Simple Goals for a Joyful Year

After a few weeks of deliberation about goals, much of which I spent thinking about what brings me true contentment and gives me a greater ability to be present and engaged in my day-to-day life, I decided on a small handful of simple goals for the year, mostly focused on family and creativity and joy.

Make more time for reading

Last year, I didn’t plan my reading life at all, which is out of the norm for me, and this year, I’m returning to a planned reading life. I’ve laid out a 7x7 reading plan for my intellectual, spiritual, and personal growth, but I also want to read more for pure enjoyment, which means more fiction and biography/memoir. I started off the year with a fantastic piece of fiction on audio—The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana Chambers, while also enjoying a laugh-out-loud-worthy memoir, L’Appart by food writer David Lebovitz, about the purchase and renovation of his Paris apartment. These two books, which touch on two of my favorite topics, Julia Child and Parisian life, whet my whistle for more purely enjoyable reading. Current listen: The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop. Current read: Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr. For details on my 7x7, check out my Instagram this coming week.

Spend more evenings at home

Autumn was difficult. The girls’ dance schedule means one or both of them is at the studio Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I take guitar lessons on Tuesdays, and then I usually have something on the calendar for myself on Thursdays. In the interest of less gas usage and less running back and forth to the studio, I was staying with them on Mondays and Wednesdays. All this meant we were rarely eating dinner together during the week, and we certainly weren’t eating well. I’ve recommitted to more prep-ahead and slow-cooked meals to make it easier for at least three of us to sit down together most nights of the week, and I’m feeling much less frazzled and frantic. The additional gas and minutes in the car are worth 2-3 more hours at home for me.

Return to a whole foods lifestyle

The busyness of midlife, raising kids while having a lot on my plate, eroded my eating habits over the years. Knowing I needed to get back to a healthier lifestyle that didn’t just involve counting calories and taking supplements, I took a short course in whole foods nutrition this month. It mostly just reminded me of what I learned 20 years ago about nutrition, and I’ve been making simple, easy changes to my diet. Being home more in the evenings (see above) has helped with this, and I’m already feeling miles better. More energy, fewer aches and pains, and better sleep. I’m seeing it in my kids, too.

Knit my stash

I have a massive yarn stash (I love hand-dyed yarn spun from natural fibers), and I want to devote more time to knitting from my stash this year. Knitting is both creative and meditative, and it gives me a chance to work with my hands. I’ve set a goal to knit through one skein a week, which should enable me to complete a sizeable number of projects and use up roughly 1/3 of my stash. A couple of years ago, I had a membership in Wool and Honey’s Sleeping Bear Yarn Club. I have 12 single-skein projects from that membership which I intend to complete this year as part of my knitting goal. I’ve already completed two projects that were in process, and I’m halfway through my first shawl from the club membership. One side benefit of this goal is that I’m spending more time around the fire with my people in the evenings, just enjoying being with them.

Finish a big writing project

I’m in the middle of a fiction project, and I’d like to complete it by the end of the summer. I do well with this if I set aside 3-4 hours at a pop to work on it, so I’m planning to spend a chunk of time each weekend writing until the first draft is complete. This kind of practice is always very fulfilling for me and fills my tank in a different way than anything else I do.

Get back to regular small-scale writing

This Substack newsletter is my first step in returning to a regular, small-scale writing practice. Every 1-2 weeks, you’ll hopefully see a post from me here.

I can’t believe January is already winding down, but the older I get, the faster time seems to move. I’d love to know what you’re doing in 2025 and how it’s going.

xo, Harmony