Goal for 2026: No Goals

My goal for 2026 is to have less goals. I am a goal-oriented person. I love to set goals, I love to map out how I will reach them, and I always do. I crush them. I surpass them, set new ones, and crush those too. I love planning, I love goal setting I love new years resolutions, I love Mondays and the first day of the month. I love constantly improving myself.

But it is exhausting. The last five years I have been trying so hard to dig in my heels and SLOW DOWN. And I can’t. It is frustrating. The biggest goal I have for my life and I can’t achieve it. But maybe I’m going about it all wrong. By scheduling myself time to read, time to bake bread, time with my chickens-I quickly become FORCED to do those things.

Look no one is holding my feet to the fire or anything like that but I do. I was diagnosed with OCD this year. Contrary to popular belief, OCD is not just being hyperorgnazied or flipping light switches and washing hands (although I am hyperorganized). There are many different forms of OCD and everyone gets different flavors if you will.

My flavor involves to-do lists and the anxiety I get around them and the release I get from that anxiety chokehold when I can mark something off my list. My to-do lists have morphed from “here’s some things I should try to get done today” to “here are the things that I HAVE to get done today and if I don’t I am an epic failure at life”.

Yeah it’s real fun to be in my brain.

Over the years I have put all sorts of things on my to-do list. This year I decided I would read 100 books which quickly morphed into reading 100 pages a day- whether I wanted to or not. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love to read and I wouldn’t have read 134 books if I didn’t want to. But sometimes I want to watch a show, or go to sleep, or do another workout, or feed my chickens instead of reading.

I will put “bake bread” on my to do list and then proceed to stress about it all day because it takes all day to do and I can’t mark it off. I suddenly ran out of time to take care of the chickens or even write this blog because my to do list was too full and I felt like I HAD to do everything on it. No exceptions.

And where did this to do list come from? From my goals. “I’m going to read 100 books this year, so I’ll put read every day on my list”. “I am going to journal every day”. “I’m going to workout every day”. Suddenly I couldn’t leave the house until I had done every single thing on that list. Do you know how ridiculous this sounds even to myself?

So this year the goal is less goals. I’m not setting a 2026 reading goal. There is one series I want to read. I’m sure I’ll get through it. Beyond that it doesn’t matter how many books I read because reading is already a habit and something I enjoy. I don’t need a goal for that.

I’m not setting a 2026 fitness goal. I love to work out. I work out every day. It motivates me, it energizes me, it makes me feel good about myself. Maybe sometimes I will work out twice or three times a day. I don’t need to set a goal, I already do it.

I’m not setting homesteading goals. I already have the birds, they already have the homes they need. If I want to hatch eggs I will. If I’m over it I’ll stop. It’s not going on my list.

I’m not putting baking on any to do list. I’ll pull my starter out. If I want to bake that weekend I will. If I’m not in the mood I’ll put it away.

I do want to have a yardsale this year. I have literally one room (mine) and one bathroom (also mine) left to go through and remove any excess items. This will be a large undertaking but we will get it done this spring and be done. Be rid of all that clutter, all those items. I’m talking a ton of stuff again (and yes I did just do this a couple years ago in Arizona).

I’m not setting any goals for this blog or Instagram. If I feel like posting I will. I like to write, I like to post, I like to see the memories from previous posts. Maybe I’ll actually have the time to do it because I won’t HAVE to read 100 pages and I can write instead if I want.

I started a new journaling hobby. I think it is really going to help me figure out how to live with OCD this year. Six months ago my therapist asked me to start journaling. I put it on my to do list, it became a chore, and I HATED it. The last week I have been doing it because I want to. I refuse to put it on my to do list.

So you see, this year the goal is to have less goals. I have 5 kids, I work, I have a homestead. I’m still going to be super busy. But I always have some time to myself every morning and every night. I don’t HAVE to spend those a certain way. I don’t HAVE to accomplish something this year. Instead I can choose to spend that time in any way I feel.

This may be one of the hardest years for me but hopefully it’s the year I break away from feeling trapped by my own expectations and truly learn to live in the moment.