Revisiting 2025 and looking forward to 2026

2025 was a crazy year and I admit I haven't been keeping up with the blogs. Better late than never when it comes to getting things done in my opinion. :)

Some of my goals going into 2025 included running my first marathon, crossing off a bucket list multi-day hike, successfully planning our wedding, reading more, learning a new language, working on a farm, and spending more time with friends and family. Also included in the goals were lofty climbing, drinking more water and writing goals that I always seem to evade. Somehow I managed to go above and beyond on my base goals which has me feeling extremely grateful and also excited for 2026.

Every year at work we used to do this "start, stop, and continue" exercise to evaluate the previous year. What did we want to start doing, stop doing and continue doing (and maybe brainstorm how we'd accomplish these). I'll take a crack at it for my own personal life.

START:

• Building a stretching routine - recently I've been suffering from tight hips and tight upper body pains which always affect my performance later in activities like running, hiking etc.

  • I'm a lazy person so it's probably best to do this in the morning when I wake up rather than right before bed for 10 minutes or so.

• Writing more - I write intermittently in my journal but can't really say it's been that often on this blog. Hopefully this will help with accountability.

  • Something that I used to do was "what I'm grateful for" - will try to revisit this habit again because it's nice to read those warm and fuzzy moments

  • Posting one blog a week is a good goal considering all the posts I'm currently behind on. Being away from a computer is not a super excuse considering I've learned during my Tour du Mont Blanc hike I am more than adept at writing long form posts on my phone

• Finding an artistic endeavour - I do really enjoy activities like painting and scrapbooking. Pottery is fun but it's not the best for the nomadic lifestyle I currently have.

  • Currently trying embroidery and carving stamps alongside my scrapbooking

STOP

• Relying on my phone - it's a true addiction. I want to try to get screen time on my phone to less than 4 hours a day (it's ok if time is going to reading my book on the kindle app, but no more doom scrolling!)

• Spending money on stuff I don't need - it's gotten a lot better in 2025 as I can probably name every single piece of clothing I've purchased. But still, there's a bunch of random stuff I definitely bought that was unnecessary.

• Feeling FOMO - there's no way I'm going to be able to do everything in a single year, so I'm gonna have to drop something to keep my energy and motivation up.

CONTINUE

• Reading - it's much more enjoyable for me than watching a tv show. I'd like to broaden my genres and types of books I read. Mostly read fantasy and romance, with a smattering of sci-fi. Would love to read more of the classics and read more translations from other countries.

• Spending time with family - I was really happy with the amount of time we spent with parents and siblings this year even if we were nomadic for most of the year. I want to keep up this momentum through 2026.

• Experimenting and having fun - in the kitchen with all the baked goods and stews we've made it was so fun. But also experimenting with solo travelling, WWOOFing, pushing running distances and learning new sports. I learned a lot about myself this year and I know much better now how far I can push the limits.

What does your Start, Stop, and Continue for 2026 look like?