Midterm Report

image from here

The days are slow, but the years fly by.  We're halfway through 2025.  Each year, I set and present my goals for the year in January. Today, I remind myself of the goals and look at how it's going.

Spiritual
- Be disciplined in reading/prayer routines (and reduce putzing).
- Do devotionals with the family twice a week.
- Serve better, but in fewer roles.
- Focus more on others. Figure out balance with competing needs.

This is a mixed bag. I have been more disciplined in reading/prayer, especially in the last month for the latter. Putzing has been much better in the past month, too, by minimizing screen time. Devotionals with the family started out okay but have tapered off; I need to restart those. I've scaled back the roles I'm serving in, and am still stretched too thin and exhausted, so I am taking a hiatus from many things for six months. And I have recently been convicted on just how poorly I serve the family in general by putting other things first (like work, church, and hobbies). I made a change in the past month and things have gone much better, and I need to keep that up.  

Nutritional/Fitness
- Get (and keep) weight under 185 lbs.
- Eat more fruit/vegetables. Eat out less.
- Improve gut health.
- Complete 270 workouts; bike 1200 miles.

Going pretty well. Gut health is better (pre/probiotics have helped). I stand at 185 lbs this morning—my lowest in five years. Part of that has to do with shoulder surgery (in late April) and subsequent muscle loss, though, so my new goal is 180lbs. That surgery obviously affected workouts—I'm doing what I can, but losing two months will make it hard to reach my overall goals—my biking mileage (326) and number of workouts (118) are down. I'll revise the workouts to 250 and 800 miles, respectively.

Reading
- Read 50 books.
- Read 15 works on my American Reading List.
- Minimize my owned-but-unread pile.

Going okay here. I have read 31 books so far this year, but I haven't done much (anything) with my American Reading List. And the owned-but-unread pile is holding steady (maybe growing).

Stuff
- Minimize everything in the home.

- Figure out ideal home organization.
- Buy less/budget better.

Going pretty well. We have spurts of minimization, but plan to address some long-standing messes this summer. We're making progress in home organization. And I've been more disciplined with buying less stuff, and have sold a good deal this year.

Overall

Things are progressing. Many promising factors, though not everything is of equal weight. I need to serve the family better, and that overshadows a lot of good, so I'll rate myself a 'C' for the year so far.

Grade: C