2023 mid-year goals review
This post is already excessively long, so I’ll keep the intro short :) Here at the midpoint of the year, it’s become customary to share an update on my PowerSheets goals. Pausing and reflecting like this really does help me to appreciate how my little efforts have added up over time, and with ten goals on the docket for 2023, there’s a lot to cover! (And plenty of ups and downs.) Without further ado…
LEARN SOMETHING NEW
Goal no. 1: Create a book for the first 10 years of EFM
Progress I’ve made: Let’s just start out with a real humbling update, shall we? To put it bluntly, there is very little progress to report. I did download the Blurb software and format a past post into a sample layout… and then I got paralyzed by how long one post took and how overwhelming of a project this could be and set the whole idea aside in despair. It feels like perhaps there’s a shortcut I don’t know about (my layout skills are pretty minimal!), but I also could believe I would just have to plug away at the hundreds of posts in my archive one by one. I feel disappointed and frustrated, because I really want this to happen, but the idea of spending 100+ hours to bring it to completion feels daunting.
The next six months: I think my next step will be to challenge myself to complete five or ten posts in one sitting to see if I get quicker as I go along – then I can make a plan from there!
Goal no. 2: Tend to our home trouble spots in a new way
Progress I’ve made: Things are looking up :) I’ve worked steadily through each month’s area, shuffling the original list as needed based on our family’s needs. So far, I’ve tackled my desk/command center, the upstairs linen closet, our coat closet, our master bathroom cabinets, and our upstairs loft. As funny as it might sound, one thing that has helped motivate me is to take a photo or a time-lapse video of my progress. Whether you share them with anyone or not, they’re fun to see!
The next six months: June’s closet, our master closet, and the downstairs linen closet are the next three on my list.
Goal no. 3: Read through the Gospels with CWM’s boxed collection
Progress I’ve made: I’ve made very little progress on on this goal as originally framed, but I do feel I’ve made progress on the heart behind the goal, which is to spend time in scripture. Most notably, John and I have been working our way through The Bible Project’s 14-hour From Adam to Noah class, and it’s been really fun to do together! I take notes as we watch :)
The next six months: I plan to finish the class!
Goal no. 4: Secret goal
Progress I’ve made: My initial plan was to spent 2-3 hours each week chipping away at this with some of my additional time away from work. I very much did not do this in the first half of the year – something else always seemed to be a higher priority – but I did continuously add thoughts and ideas to a doc.
The next six months: A few weeks ago I actually did set a timer and spend one hour of focused work on this, and it was amazing how much I got done. With a looser summer schedule I’m giving myself grace until June is back in school, but at that point, John has agreed to hold me accountable to “pay myself first” and commit to this project for one hour twice a week.
DO SOMETHING KIND
Goal no. 5: Invite one family (or friend) over for dinner each month
Progress I’ve made: Between COVID and a newish baby, we had gotten completely out of the habit of inviting other families into our home. I set this goal as accountability to change that, and it’s been very successful! So far we’ve had two families from church over, some old friends, a really old friend, and some newer friends. And one month we went out to dinner with friends, which was not exactly the letter of the goal, but very much the spirit.
The next six months: More of the same! I will say that though this goal has helped me flex the hospitality muscle and having people over doesn’t feel so foreign anymore, it also doesn’t necessarily feel easier – it can still feel like a lot of work to find a date, choose a menu, and prep our space. But it has been worth it.
Goal no. 6: Reach 5,000 minutes on Peloton
Progress I’ve made: This is going very well! Thus far I’ve reached 4,324 minutes, which paces me well ahead of my goal. I’ve been helped along by the fact that Peloton added outdoor walking and cycling to their tracking system; all of our lunchtime spins around the block and biking to school have added up.
The next six months: My new goal for the year is 8,000 minutes!
Goal no. 7: Update our legacy box
Progress I’ve made: This was inspired by PFC’s “dead box” (but legacy box sounds much nicer, ha!). I planned for most of the progress here to happen in the second half of the year, so it’s no surprise that there’s not much progress to report. We did meet with an estate planning attorney to update our documents in the spring.
The next six months: I’m intrigued by the Big Book of Everything, which Brooke recommended on my original 2023 goals post – I think that will be my starting point when I’m ready to dig into this goal!
