Why I'm Setting Goals in Spring

This year, I’m doing something different with my goal setting. I didn’t set my goals at the very beginning of the year, and it’s been going even better than I hoped. Here’s why I’ve been waiting until spring to set goals for the year and why this might be a great choice for you too.

Why Set Goals in Spring?

From various articles I’ve read over the last couple years, it seems like January 1st might be the worst possible time to set goals.

That may seem like an extreme statement, but here are some of the reasons why I’ve come to think that…

The timing of New Years after the holidays finds many people already feeling burned out from busy schedules. Plus holiday spending and travel expenses can make people feel like they’re already behind, with no room in their budget to make changes.

And it’s so easy to get caught up in comparison around New Year’s. If everyone is doing XYZ, shouldn’t you? (spoiler alert: nope!)

Pressure just isn’t a good motivator.

What has resonated most for me is that New Year’s comes right smack in the dead of winter, when most of nature is hibernating or living at a slower pace. I believe God created us to experience natural rhythms in our lives, and it really makes sense to look at the rhythms He put in place in the natural world. During the cold, dark months, animals are either staying in their dens all winter, or only coming out briefly to search for food before returning to their warm homes. Most plants go dormant, storing up energy for returning to bloom when spring arrives.

Is the time when our bodies naturally crave calm, warmth, and a slower pace really the best time to charge ahead with a bunch of changes and intense goals? If we take our cues from creation, winter seems looks like the perfect time to rest and dream.

Winter brings an added layer of challenge for those of us who deal with chronic illness. My symptoms are debilitating year-round, but winter, and really any of the colder months, increases the severity of my fatigue, tachycardia, low blood pressure, pain, asthma and other symptoms. It would not be kind to myself to expect me to add more pressure and more goals when I’m feeling like I’m barely able to survive. Winter is rough on many chronically ill people. We don’t need to be rough on ourselves too.

So I’ve just been gently brainstorming and soft launching my goals over the last month or so. No set date. No “failure” by the end of January. It’s chill. I have all year.

My 2026 Goals

Here’s my list of goals for 2026:

Stay on Top of Email

My goal is to open my email inbox every day and go through each email that’s come through in the last 24 hours to either read them, mark them for action, or delete them. My goal is to get my inbox back to zero. I’m also aiming to try and go through five old emails every day. So far, some days I’ve met this goal, some days I haven’t, but my inbox backlog and clutter is steadily decreasing.

PS Here’s my post on tips for getting rid of digital clutter.

Blog Monthly (Or So)

I would love to get back to blogging about once a month, with the caveat that I’m not going to pressure myself to finish a post every month, especially if I’m feeling rushed or pressured. I may even set myself the blogging goal to do less: I may decide ahead of time to just pause my blog each winter. I think this might be a really helpful shift.

Clear Out Remaining Bathroom Storage

Last year I was finally able to declutter and reorganize my bathroom drawers and a bathroom cabinet, something I’ve been wanting to do for years. I ordered some new storage, which has made so much difference in keeping things organized and easy to get to. I want to finish decluttering and reorganizing the reaming bathroom storage and under the sinks.

Declutter Closet

I’ve gone through a few things in my closet the last two years, and I aim to get things more pared down and laid out better. I’ve started this process over the last month and have been happy to see progress!

Choose a Focus for Each Month

I’m continuing to like the idea of choosing a focus or theme for each month or season, as I talked about more in this blog post. At the beginning of each month, I have a sticky note on my calendar reminding me to look at my goals and to choose a focus for that month. Having this little visual reminder really helps me to check in regularly on how my goals are progressing. I’m going to choose different themes throughout this year to target the specific goals that I’ve set.

Keep Track of Expiration Dates

Specifically the dates I open any new makeup, so I know when it’s time to toss. I put a note in my yearly planner so I can record this info there.

Live More Analog

I’ve loving learning about this theme from various YouTubers and minimalists. I’ve written before (more on Instagram) about wanting to make sure I’m using my phone intentionally, vs letting it suck me in. I want to stay mindful of how I’m setting up and using my phone, and I want to be on the lookout for ways to make it easier to reach for things other than my phone. Still workshopping what this looks like, because hey, its only spring still!

Write Thank You Cards

I’ve been wanting to write thank you cards to some of my healthcare providers that have been really helpful and supportive on my health journey. I realized this made a great goal, and I’m happy to report I’ve written two cards so far.

Enter a writing contest

For a while, I was trying several times a year to submit to literary journals and writing contests. I just haven’t had bandwidth to both blog and work on additional writing for several years. Plus, I think I just needed a break from rejection letters. They used to not really discourage me, but with everything going on in my life and with my health, I just needed to be able to cut some additional disappointment.

I really wanted to get back into submitting my work this year, and I’m happy to say that I have already submitted a new piece of writing to a contest! Fingers crossed! I’ll keep you posted.

Hitting this goal so early in the year has reignited my love for finding writing contests and helped me feel more energized in wanting to pursue my creative writing.

Proofread My Book Manuscript

I have several books-in-progress on my mind, and one is a completed book-length manuscript that I want to focus on and get ready for publishing first. I am really excited about this project and want to see it get out into people’s hands someday. I’m finally feeling like my brain has the energy to pick this project back up and start editing my first draft!

Pursue Fun Goals and Activities

Finally, I realized that the things I’m looking forward to this year, which I wrote about in my last blog post, really could be considered goals as well. Most of them are things I will have to plan ahead for and schedule. It was fun to see how thinking about what I was looking forward to gave me a headstart on working on my goal list. And with that post and this one, I feel like I have plenty of good goals already lined up for the year, and I don’t feel pressured to add anymore. I feel like this is a good, achievable amount at the moment.

Mindset shift

Setting my goals later in the year has led to this refreshing mindset shift.

I haven’t felt like I’m behind on my goals because every time I think of one, I make a mental note that my aim is to start working on it (not complete it!) in spring. I haven’t felt pressured that I have to work on them to catch up.

I’m approaching my goals more joyfully. I *get* to work on my goals.

And I’m actually getting a boost of excitement and feeling energized when I think of my goals because I’m already ahead.

And if you’re looking for a tool to get ahead on your goals, you might like this printable I created that’s a fun twist on a to-do list: it’s a choose to list!

I hope this is helpful as you think about your own goals, and about when to set them.

I’d love to hear if you have some mindset shifts that change how you feel and think about your goals. Let me know in the comments!

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