Listen, I know that it’s March, so this feels a tad late, but I promise I’ve had these goals since the beginning of the year! Now, notice that I chose to use the term goal rather than resolution. I’ve used goal instead of resolution for the past couple of years, and I like it way better. Resolution just feels so firm whereas goal feels less pressure, at least to me. Goal also gives it the opportunity to make it more fluid and build upon it as the year(s) go on.
I try to make at least five goals for the year. I always want to challenge myself and better myself, which is reflected in what I chose for this year. Below are my goals for the year, and the fun thing about doing this in March is that you also get a slight update on all my goals so far.
1. Coast to Coast!
Coast to Coast is a RunDisney challenge when you run a qualifying Half Marathon in Disneyland and Disney World in the same calendar year. I have never really considered myself a runner. I’ve done one half marathon before and two 10Ks, both RunDisney races. The first race weekend I did, I had my best friend running with me, and she was an incredible support for the training and race. I absolutely hated the training period and running in general. It was better when I did my second 10K, but that was two years ago now.
Going into 2025 after I moved to the west coast, I wanted to give running another shot because I wanted to do Coast to Coast. Along with completing the two half marathons, my goal was to try and find joy in the training period and not think of it as a chore. I found some pretty great trails, and I slowly began to look forward to my long runs! I also enjoyed pushing myself to try and run straight through, no walking breaks which was new for me.
At the end of January, I completed the Disneyland Half Marathon Challenge which is a 10K on Saturday and Half Marathon on Sunday. Both races went so well, and I PR’d for both! I ran the entirety of the 10K, and most of the half marathon. As someone who maybe only ran a mile before taking a walk break, I am so, so proud of myself!
In October, I’ll head down to Disney World to do the Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend where I will also be doing the challenge, but this time, I convinced my dad and brother-in-law to run the 10K with me. I can’t wait!
2. Read at least one book a month
I love getting lost in a good book. They’re great places to escape, especially in the crazy world we’re living in. I kept it small since when work picks up, it’s hard to keep up with reading. It just takes a bit longer to get through since time is limited, and I do like to sleep, haha.
But for now, I’m currently blowing this one out of the water. I read six books in January and three books in February. Big fan of the Kindle app, it makes it so convenient to always have a book on me. I know as my year gets busier, this number will probably drop. For now, I’m enjoying it.
3. Continue to try new foods
I am a horribly picky eater. Always have been. This goal is a continuation of one of my 2025 goals! I made this goal last year to branch out and become less picky. I’ve gotten a lot better over the years, but I want to continue to branch out and widen my food horizons. I added a lot of new foods I thought I hated to my roster in 2025. The big one last year was avocado, so we’ll see what this year’s will be.
4. Take more time for self-care
I love to be busy. I love having a full schedule and spending time with friends. I have a hard time saying no, and sometimes, it comes at a detriment to my own wellbeing. At the beginning of the year, I went from being in office only three days a week to being fully in office. RIP work from home days. I used my WFH days as recharge days as I was by myself and taking that time to myself when being at home. Now that I’m fully in office, it cuts out a big portion of my alone time.
Now, I do fill my schedule with a lot of activities I do by myself, but I will still overfill my schedule trying to fit everything I want to do in, even when I’m in a busy campaign and need the extra rest. I will go until burnout, and there were a couple of times last year where I was in desperate need of a rest day but didn’t take one. And then I was miserable at whatever I had planned because I was exhausted.
So far, I have been balancing my schedule pretty well between my alone activities and activities with others. I have my ballet classes twice a week. I go on runs and hikes by myself which is a great reflection time. I want to try out embroidery as another mindless, fun hobby to fill some recharge time. I also have my monthly massages – game changer. I love going to movies and dinners and coffee dates and anything in between with friends when I can, while reserving some nights and mornings here and there to just sit at home and rest.
5. Save more money
I feel like ever since I moved to LA a year ago I’ve just been bleeding money. It’s not 100% accurate, but that’s what it feels like. Between buying new furniture for my apartment, moving costs, and just the general cost of living being higher, it’s been harder to save. Then this past year, I traveled a lot for my sister’s wedding and took a couple of other trips for myself outside of the wedding.
I’m trying to be more budget conscious as I had a couple of unexpected car repairs last year that took a hit on my savings. I know that these things are what savings are for, but it still hurt me haha. Wedding travel will also continue into this year for me which isn’t conducive to saving, but I am just at that age where everyone is getting married.
The bright spot is that I’ve always been a good saver, and this year I am really going to hunker down to rebuild my savings. Luckily, there are a lot of free things to do in LA, hello hiking and sitting at the beach, and I want to be more creative with nights in vs nights out. I can do this!