Stephany Writes

Categories: Goals

Monthly Goals | January 2026

I’m keeping things simple when it comes to monthly goals this year. Since my 2026 annual goals are quite ambitious (and I have developed a fun way to track them all, which I’ll talk about soon), I wanted to keep my monthly goals set at five simple tasks. Some of these will correlate to my annual goals, and some will not. It’s all about the things I want to accomplish in January, big and small!

Here are my goals for January:

1) Develop a list of 25 recipe ideas – I get stuck in food ruts all the damn time, and that’s because I a) hate meal planning and b) hate grocery shopping. Thank god I do not have a partner or children I’m trying to keep alive because it’s a struggle just to feed myself on a daily basis. I want to develop a list of 25 tried-and-true recipes that I can keep in one document and work from when I’m trying to come up with meal ideas every week.

2) Create snack kits for home, my car, and my purse – The car snack kit will be the toughest to create because I need something that can handle being in 100+ degrees come summertime. I’m thinking Fig Newtons, hard candy like Lifesavers, trail mix (minus any chocolate), and glucose tablets for those times when my blood sugar is dropping fast. I’ll also have to change out the purse I’m using since right now, I have a belt bag that doesn’t hold much. I’m excited to get these snack kits figured out so I can finally feel more prepared for hypoglycemia episodes.

3) Set up my new nightstand and find a place for the old one – The nightstand I originally bought during my move in October is quite small and barely holds my CPAP machine, a water bottle, and my phone. I needed an upgrade, so I have a new nightstand coming next week. My goal is to put it together in January and then find a place for my old nightstand. Maybe on the other side of my bed? In my walk-in closet? In my office? I’ll figure it out!

4) Keep a symptom log for my rheumatology appointment – I have a rheumatology appointment scheduled for January 27th (so far away, and yet, better than I expected for a specialist appointment!). Until then, I want to keep a symptom log, so I know exactly how to explain my symptoms and the pain I’ve been experiencing.

5) Play around with budgeting spreadsheets to find one I like – I still prefer to do all my budgeting myself, rather than relying on software. However, that means I need to track all transactions coming out of my bank account closely. I think I want to try to find a different budgeting spreadsheet for 2026 so I should probably start that search soon since we’re already five days into the new year!

Do you have any goals for January?

Categories: Goals

My 2026 Goals

Here we go! It’s 2026, which means it’s time to set some intentions for the year ahead. This year, I’ve gone about this list in a different way. I have chosen four overarching goal categories and within each category, I set five goals for myself. Then, because I am who I am, I also set 10 FUN goals to accomplish, the stuff that didn’t exactly fit into any of the previous goal categories. I’ve left three of those 10 goals as TBD.

Here are the goal categories:

  • Take better care of myself – I need to treat my body better. I need to have snacks to stave off hypoglycemia episodes. I need to drink more water and get more sleep and take my goddamn medications no matter what. It’s doing the unsexy, sometimes annoying things because I’m an adult, and this is how I stay functional.
  • Get a handle on my health conditions – As we’re all aware, 2025 was a shit year for my physical health. Each goal in this category corresponds to one of my health conditions: prediabetes, scalp psoriasis, (undiagnosed) psoriatic arthritis, sleep apnea, and heart disease risk. Let’s hope 2026 is the year my physical health is finally on an upswing!
  • Be a more involved friend – I want to be a better friend in 2026. It’s not that I think I’m a bad friend. I just think I can get stuck in my hermity nature and not make plans or reach out as much as I should. I don’t need to be a social butterfly, but I do need to make more of an effort in my relationships.
  • Create better daily routines – I’ve struggled a lot with daily routines since working from home, and 2025 might have been the year I was the worst at it. I’m going to make a concentrated effort to work on these routines by creating a schedule for myself and checking in on a weekly basis to make sure this schedule is working for me. If not, it’s time to try something new!

Okay, that was a lot of preamble! And this post is going to be a monster. Now, let’s finally get into the meat of this post: my 2026 goals!

