We’re halfway through the year, and I’m excited about it! Not because I want this year to end- on the contrary, I want the next six months to go by as slowly as possible. The second half of the year has all the exciting things- start of school, football season, HOLIDAYS, whereas the first half has a lot of aimless dithering (well- my experience anyway. Others may not agree!)
In honor of Halfway Day, I pulled out my goals for 2026. Ahem. Did someone else write these goals??? Let’s look at a few of them:
- Read Why We Sleep. (What? Where is that book anyway?)
- Mail 60 postcards. (Omg. I think I’ve mailed four postcards this year).
- Organize Christmas bins. (Er, no).
- Bake and freeze Christmas cookies in November. (Phew- here’s one that could still happen).
- Read 75 books. (I’m up to 34, so at least this one isn’t completely preposterous).
- Run a 5k in the fall. (WHAT. Why did I think I wanted to do that???)
I mean, I’m not really sure what I was thinking. Here are some things I’ve actually DONE this year: I ran a 60 mile race on my birthday, OH YES I DID IT. And then, I pivoted to strength training and completed Caroline Girvan’s Iron Series. I got a new kitten, took a trip to Tampa, bought a dress and shoes for my son’s wedding, and as mentioned, read 34 books. Not a bad year so far!
One interesting thing I found was that I also wrote out an intention for the year: “Appreciate this time as a pivotal moment in my life.” In 2026 I turned 60, my daughter will start her senior year of high school, and my son will be married. That’s a lot. I’m glad I went back and reviewed this, because I was losing the big picture, which is to lean into every moment and understand very clearly what’s happening right now. It’s a special time.
Do you prefer the first half or second half of the year?
Did you set goals or intentions for 2026? Have you gone back to look at them?
Top photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash
23 Responses
No goals here!
It’s interesting what you think will be important leading up to a new year and then what shakes out as really important as time processes.
By running 60 miles you did the equivalent of 19 5K’s, so I think you can check that off. Unless running 5k is different than running far? ( they’re the same to me, in that I would never do it!) Or maybe you forgot a zero (50k)?
And Sylie! The gorgeous dress! Best unintended achievements ever.
Ha, no I didn’t forget a zero. I don’t want to run a 5k because that would involve running fast, and I’m used to meandering slowly around on trails now. Plus road races are crowded and hot!
And yes- I can always tell what I was thinking about on January 1st because my goals always involve a lot of Christmas-y thngs. Then when I look at them in july I’m like “What??? Christmas?”
I love that you revisited your goals and intention for the year, and that in doing so, you discovered a ton of accomplishments you’ve already made AND a renewed focus for the year. That’s fantastic, Jenny! And what a year it is. I like the whole year, pretty much — but I would appreciate it if time were to SLOW DOWN JUST A BIT OMG.
Yes, let’s just agree that time can slow right down, PLEASE.
Happy halfway day!!!!!
Yes! I read your post this morning ; )
Oh, I DEFINITELY prefer the second half of the year. I love back to school, ALL THINGS OCTOBER (mostly fall foliage in Nova Scotia), and Christmas.
Plus, the first half of the year in Canada is mostly winter which is a giant NO from me.
I set some loose goals (what did I call them… fun ideas??). Anyway, I think I’ve mostly not accomplished any of them. Oh well. Literally nothing bad has happened, so I’m not going to fret about it. I love crossing things off lists, but as soon as a list gets crossed off, I write a new one. So many not crossing off goals is saving me lots of unnecessary effort. Haha.
You’ve been a little busy with your months of organization, travel, and wonder- you’ve crossed more things off any list any one has! Maybe you should make an ex post facto list of everything you experienced in Europe and cross them off. You’d have pages of satisfactory crossing off!
Ha- well, going on your huge European adventure probably distracted you from any goals (ideas) you set in January. It’s funny to re-visit the January mindset in the summer.
You might not be doing the goals you put together in January, but I’d say you have some amazing accomplishments under your belt, Jenny! I don’t make goals and maybe this is the reason – because things are always changing and in flux. That said, you could probably do all of those things if you really wanted to – there’s still time to organize those Christmas bins! (I am joking!) As for the 5K, you run that all the time, just make it a Race of Jenny? A race with a participant of one?
I don’t know if I have a preference of first half/ second half. I do love summer and Christmas, but my birthday is in the spring and we had some great travel so…I don’t know, it’s a toss up. I do know that I love July and August, especially here in Kelowna!
I love love love the affirmation to appreciate this pivotal time of your life. 2026 is a monumental year for you! So many great things happening!
I really SHOULD take this opportunity to organize the Christmas bins (but who wants to look at Christmas stuff in July???) And, I agree that there are some good things about the first half of the year- it’s when we have our best weather down here, and also my birthday. But those things can’t compete with fall, and all the holidays! I don’t know… I guess we can keep both halves.
