✨Aspirations Six Month Check-In✨
As hard as it is to believe, we are now halfway through 2025. Time for another check-in to see where I’m at with the aspirations I set for myself for the year. This is also a good time to check in and see if these aspirations are still things I want to accomplish. A lot can happen in a year, and the halfway point feels like a good time to reassess and reevaluate.
As a reminder, here are my aspirations:
Let’s see how I’m doing so far
Grow this Substack: Truthfully, I haven’t been putting much effort into this, especially over the last three months. At the time of this writing, I am up one subscriber since March. This aspiration has transitioned into more of a “would be nice” than something I am actively working towards. I have been giving some thought to what I want my niche to be here, even though I hate the idea of fitting myself into a box like that. The book content isn’t going anywhere, but what else do I have to talk about? That’s the question.
Generate income: Still no dice. The job hunt continues. I did sell our double stroller for a healthy bit of cash, does that count? Also if you see me on TikTok trying to make it big…no you didn’t. (But also please like and follow.)
Finish draft of a novel: Also have not done this. I’m a bit disappointed in myself for not finishing by now, but I am making headway. I entered this writing contest, and while I don’t want to get my hopes up, it would be really cool to place! Full writing update to come soon.
Spend more time in/at the ocean: Got my first beach day in last week! It has rained every weekend for the last 14 weekends in a row, so beach days are a bit hard to come by right now. Still, I am holding out hope the weather will turn ANY DAY NOW and I’ll get myself into a nice beach routine.
Spend less time on my phone: I was using the Screen Zen app for most of the beginning of this year, and it was so effective I deleted it, thinking I’d cured myself. I had not cured myself. I have added the app back to my phone and I already feel better. I’ve also been using the Kindle and Substack apps on my phone a lot, and these feel less brain damage-y than doomscrolling, so I am okay with that.
Declutter: Okay so it turns out this is a never ending quest. I did a major purge of the kid’s playroom, which was satisfying and it does feel slightly less horrific in there. I also just pulled out all the summer clothes and got rid of a bunch of those. The basement still needs to be tackled, but that’s a good summer project since it stays nice and cool down there.
Meditate, Manifest, Journal: I am a HUGE journal girl now. I’m doing it regularly, three pages at a whack at minimum, and I just had to get a new notebook. (I like these.) Meditation is non-existent. My manifesting is limited to getting good parking spots at the grocery store, but I need to re-focus on this.
Overall thoughts on my progress
I’m disappointed I haven’t focused much on my writing, and I’m also disappointed I haven’t found a job. However, I only have control over one of those things. This summer I am going to super duper focus on writing. I want to be a published author and that cannot happen if I don’t actually write something.
I’m ditching any goals related to this Substack. This will now be a creative outlet for the foreseeable future, and if it grows, that’s great.
My journaling goal feels complete. As for meditating, I think that is more of a tool I will use as needed, if needed, and not something I focus on regularly.
And as far as manifesting goes, I think I’m going to dive into a six month experiment. Here’s the gist of it:
And if you want to read through exactly how to do it, you can check out the saved stories on the Manifesting Besties account. You may think this all sounds too woo-woo for you, but I promise getting in tune with yourself and the things you want out of life and the things that truly bring you joy isn’t woo-woo in the least. It’s vital. Especially during these trying times.
So! We’ll see how it goes, and maybe I’ll do some six month experiment updates here as well. In the meantime, I made myself a new vision board for summer that I’m using as my computer background and it is bringing me great joy to look at. Here it is in case anyone wants to snag it for themselves:
Have a GREAT weekend, friends!
Love this - fresh and honest!
Don’t forget friend, you ARE a published author. I believe in you!