Take better care of myself

  • Create snack kits for my car, purse, and home, and restock them weekly – There is no reason for me to have hypoglycemia episodes. I should always have snacks on hand to fend off these blood sugar drops! Sometimes I have to treat myself the way I would a child, so I want to create snack kits that I can have in my car, in my purse, and at home, so I am never without snacks when I need them. Plus, sometimes I can get lost in what I should eat as a snack, so this takes away any decision-making (especially crucial when I’m at home). I don’t need to think about what I’m going to eat as a snack. I just get the snack kit and I’m good to go!
  • Drink at least 50 oz of water per day – This feels like a stretch goal, but I can do it, right? I’m not counting seltzer as part of this goal, even though I have been told that it counts as hydration. I really want to focus on actual plain water.
  • Close my Apple Watch rings – This is going to be challenging in the first few months of 2026, as I’m still dealing with joint pain, which limits my exercise/walking time. But hopefully, once I have a diagnosis and treatment plan, I can get back to my normal workout schedule.
  • Average 7.5 hours of sleep per night – Hopefully, my average is higher, but I don’t want to set myself up for failure. I need to get more sleep, and this will be especially true if I’m diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune condition like psoriatic arthritis.
  • Take medications every morning – I’ve gotten a lot better about taking my meds every day, but I can easily get out of the habit.

Get a handle on my health conditions

  • Start tracking my macros (prediabetes) – The last time I got blood work, I was still in prediabetes and the next time I get bloodwork, I want to be out of the danger zone. I don’t want to track macros, but I do want to improve my blood work, so here we go.
  • Work with my dermatologist to develop a flare/maintenance plan for scalp psoriasis – My scalp psoriasis is still not fully under control, which is frustrating. Even just a few days without treating the spots and I’m in a huge flare. Ugh. It appears that the treatments I’m currently using are better for maintenance, but not effective enough when I’m in a flare. So I need to figure out a better flare management program with my derm.
  • Be compliant with my CPAP every month (sleep apnea) – I was not very compliant with my CPAP in 2025 and that is no bueno!
  • Schedule an appointment with a rheumatologist to figure out my joint pain – I wasn’t sure what to put for this goal, so it may evolve if I am diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. For now, I need to get established with a rheumatologist to figure out what is causing all of my joint pain.
  • Lose 20 lbs (heart disease) – My heart disease risk is still on the high side, although not alarming. (And a lot of my numbers came down to the normal range after making changes to my diet in the first half of 2025.) There are many ways I can work towards lowering my heart disease risk, but I do think losing weight will be key. So let’s try to knock off another 20 lbs this year, yeah?!

Be a more involved friend

  • Text two friends every day – I was astonished one day when my friend Mikaela went down the list of everyone she texts on a daily basis. I can sometimes go entire days without texting anyone but my mom. I want to be better about keeping in touch with people and reaching out. Hopefully, this will become more of an ingrained habit as the year progresses and not something I need to track so closely!
  • Make plans with friends once a week – I love my hermit-y existence, but I also recognize that my mental health is better when I’m seeing my friends regularly. This is a simple goal, and I don’t need to overcomplicate it. It could be dinner or a walk or just going over to their house to help with the kiddos when their partner is away.
  • Organize a girls’ weekend – We haven’t had a book club getaway since before the pandemic! I really want us to plan a fun weekend away, even if it’s just somewhere driving distance from us.
  • Send three pieces of snail mail every month – Who wants to get snail mail from me? Here’s my open form for addresses, so you can look forward to postcards and such throughout the year.
  • Schedule a standing monthly date with at least one friend – I have a few ideas for this! More to come.

Create better daily routines

  • Develop a regular morning routine before my workday begins – I have struggled with my morning routine ever since I started working from home. It’s just easier to hop onto work and then worry about the morning routine later. In 2026, I want to have a solid morning routine before stepping into my office for the day. And I want to take the time to play around with my routine until it works perfectly for me.
  • Do my hair and makeup and put on real clothes on days when I have meetings – I have become very lazy about my hair and makeup routine since all my meetings are video calls and I can use filters to enhance my appearance. In 2026, I want to actually do my hair and makeup (and by makeup, I mean slathering on some tinted moisturizer, drawing on eyebrows, and swiping a little mascara) on the days when I have meetings so I feel a bit more put together. I also want to wear real clothes! I don’t have meetings every day, otherwise this would be an overwhelming goal for me. Ha.
  • Create an evening routine that includes reading time – Every year, I read a little less than I did the year before. I’m not going to continue that trajectory in 2026! I think the key will be setting aside at least an hour every evening for reading time. My goal is to add this to the end of my evening routine, so I’m winding down with a book, which is what I used to do but definitely got out of the practice.
  • Do some form of movement every day (stretching counts!) – While I can’t do as much movement right now as I will hopefully be able to do later in the year, I do still want to move my body daily, even if I’m just doing stretches or going for a short, 10-minute walk.
  • Get outside every day – This should be a simple goal, but there are days when I don’t leave my apartment. (Like yesterday, ha.) There’s no reason for that, so I need to make a point to get some fresh air every day.

