I don’t want to be cliche, but time is flying, right? It feels like it to me. January was a bit of a drag, and the cold weather made February seem to last forever, yet I still feel like this first quarter of 2026 went by in a flash. Crazy how fast time goes by sometimes…
I might have mentioned it in a previous post, but this year I’m trying nested goals c/o Sarah Hart Unger’s framework that she discusses on her podcast, Best Laid Plans, and in her book of the same name. Annual goals break down into quarterly, into monthly, into weekly, and finally into daily tasks. This quarter was the first time that I truly tried quarterly goals that stemmed from my annual goals, and where my monthly goals tied back to the quarterly. And while I did like it, I also felt limited somehow. Like I wasn’t allowed to stray from the higher levels and do something else (even though I do have a category just for this purpose, and a spot for other monthly projects/to do tasks).
I must admit that I am the type of person who will set goals at the beginning of the year and then I don’t want to change any of them. I feel like a failure if I do. And if I abandon some of them, that’s even worse. That being said, I am considering a quarterly refresh. That is, changing up some of my annual goals before I make new quarterly goals for April, May and June (and I have actually already started brainstorming some options for how I plan to do this refresh). This is groundbreaking for me. And I’m really going to try to be okay with it.
Where did I have issues?
My health goal for sure, namely losing 10lbs. I lost and gained the same two or three pounds most of the quarter. I have determined that I really struggle with the cold weather and general gloom of winter in the Northeast. This year was particularly bad. I let it put a damper on my willpower and motivation. I know what they say about motivation… that you can’t rely on it and that it follows action, but I just didn’t force myself to do much of anything in the realm of exercise, or at least not anything terribly taxing. I did do some treadmill walks during my fitness challenges (and was pretty good for a stretch), but not as consistently as I would have liked to be (I detailed it in my 30-day challenge check-in HERE).
I am also struggling with my art goal. I don’t want to fail, so if I don’t even try how can I fail? But what does it mean to fail at sketchbooking? To not even do it. I just want to be good again (that is assuming I ever was good lol), but don’t want to make bad art in the process. I have to get over this.
I had intentions of being one of those personal curriculum girlies this year, but that was a big flop. I wanted to do three courses at a time, over three terms (spring, summer, fall) and just failed miserably. I don’t want to compleletly abandon this goal, so maybe I’ll attempt it again in summer and fall with just one “course” at a time. Maybe that’s more my speed.
Where did I do well?
I always seem to hit my reading goals— probably because I spend the time I should have been pushing myself to exercise with my nose in a book (or my Kindle), lol…I am still going to read, but be less crazy about it. Ha!
I also am doing well with my savings goals, mostly because of Christmas and birthday gifts (thank you Mommy!), and my tax refund plus an extra pay this month. I made sure to put a portion of each “windfall” toward my big savings goals so I’m ahead at the moment toward hitting my annual goals. I have my typical savings automated, so that’s an easy win.
And I actually did make progress on the loft clean up goal! And my spring cleaning (still in progress, but I am doing it)!
And the seasonal fun lists (so far)! And watching Emily in Paris! Yay!
The Reflections
Maybe I will change in the future, but I feel like I am learning this about myself: I have all the best intentions, but I really struggle when there’s any outside resistance. Namely the weather in January and February. To the point that maybe next year I am going to plan to not achieve anything major during those two months (and December), so goals will just be March through November. What do we think? Could this be a thing? Why not?
I’m also struggling with feelings of turmoil about my general mind set and attitude a lot of the time. I need to journal on this to figure out where my issues are stemming from. I guess I shouldn’t scrap that journaling goal, huh? Maybe this is the quarter I need to prioritize it.
Overall, I’m not thrilled with the first quarter, but I’m going to use it as a learning experience and am excited to reboot for Q2 and make some progress on my dreams.
How was your Q1?
Photo by Content Pixie on Unsplash
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