The second half of the year is definitely better! My birthday is at the end of this month, and then of course, there’s the holidays to look forward to. And there’s more days off work in the second half of the year because of the holidays which is nice!
I didn’t really set any goals for the year (well, my big race back in May which I ended up DNFing…) but the last couple of months have been challenging so I’m just trying to get through the days. Maybe the second half of the year will be better for goal setting!
60 MILE RACE COMPLETE. There’s no better way to sum up your year, and that’s only the first half!
I can’t pick a favorite between the first and second half. First half: burst of energy from New Year’s, and I do appreciate the beauty of winter right up until mid January-March when it feels unending and dreary. Second half: slow start because I’m basking in the warmth of summer, and then I get a little energy boost when the school year starts and I love fall. The end usually drags a bit.
Obviously it’s not something that I wrote down, but my big goal for the year was to stop pretending that my marriage was working and to find my own place to live. I’m still not sure what the next step is, but having step one complete is something that needed to happen and it makes everything that happens from here much easier.
Your sentence about what you’ve accomplished in 2026 explains why I think goal-setting isn’t necessarily necessary? I see the point of goals but ambitious people accomplish things regardless of whether they set the goal! And things can change so much throughout the year, rendering your goals invalid! I did a 25 for ’26 list, but it’s very much a to do list of sorts with lots of fun activity and a few nagging tasks I’ve put off.
I must prefer the 2nd half of the year. I do not like winter, and 4/6 months in the first half of the year are wintery. I like the back-to-school feeling, Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas, and fall is so gorgeous here! If we could just repeat the 2nd half of year twice/year, I’d be game.
Some of us aren’t ambitious and that’s why we HAVE to set goals! Or all we’d do is read romance books, preferably with dragons in them. I’d take some ambition if someone wants to share.
All that AND you got a dress for the wedding!! And 34 books is amazing.
I don’t have a favorite haf of the year, there’s good and bad for both I guess.. haha… but I am always stunned when we reach the halfway mark because then I start getting antsy about NaBloPoMo and Christmas only being a few months away LOL
You definitely had a great year so far… running a 60-mile race at 60. I mean, how many people can say that??? And you had some other exciting things happen this year so far…
I guess I prefer the second half of the year, but I’ve never really thought about it, to be honest. January, February, and March absolutely bite it re: weather, so the first quarter is not usually my favorite. But school starts in September and that’s a drag. Huh.
You are having a great year! I can’t wait to hear how the second half turns out!
I definitely prefer the 2nd half of the year because I like summer and then I LOVE all things fall/ back to school/ football season/ all the holidays etc. However, the 2nd half of the year has a lot of “extras” that are time consuming, like needing to buy gifts, decorate, social things, etc. So the 2nd half of the year can also feel a bit too busy and hectic, too. I don’t mind some winter but it goes on way too long in WI. And I truly despise spring. (note- if we had actual NICE springs, I would probably love spring. But WI springs are usually “fake springs” where it LOOKS nice outside but then it’s actually 42 degrees and blustery winds and/or muddy and rainy. Ha.) Sometimes we don’t get real spring consistently (ie actual warmer weather) until like, May! Though this year was better than average, if I recall correctly, so I didn’t hate spring this year. It helped that we went somewhere warm for almost 2 weeks in March-April! By the time we got home, WI got the memo about being time to put winter to rest. Ha.
You’ve had a great year! I laughed at your goals though- well, the part about you saying “who wrote these?!” hehe. I’m right there with you on wanting to embrace the transitions and milestones- can you believe we both have seniors?!?! Ethan even said recently, I feel like we just went to the “new student night” at school (which was the welcome night for freshmen). And now here he is starting senior year. WAH.
Goals? Did I set them??
I start out strong and then …
Hope we both have a strong second half.
I have never thought about it, but if I had to pick, I would pick the first half of the year. Here in California, winter means green, and spring is flowers and leaves and all of that. By the time we get to summer everything is dry and brown. I like summer and fall for what they are, for sure, but January – May are the prettiest here for me.
I prefer the middle section of the year haha. From May-October is full of fun and life for me (with four school age/preschool kids). The winter is just…blah. Although since my kids started playing basketball there has at least been some fun and excitement in those months!
Hi Jenny, catching up with your blog now. I have my goals on the front page of my journal and refer to them often. I have goals that are vague I guess? “Take good care of my physical health” and “take good care of my mental health” and the trips of course. Also, “get social” … that was eliminated. I get enough social time in teaching already.
I don’t really have a preference for halves of the year… first half has Rainn’s and my husband’s birthdays, spring break, and my birthday in May… second half has back to school (which can be stressful for a teacher), but also has a fall break and winter holidays…