10 fun goals

  • Complete my self-created Unread Shelf Challenge – I miss the Unread Shelf Project. I loved it because it was a low-key reading challenge that focused on reading books I had already bought, so I knew I wanted to read them. So, with the help of ChatGPT, I created my own Unread Shelf challenge for 2026 and I’m excited to get started.
  • Schedule a solo reading retreat weekend – I did something similar last year when I had to be out of my apartment for a few days while my tub was getting refinished. Only I had to bring my cats with me and that did not make for a restful reading weekend. This year, I want to find a cute Airbnb within an hour or two away from where I live and spend the time reading as much as possible!
  • Try four novels from the Zero to Well Read podcast – I’m enjoying Zero to Well Read, a podcast from Book Riot where Jeff and Rebecca deep dive a “classic” book (or really, all of the books in the cultural zeitgeist that have stood the test of time). They talk about so many books I’ve never read or even considered in my own reading life, so I want to choose one per quarter to read. (“Try” being the key word here, as I’m absolutely fine DNF-ing any books I’m not enjoying.) From the episodes they released in 2025, the books I have my eye on are Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, and The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Hopefully, I’ll be able to round out this list with a book from their 2026 episodes!
  • Take one picture every day and do weekly roundups on the blog – I’ve done Project 365 a few times and I always post a picture to Instagram, but while I wanted to get into a habit of taking a photo every day, I didn’t feel like putting each one on Instagram. Instead, you’ll get a bonus post from me every weekend with a roundup of my pictures from the week. You’re welcome!
  • See a Miami Dolphins game at Hard Rock Stadium – I’ve only seen my beloved Miami Dolphins once and it was a preseason game in Tampa. I’ve always wanted to take a long weekend in Miami to see a game and enjoy the stadium. This will be an expensive trip because stadium tickets are hella pricey, but it will be worth it!
  • Decorate my patio – I have a patio I can use! Right now, there’s not much, just the zero-gravity chair that I got for Christmas. I ordered a rug, which will be here next weekend. And beyond that, I’m not sure what else I want for my patio! Maybe a small bistro table and chairs? Maybe some cat towers so the girls can enjoy lounging in the fresh air? Maybe some plants? This shall be a fun project!
  • Visit somewhere new – I don’t know where this will be (my mom and I have been noodling over a trip to Vermont in the fall) and it may end up being somewhere in Florida I’ve never been, but this can be as low stakes as I need it to be.
  • TBD
  • TBD
  • TBD

What’s one thing you want to accomplish in 2026 – big or small!

Categories: Best Of, Goals

Best of 2025 | Wrapping Up My 2025 Goals

HOME (4/5)

1) Itemize everything in my home. Burn through one candle every month. Complete! I was very good at my candle goal. Let’s see if I can keep it up in 2026!

2) Buy a new area rug, coffee table, bookshelf, and throw pillows. Mostly complete. I didn’t buy a new bookshelf or coffee table, but I did get a new nightstand and a second area rug for my bedroom so… it counts? Whatever, this is my list. I’m counting it!

3) Move to a two-bedroom apartment. Complete! YASSSSSS.

4) Stick to a weekly cleaning routine. Not complete. Oof. I keep my apartment clean, but I could definitely do a better job.

5) TBD Declutter one space of my home every week. Complete. Maybe I didn’t do it every week, but most weeks, I got it done and I had so many bags of donations to Goodwill!

ADULTING (1/5)

1) Change my primary email address. LOL, this was a complete bust. I changed it for a few accounts, but then just… stopped. And now I keep forgetting to check that other email address regularly, so I probably just need to move everything back to my stephanywrites email. Sigh.

2) Spend 50% less in online takeout from 2024. My goal is to spend less than $100 a month in online takeout. I accomplished this in January and then failed miserably for the rest of the year. (I don’t have October, November, or December numbers, but I’m sure I failed in those months, too.)

  • January: $78.38 ✅
  • February: $205.51 ❌
  • March: $173.07 ❌
  • April: $131.79 ❌
  • May: $172.49 ❌
  • June: $179.77 ❌
  • July: $269.93 ❌
  • August: $156.66 ❌
  • September: $146.51 ❌

3) Pay off my LASIK bill. Complete!

