand-me-down fire pit. Having friends over for s’mores felt like a milestone of home ownership, and after years of having a giant pile of paver stones on our driveway, I am elated they have finally been put to good use.
5. Go see the summer production by the local theatre company Two Planks and a Passion. Done. I took the kids right after our June stomach bug. The show was fine. It was an original musical of the Wind in the Willows story. It was a very short show and I took the kids to the preview performance so tickets were inexpensive. I felt a bit guilty going without John since this was always “our” thing, but in retrospect taking the kids to a preview was the perfect solution. This show wasn’t nearly as epic as their regular productions (I think I would have felt a bit cheated to pay full price and see this show, which only ran about an hour), the kids enjoyed it, and I got to cross a goal off my list.
6. Get away – solo with John – to a new destination. Done! Rome was incredible – the trip of a lifetime.
7. Run 10 km. Not done/not going to do it. I was doing so well before my eye surgery and had worked up to running 7 km. Honestly, the emotional toll of some very big, very stressful things happening outside of the scope of what I discuss on the blog impacted my mental well-being and ability to exercise. Walking + yoga have been the most restorative forms of exercise to round out the year, but I’ve also been incorporating some gentle treadmill runs in the last few weeks.
8. Hang something over the couch. Done! After five years of a GIANT blank space, we mounted a mirror to the wall. It’s huge and gold and only cost $99. I love it!
9. Get a pedicure. Not done/not going to do it. I invested in a new bottle of nail polish (on sale for $2.99) and have committed to doing more at-home pedicures instead! In the end, I also started doing regular manicures – a first for me.
10. Get a duvet cover and insert. It’s complicated, but no. We have a giant comforter; it’s a nuisance to wash, but I only do that monthly and it’s not enough of a nuisance that I feel like shopping for a new set and I’ve had issues in the past with duvet inserts sliding inside the covers. I’m going to give myself a DONE, though, since we also bought a comforter for our daughter A’s room at a thrift store (~$12!!) and it pulled her whole room together.
11. Paint/makeover A’s room. Done! I am in love with this space.
12. Enroll L in swimming lessons. Done. In the end, both kids did swimming lessons this summer. I don’t think swimming is “their” sport and that’s okay. I just need them to be able to swim confidently for safety reasons. I’m not sure I’ll pursue lessons another year, but I’m so glad I was able to coordinate time in the pool in 2023.
13. Order my 2022 photobook. Done.
14. Re-read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy OR The Chronicles of Narnia series OR a trio of old classics. Done. I read Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Pride & Prejudice. These were all re-reads for me. I loathed Wuthering Heights the first time and it did not improve with a second reading. Sadly, I had enjoyed both Jane Eyre and Pride & Prejudice the first time I read them (in my teens), but was NOT a fan during my second reading. Win some, lose some. But this was a 0-3 record which = a reading strikeout.
15. Go see a musical. Done. I can’t believe I managed to cross this off THREE times in 2023. Admittedly, they were all local (small) productions, but they were still great. A and I went to see High School Musical at the high school, our whole family went to see Newsies together, and then the Wind in the Willows production (see above).
16. Make a new friend. Done, done, done! I feel like this has been a great year for establishing new connections.
17. Try three “new-to-me” eating establishments in our local area. Done. One was fine, one was not great, and one was amazing.
18. Take each child on a special solo date. Done. I took A to High School Musical and took L out for lunch + time in the playroom at Mcdonald’s (he loved it, and I 100% consider this a solo date).
19. Buy a new nude bra. Done! Bonus points because I got two high-end, brand-new bras at a thrift store for $3.50 each.
20. Use my fancy dishes. Done? I haven’t made much of an effort here, but I HAVE used my pottery bowls more frequently and I moved all my charging cables into a cute dish in my bedside table. I don’t own “fancy” dishes…but I have made more of an effort to use nice serving bowls.
21. A goal to be added, upon reflection, in March 2023. I added a goal of reaching out to more “distant” friends/family each month via text. Kinda, sorta…? I did this from March to October and then decided I was tired of reaching out to so many people. I’m proud of myself for stepping back and evaluating that it was starting to feel like a chore. Even though I didn’t make it through to the end of December, I still spoke far more frequently to distant friends than usual for a few months and that’s a good thing. Maybe aiming for this twice a year would be the right balance?
22. A goal to be added, upon reflection, in June 2023. My second flex goal was to read the New Testament before the end of the year. Nope! I pivoted. I bought The Bible Recap and am working through the Bible chronologically and loving it. Some days I miss and that’s fine. I just pick up where I left off. It’s designed to be read in 365 days, but I suspect it will take me longer than a year to read through it and that is okay. My goal is to read the Bible, not to check a box on my daily to-dos. While I didn’t “officially” cross this goal off my list, I’m so happy with where I’ve ended up in terms of Bible reading.
23. A goal to be added, upon reflection, in September 2023. My final goal was to “spend out” on lunchbox items. Yes. I haven’t gone bat crazy and started buying them caviar and liver pate, but I’m more likely to buy the things they enjoy (green beans, pineapple yogurt, Cheez-its) instead of just focusing on the sticker price.

And that’s a wrap!

Your turn. Do you set annual goals? If so, which goal are you most proud of working toward in 2023? Do you already have your list for 2024 finalized?

Header photo by Alexa Williams on Unsplash