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2025 Goals Journal

When Life Gives You Lemons (w40)

Paint them!

I posted that on social media a couple of days ago, after doing a tutorial from my favorite art creator Andrea.Nelson.Art.

I haven’t been painting as much lately, but I have definitely painted more this year than I would have if I didn’t post my 25 Goals for 2025 back in January. I’ve also written more, started baking bread, making pasta, taking yoga more consistently, and have reduced my alcohol consumption immensely!

Jami left this comment on last week’s post:

Why do I have such an all or nothing mentality? I see your red Xs and if it was me, I’d have given up. It’s so hard for me to get out of that mindset!

And I felt it in my bones because I was (and sometimes am) exactly the same.

That perfectionist mindset is a killer! I’ve spent a lifetime dealing with mine with varying degrees of success. However, I’ve noticed something as I struggle with unmotivated students approaching midterm: my all-or-nothing mentality tends to resurface when I’m stressed or anxious about work, the kids, or current events. It’s so easy for my motivation to waver when dealing with stress. That’s not exactly a mind-blowing realization, but it’s something to notice if/when you feel like abandoning your own goals.

Stressful times are when we need to give ourselves more grace, not less. There’s no need to beat myself up over an ❌ here or there when I can see all the ✔️s! And which are there more of?

One of the greatest benefits of writing a blog like this is seeing progress over time. For example, if you look at my yoga goal below, you’ll see 26✔️s and only 2❌s. If I had let that first ❌ get to me, I would have missed out on 15 additional yoga classes! Why? Because I wasn’t perfect one month? That’s crazy! And my logical brain knows that, but sometimes, my emotional brain doesn’t. It thinks just because I missed one stupid day that I “ruined” it, and I might as well throw in the towel.

Life will always hand us lemons. It’s inevitable. Some days we’re feeling good, and we turn them into the perfect batch of lemonade. Or maybe, we’re stressed and we paint them for inspiration. Regardless, tomorrow will come, offering another chance to add another ✔️ by the things that are important to us.

2025 Goal Check In

  1. Blog Weekly.
    • so far… ✔️
  2. Paint More. Don’t overthink it.
    • so far… ✔️
  3. Make a new handmade pasta monthly.
    • Jan ✔️ ✔️
    • Feb ✔️ ✔️
    • March ❌
    • April ✔️✔️
    • May ✔️
    • June ✔️
    • July ✔️
    • August ✔️
    • September ✔️
    • October
  4. Hike at least twice a month.
    • Jan ✔️✔️
    • Feb ✔️✔️
    • March ✔️ ✔️
    • April ✔️✔️
    • May ✔️✔️✔️
    • June ✔️ ✔️
    • July ✔️✔️
    • August ✔️✔️
    • September ✔️❌
    • October ✔️
  5. Perform one unassisted dip.
    • Still training.
  6. Perform five strict pull-ups.
    • Still on singles.
  7. Handstand walk.
    • Still training.
  8. Take at least three yoga classes a month.
    • Jan ✔️✔️✔️
    • Feb ✔️✔️✔️
    • March ✔️✔️✔️
    • April ✔️✔️ ❌
    • May ✔️✔️✔️
    • June ✔️✔️✔️
    • July ✔️ ✔️ ❌
    • August ✔️✔️✔️✔️
    • September ✔️✔️✔️
    • October
  9. Make homemade sourdough bread.
  10. Take the kids to Iceland.
  11. Fix the holes in my house (long story, lots of plumbing issues this year).
  12. Continue my Spanish Streak on Duolingo (I’m on day 1,231!!).
    • so far…✔️ day 1507
  13. Take a Spanish class in person.
    • Registered for a 1-on-1 session!!
  14. Plan something special for The Husband’s 50th birthday!
    • I BOOKED IT!
  15. Snatch 125lbs.
    • More confident in this goal now.
  16. Compete in at least one weightlifting meet.
  17. Walk a minimum of half a mile daily with Marsh and, preferably, with the Husband, but I can’t base my goal on him.
    • Very rarely miss a night.
  18. Track my movie-watching on Letterboxd.
  19. Keep my citrus trees alive!
    • so far…✔️ (They are thriving! I need to plan for the winter)
  20. Host an extended family dinner monthly.
    • Jan ✔️
    • Feb ✔️
    • March ✔️
    • April ✔️
    • May ✔️
    • June ✔️
    • July ❌ (But we went out)
    • August 👌🏻 (Mom hosted to give me a break)
    • September ✔️ Had my Mom and Niece over on Sunday!
    • October (I’ll be honest – not sure I have it in me)
  21. Clean out and organize my closet and drawers.
  22. Thrift more and purchase no brand-new clothes.
    • so far…❌ I caved and purchased about five new items this year (mostly for the Iceland trip) but I have also visited many second-hand stores and attended my first clothes swap. I now consider myself a thrifter! 🙂
  23. Take daily supplements more consistently.
    • so far…✔️
  24. Reduce alcohol consumption to once or twice a month.
    • Jan ❌ 1/18, 1/23, 1/31 (close!)
    • Feb 2/1, 2/15 ✔️
    • March 3/22 ✔️
    • April 4/25, 4/26 ✔️
    • May 5/3, 5/10 ✔️
    • June 6/7, 6/19 ✔️
    • July 7/14 ✔️
    • August 8/9, 8/22 ✔️
    • September 9/27 ✔️
    • October
  25. Cook one new recipe/dish a month.

One reply on “When Life Gives You Lemons (w40)”

Great post, Roni! You put it so well, that’s for alway inspiring us readers! By the way you look amazing!

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