4) Save $3,000 in my emergency savings. Not complete. I was up to $1,500 before the move and then I pulled out $500 to help with some expenses. I’m slowly building this back up and I’m at $1,235 now.

5) Complete the “I’m Dead. Now What?” book. I completely forgot about this goal!

HEALTH (1/5)

1) Improve my posture. Not complete.

2) Lose 20 lbs. Mostly complete. I lost 18 lbs and I’m considering that a huge win, considering it’s the first year in many years that I’ve lost weight.

3) Move my body every day. Not complete.

4) Work on my daily routines. Not complete.

5) Be able to do a sit-up without help. Not complete. I was well on my way, but my joint pain has stopped all workout progress, womp.

HOBBIES (4/5)

1) Read one 500+ page book every quarter. Complete!

  • Q1: The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher (★★★☆☆)
  • Q2: Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi (★★★★☆)
  • Q3: Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents―and What They Mean for America’s Future by Jean M. Twenge (★★★☆☆)
  • Q4: 11/22/63 by Stephen King (★★★☆☆)

2) Go to at least 6 Silent Book Club meetings. Download and organize all of my photos on Facebook. Complete!

3) Read 125 books. (105/125) I did not meet this goal, but it was definitely a stretch goal for me. I’m happy that I read over 100 books, though!

4) Remove all the spammy links that have been added to my blog. Complete! I hope so, at least. These spammy links are so creepy!

5) Complete the Taylor Swift reading challenge. Complete!

FUN (3/5)

1) Watch four movies – one from 1987, one from 1988, one from 1989, and one from 1990. Not complete. I watched Dirty Dancing and loved it so much! And then just stopped watching movies. I’m just not a movie girl!

2) Take a trip to London. Complete!

3) Watch the entirety of these series: Suits, New Girl, and a TBD series. Try my hand at three different baking recipes: cookie dough cupcakes, a three-layer cake, and some kind of pumpkin treat. Not complete. I made a pumpkin treat, but forgot about the other two desserts, ha.

4) Repierce my nose. Complete!

5) Do one new thing every month.

  • January: Tried mushrooms, decided I didn’t like them
  • February: Visited a romance bookstore
  • March: Went to a new-to-me grocery store, Aldi (successful trip, although there are definitely certain items I’ll still need to use Publix/Target for)
  • April: Cheesy JC Penney photoshoot with book club
  • May: My first drag show!
  • June: Tried a whole lot of weird food combos for the podcast
  • July: My first ultrasound and colonoscopy (how fun)
  • August: Tried peppermint tea, found out I like it a lot
  • September: A dachshund meetup
  • October: Visiting London
  • November: Visited The Book Lounge, a new bookish community space in my town
  • December: Made peanut butter balls for the first time

Final Thoughts

In the end, I accomplished 13 of the 25 goals I set for myself. If I’m grading myself, that means I get an F for my annual goals for the year, eeks! But you know what? I accomplished some big goals this year: moving to a two-bedroom apartment, losing 18 lbs, paying off my LASIK bill, taking a trip to London. And I successfully tried one new thing every month (even if that “new thing” was medical-related; it still counts!) and read four big chonkers that have been on my TBR list for a while.

I wish I could have saved more money, spent less on Ubereats orders, read more books, and figured out my cleaning routine, but alas. This was a hard year and I’m just glad I was able to accomplish a few things from my original list.

How did you do on your 2025 goals (if you set them)?

Categories: Goals

10 Goals for the Rest of the Year | A Recap

In early November, I set 10 goals I wanted to complete by the end of the year.  While there are still six days left of 2025 (omg), I wanted to do a check-in before I start going crazy with my “Best of 2025” posts, so here you go!

1) Figure out a new home organizational system. Complete! I still think this organizational system can be improved, but at least for now, everything has its place and I know where to find the things I need.

2) Read two books that are over 500 pages. Complete! (Well, almost.) I listened to Generations, which was 560 pages, and I’m almost finished with 11/22/63. I will definitely have that done by the end of the year to complete this goal.

3) Visit The Book Lounge. Complete! My friend Amber and I went to The Book Lounge the day after my birthday and I spent over $100 on books and bookish goodies. Oops! It’s such a cute place and I’m so glad it exists in my community.

4) Finish the Taylor Swift reading challenge. Complete! All done. I’ll show the whole list in my 2025 goals recap post.

5) Get a handle on my finances. Not complete. You guys, I have not updated my budgeting spreadsheet since September. I’m calling the end of the year a wash and restarting everything in January. Everything is getting paid and I’m not going crazy when it comes to spending money, but I just haven’t felt the inclination to update my spreadsheet.

