In 2018, I began making gentle goals for myself—ones that didn’t feel overwhelming or that I might beat myself up for not achieving later.
It’s a ritual that I’ve continued annually, even through the pandemic—probably even more needed then.
For the most part, I do share them on my Instagram with friends, but since I’ve found this space, I thought I would try to share them here this year.
One gentle alteration I made this year was to switch the term “goals” to “intentions.” Intentions is inherently gentler and, I think, serves the purpose better.
Before I get into reviewing 2025 and then sharing for 2026, I just wanted to pause.
The world we’re living in currently is frightening. Whether you’re on the ground in a war zone in Ukraine or Gaza—and yes, I’m including Minneapolis—or facing the looming threat of domination by a tiny orange man, or you’re struggling to make ends meet, the world is a scary place. It’s exhausting, the news is relentless, and the hatred is everywhere you turn.
I felt I couldn’t move forward without acknowledging that first, especially on the heels of the broad-daylight execution of Alex Pretti yesterday, only weeks after Renee Good. I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which is only about eight hours from Minneapolis, so it’s hitting very close to home.
We do have to remember to take a step back to take care of ourselves, though, because we can’t fight if we’re broken.
2025 Reflection
Work on my overall self care.
Having tackled my biggest personal health hurdle this year by exploring sobriety, I feel like I accomplished this in a BIG way (see next).
Explore sobriety.
As I write this post, I am 11 months sober. Before actually sticking with my sober journey for about two years, I kept asking myself if I had a drinking problem. Now I know that if you’re asking that question, you already know the answer.
Two resources I will share are This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol by Annie Grace and the I Am Sober app.
This Naked Mind allowed me to better understand addiction and the “why.” I was worried it wouldn’t hold my attention, but I was very wrong. I read about a chapter each night before bed; the research was incredibly enlightening and shared in a very interesting and digestible way.
I Am Sober has triggered that dopamine reward part of my brain. Even now, at almost a year sober, seeing those numbers climb feels really good. There are bigger milestones along the way that you receive badges for, and there is also a great spot for you to reflect on and remind yourself why you are on this journey.
Buy a house with my love.
My partner and I really only started looking in the spring, and the week before Winnipeg Folk Festival (the organization I work for), we looked at a home that we both fell in love with. I then went into 12+ hour days for the weekend, Thursday to Sunday, and on Monday offers were due. In post-festival delirium, we put in an offer and the rest was history.
I sold my condo in August, and we moved into our forever home mid-September. We have lots of friends close by and can’t wait for the first signs of spring to start enjoying our outdoor space again.
Have a more regular fitness routine.
With some big life changes happening in 2025, I feel like I haven’t got back to where I want to be with my movement.
Since I got an Apple Watch in 2020 to encourage movement during the pandemic, I’ve subscribed yearly to Fitness+. I love Fitness+ because not only do they have a coaching team that is diverse in background and body type, but they also offer modified movement for all of their workouts. When I’m trying to get back into it, the modified movement is where I live.
Get an ADHD assessment.
This is something that a dear friend of mine brought to my attention, and my therapist (who can’t diagnose me) said I should look into.
It’s definitely something I’m still exploring, but as of right now it’s not interfering with my day to day, which makes me think I’m likely lower on the spectrum. It’s totally something I’m keen to keep learning about, just in general but also how it may apply to me.
Write 10,000 words for my book.
Not quite in 2025, but my 2026 intentions are already helping to move the needle here.
Keep up with therapy.
I truly think that everyone can benefit from regular therapy, but it’s something that is so inaccessible, even here in Canada. I think it should be built into our healthcare systems because when our minds aren’t right, our bodies suffer too.
I’m always afraid to use up my benefits early in case I need them in the future for something that actually needs fixing. So, I save them and haven’t gone to therapy once this year—but the good news is that I haven’t felt a great need for it.
Read 25 books for 2025.
Accomplished. This is probably the only truly measurable goal I create for myself because reading has always been an escape for me—a way to reset a bad day or unwind from a good day. Something I did do differently this year was listen to two audiobooks to complete the goal, and both of those were Indigenous stories that, to me, feel more natural as a verbal format anyway.
Some standouts for me were This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol by Annie Grace, Mindful of Murder by Susan Juby, and Five Little Indians by Michelle Good.
Plan “me” days.
I’ve been working at this one for a couple years now, and I think I’m dropping it from the list because a whole day just doesn’t work for me, I don’t think—but finding pockets of “me time” does.
Stay in the moment.
This has been greatly benefited by my sobriety; it’s allowed me to better listen to myself and connect with the people I love. I think a large part of why I was disconnecting from friends mostly was because I was either hungover or exhausted from being hungover and in a constant cycle of mood swings and exhaustion. Not drinking has allowed me to show up more.
2026 Intentions
Live more analog.
I want to be much more intentional with my time this year. My mind gets very excited about digital organization, and I did my best to be a digital planner with Notion and the Cyberry Planner by K Digital Studio, but I think I’ve come to terms with the fact that it doesn’t completely work for me. I continue to use Notion as my catch-all task database for the year, but when it comes to day to day, I’m sticking with real paper and a real pen.
Back to my four notebook system: a free-write journal, The Five Minute Journal, my Leuchtturm1917 Bullet Journal, with a small Moleskine notebook for finance tracking.
I’ve also moved all social media from my phone to my iPad, cutting my screen time nearly in half each week since I started at the beginning of January. This feels huge for me.
Write on Substack at least once a month.
Here I am writing for the fourth time this month. This place feels like the best of social media and blogging combined. Plus, it’s just a bunch of us nerds sharing our thoughts and feelings while leaning on one another. It’s truly beautiful.
Meditate more regularly.
I want this for myself, even if it’s just five minutes a day. That mental rest and reset is so important, especially for the times we’re in right now.
Set better work boundaries.
I don’t want to take that shit home, no matter how much I care about it. My time is my time.
Lay foundations for starting our family.
I’ve always wanted to be a mom, and now that we have our little slice of paradise, I want to fill it with all kinds of love.
Continue my sober journey.
Binge-drinking dreams be damned, I will continue to work at this every day. I barely think about it anymore, which is the best part. This time last year, drinking seemed to be the only thing I thought about, and I’m so glad that’s changed.
Make art because I want to.
I think sharing my art on Instagram made it feel like more of a hustle, and because I’ve found this space and I’m starting fresh, I can do this on my terms—no schedule, no due dates. And if I do set them, knowing I’m allowed to change them is important.
Move my body with kindness.
Just showing up for myself is going to be the most important part as I journey back into fitness again. Just show up. That’s the goal.
Deepen my connections.
Grateful that I came back to my people last year, but this year making sure I show up even more is going to be important.
Rest when my body tells me to.
As someone who is constantly creating, rest is hard. New ideas spark everywhere for me (just the other day in the shower), so allowing myself to just focus on a show or just read a book is how I’m going to show up for myself in 2026.
I hope we can all be gentle with ourselves and show up for one another.
Mental health journies in all of their various forms are always extremely interesting, challenging and enlightening. Proud of you for your braveness in yours and sharing it with others. I'm excited for your 2026!
What beautiful intentions for the year! May every one of them bring you unexpected joy! ❤️