As we begin to wind down 2025, I wanted to spread out my 25 for 2025 goal check-ins and address five at a time in five different posts, ahead of late December when I’ll turn my attention to new inspiration for a new year.

Here are updates on five of my goals:

Hit 25 Total Credit Hours Toward Ph.D

Status: Completed and Surpassed.

By mid-December I’ll be wrapping my final course of 2025 and my total completed credit hours will be sitting at 30. This means I am officially half-way through the sixty-hour program! I started in January 2024 and have tried not to put pressure or a firm deadline on my completion. It looks like I should be in the beginning stages of dissertation-writing by this time next year.

Invest in Professional Upgrades

Status: Completed and Surpassed.

For a quick run down of these action items, (1) we did not hire a tax-pro, but I did do a consult with Fidelity about my SEP-IRA and got clarity on some financial planning issues; (2) I didn’t hire a professional, but did update my headshot both for my company profile and LinkedIn; (3) I completed not only the Qualtrics modules for basic proficiency, but also I did the same for Tableau, and I successfully used the SPSS program for my Advanced Educational Statistics Program; (4) I continue to approach AI with curiosity and did attended a virtual SEO, AEO, and IEO webinar hosted by Jasper; (5) I was invited on a professional trip to Hawaii with our team back in April; (6) I replaced my home office desk, moved our most ergonomic chair to my office, and I did get a new Macbook Pro from my company.

The biggest professional upgrade that came out of this goal, was that over the summer I moved from being a contract employee to a full-time employee. New salary. New benefits. New title. As a company, later in the fall we have rebranded. I am so grateful for my job and all of the cool opportunities it has afforded me.

Become a Landscape Apprentice

Status: Mostly Completed.

The amount of time I’ve spent outside in my yard this year is incalculable. Truly. I’m outside usually between 4-8 times per day taking out Hank and Maggie. This was one of those goals that supported my “If you can’t get out of it, get into it” Soundtracks.

I have become one with all of the trees. After Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene last fall, and a major winter snow storm last winter, we have had a heavy amount of dead branches, leaves, and detritus fall in the yard. Back in June, lightning struck one of our super tall pines and we are currently awaiting removal of a very tall, very scary pine tree.

(1) I have identified each species of tree on our property; (2) the stick pile removal is ongoing but most recently I had to project manage this while Ryan was away for training; (3) we now own a leaf blower (it came with our NC cabin– more about this below); (4 & 5) in March, I hired twice monthly lawn care— they do all mowing, edging, clearing, mulching, and beautifying; (6) the fire pit and outdoor lights did not happen but it was a purposeful decision as our weather here and the amount of wind, sticks, branches, pine needles, and the like does not lend itself to leaving out any superfluous, unsecured outdoor items like lights, chairs, or a fire pit– perhaps at another house.

Grasp and Apply Leadership Concepts

Status: Completed and Surpassed.

So far this year, I have (1) read the following leadership books:

• Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect
• Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future
• The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy
• Tidy Up Your Life: Rethinking How to Organize, Declutter, and Make Space for What Matters Most
• Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence
• Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything
• No-Fail Habits
• The Voice of the Heart
• 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do

(and I have a TBR with eight other titles as I can get to them); (2) I have listened to self-development podcasts— my go-tos are Jon Acuff, Gretchen Rubin, Hidden Brain, Millionaires Unveiled, Mel Robbins, The Double Win (Michael Hyatt), and various Ramsey podcasts; (3) I have kept a running list of lessons learned in my Notes app and with various Voice Memos to myself; (4) the phone calls with my brother have not been all leadership focused, but we have maintained somewhat regular rhythms of calls and nearly every time we are sharing books or podcasts we’ve loved; (5) I attended one live leadership seminar— the 3ID Spouse Leadership Forum on Personalities in Peace and Conflict back in September.

Execute Plans for a TN Residence

Status: Completed and Surpassed.

It’s a little funny looking back over this goal here at the end of October. When I set these intentions and made these little graphics this time last year, I created an arbitrary timeline and honestly, by March, we’d thrown most of that timeline to the wind.

For YEARS we have had Zillow alerts on our phones, we’ve contacted multiple real estate agents, I’ve toured probably a dozen properties, and by early summer, we felt ready to pull the trigger. We got super close on one house located outside of Tellico Plains, TN but during that search, we ended up finding what would become our little cabin in the woods. Except it was not in Tennessee, but 14 miles over the state line in North Carolina.

We closed on our Bear Paw @blueskycottage.nc just outside Murphy, North Carolina at the very end of July and the rest is history.

I started this post with goals that have mostly complete resolution. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as I address other 2o25 goals. Some are incomplete and a few are totally untouched.

How is your year shaping up? Do you set goals, intentions, or resolutions? Have you kept up with them?