6) Find relief from my back and hip pain. Not complete. I did say that “this may be a lofty goal outside my control” and that’s definitely true. I tried a round of steroid shots in both of my hip bursae, which gave me about 18 hours of relief before everything went back to my new normal of chronic pain. I’ve decided to see a rheumatologist in the new year to find out if I have psoriatic arthritis. All of my symptoms point to this condition, and I can’t lie: I will be incredibly relieved if this is the diagnosis because hopefully it means I will start to have some relief from my chronic pain. More to come!

7) Do one Christmas-themed local event. Complete! I actually did three Christmas-themed local events. I went to Christmastown at Busch Gardens, Putt the Pier in Downtown St. Pete, and A Drag Queen Christmas.

8) Have a “planning day” to create goals for 2026. Not complete… yet. There is still time to complete this, although I’ve already come up with most of my goals for 2026. I still want to set aside a morning or afternoon to set up my 2026 planner and finalize my goals. I might do that tomorrow!

9) Develop a “40 Before 40” list. Not complete. I totally forgot that I made this goal. I’m still on the fence if I want to do a “40 Before 40” list. Probably not.

10) Bake one new-to-me Christmas-themed dessert. Complete! I made peanut butter balls, some with peppermint sprinkles and some without. They were a hit at my book club gathering, yay!

Six completed, one that was outside my control to complete, one that will likely be completed by the end of the year, and two that fell off my radar. I’m happy with that progress!

Categories: Goals

10 Goals for the End of the Year

I’ve fallen off my goal-setting bandwagon. My last goals post was in August and looking back on that list, I did not accomplish many of them. I’m also not doing spectacularly on my 2025 goals, although I do owe you guys a Q3 update. That’ll come sometime this month.

There are two months left of the year, which is wild. How are we at the endpoint of yet another year? Eeks! However, this is also my favorite time of the year and I really want to savor and enjoy the holiday season. I want to do some planning for 2026. And I want to continue settling into my new home.

So, here are 10 small goals I have for myself to guide me through the rest of 2025:

1) Figure out a new home organizational system. When I started unpacking and putting things away in their proper place, I quickly realized I needed to revamp my organizational system. There are so many little bits and bobs that need a proper home, but I don’t really have a good place for them. I’m not even sure where I was storing them before! Anyway, right now, I’m putting anything that doesn’t have a specific home into its own bin and once everything is unpacked, I’ll start figuring out my new home organizational system.

2) Read two books that are over 500 pages. This is one of my 2025 goals. I need to read two books to mark this goal complete, so I’d better get cracking!

3) Visit The Book Lounge. A new bookstore/community space opened up in my area, and I desperately want to visit it!

4) Finish the Taylor Swift reading challenge. This is another 2025 goal. I have two prompts left: read a coming-of-age story and read a story featuring music. I’m feeling confident I’ll complete this!

5) Get a handle on my finances. Things are pretty dire right now thanks to moving costs, paying two rents for two months (at pro-rated rates, but still), and the London trip. But thankfully, I don’t have to pay rent in December or January (the leasing office was running a very generous special when I applied!) so I feel like I’ll be able to catch up. Right now, my mom has been helping me stay ahead and I am very much looking forward to paying her back. My credit card balance is also a bit scary, ugh.

6) Find relief from my back and hip pain. This may be a lofty goal that’s outside my control, but I’m hoping it’s doable. I’m doing twice-weekly chiropractor sessions, twice-weekly PT, and I’ve started to do some gentle workouts at the gym (mostly the elliptical and recumbent bike). I also want to do nightly heat therapy and be a good PT patient and do my stretching/strengthening exercises on a daily basis.

7) Do one Christmas-themed local event. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet, but I definitely want to do something.

8) Have a “planning day” to create goals for 2026. Maybe with some friends? And probably after Christmas, during that lovely in-between time between Christmas and New Year’s. The perfect time to make some plans for 2026!

9) Develop a “40 Before 40” list. I turn 38 at the end of the month and that got me thinking about creating a “40 Before 40” list to complete over the next two years. I just need to think about the things I’d like to accomplish before my 40th birthday!

10) Bake one new-to-me Christmas-themed dessert. I’m not sure if I want this to be peppermint-flavored or gingerbread-flavored. Stay tuned!

What’s something you’d like to accomplish by the end of the year?