At the beginning of the year, I set myself a series of goals for 2026 \u2014 not so much rigid resolutions, but gentle intentions for the kind of year I wanted to create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that we\u2019re halfway through the year, it feels like the right time to pause, reflect, and check in with myself. Some goals have flowed naturally. Others have been harder to hold onto. A few have shifted completely as life, energy, weather, and reality have made themselves known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And honestly? That feels okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This isn\u2019t about perfection. It\u2019s about noticing what\u2019s working, what needs adjusting, and what I want to carry with me into the second half of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walking three times a week went really well while the weather was warm. I loved getting outside, especially to beaches, and it felt good to have that rhythm in place. But as the weather has cooled, my motivation has definitely slowed down too. One of my winter adjustments is to set the treadmill back up so we can keep moving indoors and stay fit for hockey. I know I feel better when I\u2019m walking regularly, so this is one goal I don\u2019t want to let disappear completely just because the season has changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The morning movement routine hasn\u2019t really happened. Mornings are still the part of my day where I most need to slow down, but also the part where that feels the hardest. I\u2019m not giving up on it, but I think I need to make this goal much smaller and gentler for the second half of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing our own food has been lovely, even if it\u2019s still in the early stages. So far we\u2019ve had strawberries and fresh herbs, and I\u2019ve also bought a lemon tree, blueberry plant, raspberry plant, and chilli plant. None of those have fruited yet, but I like the feeling of slowly building a garden that will feed us over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for no phone after 9pm \u2014 some nights it works better than others. I\u2019m trying, and I can definitely feel the difference when I do manage it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My weekly self-care check-in lasted about two months, which is actually a pretty good start. Over time, though, I realised I was naturally doing a lot of that reflection in my daily journal instead. So rather than seeing this as a failure, I\u2019m choosing to see it as the practice changing shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mental health days are still a work in progress. I\u2019ve managed a few, but I often find myself \u201chalf-resting\u201d rather than fully switching off. I\u2019ll stop doing one thing, but then fill the space with another task, another thought, another bit of mental clutter. It has been a gentle reminder that rest is a skill too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve also been slowly curating my digital space. I\u2019m paying more attention to which online spaces make me feel inspired, connected, and happy \u2014 and which ones leave me feeling drained or caught in comparison. I\u2019m learning that I don\u2019t need to stay everywhere just because I once belonged there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This area has been slowly moving along, even if not always in big dramatic ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea of one decluttering project each month has helped keep things manageable. It stops me from feeling like I need to overhaul the whole house at once, which never works for me anyway. Small, steady progress feels much more sustainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve also been thinking more about how I want our home to feel \u2014 not perfect, not magazine-worthy, but lived in, warm, creative, and calm enough for all of us to breathe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The garden is slowly expanding too. Between herbs, food plants, and the hope of more flowers and natives, it feels like we\u2019re gradually creating a space that is useful, beautiful, and alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has probably been the most neglected area of my goals so far. Not because it doesn\u2019t matter \u2014 it absolutely does \u2014 but because it\u2019s easy for family time to become something that just happens around the edges of everything else. School, work, sport, appointments, chores, and everyone\u2019s energy levels all fill the calendar so quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the second half of the year, I want to come back to this in a simpler way. Maybe it doesn\u2019t need to be a perfectly planned weekly family night. Maybe it starts with one screen-free dinner, one board game, one short drive, one shared creative afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still love the idea of Tasmanian day trips and mini adventures, especially as a way of reconnecting with where we live. I don\u2019t want this goal to become another pressure point, but I do want to make more space for shared memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reading has continued to be both an escape and a source of inspiration. I\u2019ve been drawn to books that help me slow down, think differently, or feel more connected to creativity, home, and self-understanding. I haven\u2019t followed a perfect \u201cone book per month\u201d rhythm, but I have kept reading, and that matters more to me than the numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve also been reflecting a lot on values, priorities, and what I actually have capacity for. Saying no without guilt is still hard, but it\u2019s becoming one of the most important lessons of the year. I\u2019m learning that boundaries are not unkind. They are often what make it possible to show up with more honesty and care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creativity has shown up in unexpected ways this year. Sometimes through photography walks. Sometimes through planner journaling. Sometimes through blogging, website work, or simply noticing something beautiful and wanting to record it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My signature project is the Tasmanian Maker\u2019s Journal<\/a><\/strong> website. At the beginning of the year, I had a plan to publish weekly posts, but I\u2019ve realised that pace isn\u2019t sustainable for me right now. So I\u2019m paring it back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That doesn\u2019t mean the project matters any less. In fact, I think slowing the pace might help me enjoy it more and keep it going for longer. I want Tasmanian Maker\u2019s Journal to be something rooted in curiosity, creativity, and community \u2014 not another thing that burns me out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Wheel of the Year continues to be a grounding thread through my seasons. Simple rituals for the turning points of the year have helped me pause and notice where I am \u2014 not just on the calendar, but in myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My altar practice has been gentle and changeable. Sometimes it is simple. Sometimes it is layered. Sometimes it reflects the moon, the season, the garden, or whatever I\u2019m currently holding close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m learning that spiritual practice doesn\u2019t need to be elaborate to be meaningful. Often, it\u2019s the small repeated acts of attention that matter most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I look toward the second half of the year, I can see that some goals need adjusting. Some need simplifying. Some need more structure. And some may need to be released altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest lesson so far is that my goals need to support my life, not become another way to measure myself harshly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the next six months, I want to focus on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A mid-year check-in isn\u2019t about proving I\u2019ve done everything right. It\u2019s about coming back to myself, noticing what matters, and choosing the next small steps with care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that feels like a good goal in itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \ud83c\udf3f A Mid-Year Reflection At the beginning of the year, I set myself a series of goals for 2026 \u2014 not so much rigid resolutions, but gentle intentions for the kind of year I wanted to create. Now that we\u2019re halfway through the year, it feels like the right time to pause, reflect, and check … Continue reading “Goal Check-In: First Half of 2026 Progress”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nightwolfsden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nightwolfsden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nightwolfsden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nightwolfsden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nightwolfsden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nightwolfsden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12825,"href":"https:\/\/nightwolfsden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12824\/revisions\/12825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nightwolfsden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nightwolfsden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nightwolfsden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udd2e Spiritual<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Goals:<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Progress:<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\u2728 Looking Ahead: The Second Half of 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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