SEE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL
Goal no. 8: Complete our family photo album for 2015-2019
Progress I’ve made: No progress to report :)
The next six months: Complete the album, ha! Since the photos are organized and I’ve already made two of my five-year albums, I don’t anticipate this being too hard.
Goal no. 9: Tend to our family culture
Progress I’ve made: Lots of little-by-little progress! We’ve instituted our new slimmed-down but more frequent parent-kiddo dates. They were met with some confusion and even disappointment at first, but overall have been a joy. We’re working through our summer fun list and weathering a summer schedule with LOTS of variation. We’re thoughtfully pursuing and evaluating activities, including piano lessons and neighborhood swim team. We’ve traveled, played a lot more tennis as a family, tried out sleepaway camp at a Mother-Daughter weekend, and made lots of memories. And I read Habits of the Household and have implemented MANY new practices because of it, which has easily been one of the biggest wins.
The next six months: I’d still love to take the Birds & Bees course!
Goal no. 10: Have fun with my friends
Progress I’ve made: Lots of fun has been had! :) I started the year with a bang with the first Articles Club weekend retreat (such a delight!) and followed it up with many monthly meetings since. I co-hosted a book swap with a dear friend. I took tennis lessons with a friend this spring. I had a two-person book club with another friend and got together multiple times to discuss chapters (including biking the American Tobacco Trail together twice!) And I’ve generally seen more friends more often thanks to our hospitality goal.
The next six months: In the near term, I’d like to use our Museum of Life and Science passes with friends several more times this summer. I’m also still hoping to host a potluck party this fall!
And there you have it! A very robust update on my 2023 goals. If you set your own goals for the year, or even if you didn’t, I’d love for you to share a win in the comments from the first six months! I can’t wait to cheer you on :)
Can you do a breakdown of habits of the household? I really enjoy it but find parts overwhelming! Maybe just the season we are in ????
Yes, Anna, I plan to! There’s a lot in there!!
We are slooooowly updating our basement, which has been a loose goal for a few years. In May, we replaced our 20+ year old furnace/AC. I’ve gotten multiple quotes to replace lighting in the finished area and hope to have that completed in July. After that, the goal is to have drywall repair, painting, and new carpet done by the time we host Thanksgiving! It’ll still be full of toys and mismatched furniture, but at least the lights will work, ha!
That sounds so awesome, Stephanie! YAY!
Yay for all the progress on your goals! And thank you for always being so honest – about the highs AND the lows. I put „Habits of the household“ on my library cue – I‘m intrigued!
As for my own goals: I tackled (purged/cleaned/organized) one room per month so far and it feels so good! Granted, I feel certain areas could use another round again already, but it‘s good as in palpable, but also not too overwhelming.
My biggest goal success is definitely FINALLY starting my own Articles Club! It’s been so so good!
You know this makes me oh so happy! And I feel I can say confidently you will LOVE HotH!
I love reading your updates! Such big steps forward in many things! And it’s been a year of transition in your schedule. I’m grateful for your small steps forward and the insight that comes from places you’ve felt stalled. You have done the most important things – a lot to celebrate! I just finished Habits of the Household and it was FANTASTIC! Poetic, profound, hilarious in parts, and just what I needed. Thank you!
Oh this makes me so happy!! There’s not many blanket recommendations I’d gave, but this is definitely one of them!
Thank you for sharing your mid year update!! It’s so nice to see that we can have goals and be human at the same time. Progress, not perfection! Mother daughter camp weekend sounds lovely! I have been wanting to do something similar with my 7 year old. How did you find your camp? We are in Florida but willing to travel!
Hey Amy Grace! Great question! I am a consummate researcher, so the idea of researching every overnight summer camp in NC (which has MANY good options!) was totally overwhelming. We actually learned about our camp from one of John’s clients, who has college-aged daughters and mentioned that sending his daughters to this camp was hands-down the best decision they had ever made for them. With that recommendation, we began looking into it and holding it up against the things that were most important to us. We loved everything we read/saw/heard, and then of course loved our actual “trial run” of the Mother-Daughter weekend. When I chatted with other moms at the weekend, almost all of them had found their way there because of a trusted recommendation. It is such an important, weighty decision – best of luck!!