There's Still Time! Reviewing my Goals (for 2025)

Did you set goals for 2025? At the time of writing, there are still 98 days left to get things done. So, it's time for us to revisit those 2025 goals, review where we're at, and refocus on what needs to be done.

Set some goals!

No goals? Set some!

If you didn't set any goals at the start of the year, then go ahead and set some now.

It's not too late. You've still got 3 months left of the year, and that is plenty of time to cross some things off.

You are not failing

Not getting everything done is perfectly normal. You don't need to cross off all of your goals every year. I never do.

Actually, I would say to anyone who crosses off all their goals every year, then you're simply not setting big enough goals!!

Don't put off looking at your goals because you haven't achieved much (or as much as you wanted to). It doesn't matter. Pull them out and have a look anyway.

Goals (and people) change

Some of the goals that you set at the start of the year will no longer be relevant. Your plans might change, the goalposts might shift. Good! We are not stagnant people.

Sometimes, looking at old goals that no longer serve their purpose can help you see how far you've come, or how much you've learned or grown.

Sometimes, unmet goals can reveal that you may have drifted off path and need to get yourself back on track.

Okay? You hearing me?

You are not a failure for either not setting or not achieving your goals. Pish posh.

Now, here's where I'm at with my 2025 goals:

Marley's 2025 Goals

There are more ticks there than I was expecting to see - Yay!

Now, time to touch on a few of those unticked boxes.

Empty Boxes

1. Exercise - Both goals relating to exercise were unticked. Yep, I've totally sucked at exercising in 2025... so far. This is clearly something that I need to work on over the next 3 months, and with the weather on the improve, it should get easier as we get closer to the end of the year.

2. Book ideas and book writing - I haven't actually worked on any new ideas this year, and it may sound funny, but I haven't written much either! (eek!) I wrote around 6000 words at the start of the year (the start of a story about an aged care worker, set in the future). But, most of this year has been editing, and the only other writing I have done has been blog posts, poetry, and new chapters for the book I have been editing.

   The rest of 2025 definitely needs to include more book writing!

3. Eve - Eve is a book that I finished writing last year that my beta readers didn't love. I planned to read through it again and edit it into something good. I started reading it. It was crap. I haven't touched it since.

4. New book projects: Adult picture books, event novella & poetry book - I have a lot of ideas and unfortunately I can't do them all. This is about the 3rd year in a row I've set myself the goal of writing an event novella (eg. a Christmas or Easter themed story) and haven't done it. It's not a priority and probably not going to happen next year either. The adult picture book is also not a priority. The poetry book will happen, but not this year.

5. Print book of Thoughts and Feelings Series - This book is actually finished. It sat on my bedside table for a while, and now it's in my bookshelf. I own the only copy. The thing is that the Thoughts and Feelings Series is not my best work. So much so that I'm thinking of removing the ebooks from my website, banner, and Amazon store. I'm torn on this one. To release or remove the books?? (opinions welcome)

6. Book stalls - This will happen one day. Not any day in 2025. Next year's problem.

7. Bookmarks, merch & poetry cards - These are ideas for my future book stall.

   Also next year's problem.

8. Open mic event - Coming in 2026! Not in the form that I expected. But, it's still happening.

9. Monthly date nights and Meg dinners - A shout-out to my husband and little sister, who have clearly been neglected this year. Oops. Sorry. I love you. We've done some, but certainly not on a monthly basis.

10. Networking - Has happened in some ways, but again, not in ways that I expected.

11. Advertising - Will start advertising again when my next book is out

12. Read indie books - Yep. I need to read more indie books. This is a must-do.

Okay, so this really helps to refocus me for the rest of 2025.

I need to

• Exercise

• Read indie books

• Start writing a new book

Comics are fun

Things I’ve been good at

• Reading

• Keeping my website updated

• Blog posts, newsletters and Facebook posts

• Poems and comics

Learnings

One big thing that I can see is that things that I’ve been good at have taken time away from my core activities. Churning out regular blog posts, comics, poems, newsletters, and Facebook posts has meant that I have spent less time actually writing books. This is not ideal, so I will also spend the rest of 2025 trying to find a way to do all of the things in a better way.

That being said, I have not spent as much time on all of my writing and bookish-related activities this year, because this is the last year that I will have my twinnies at home! They head off to school next year, so theoretically, I should have enough time to get ALL the things done well in 2026. Hooray! (and also wahhh! where did my babies go?!!)

And that's my goal review process in a nutshell.

Time to get my butt back on track and smash the end of 2025!

How did your goal review go? What goals will you focus on for the remainder of 2025?

Happy goal achieving!!

Much love,

Marley