This is way too much information. I don’t care. I’m indignified.
It was a challenging year on many levels. I feel like I’m moving into next year as an improved and more aware human being than I’ve ever been. Even watching this video now, I’m a little bit cringed by my pettiness and insecurity, but if you don’t look in the mirror, you never see the mud on your face.
I highly recommend that all of you create goal sheets. There are lots of different templates out there. Mine is simple.
Name the Year. Create an overriding goal or theme for the year.
Break goals down into categories. Health, Wealth, Family, Work etc
Set deadlines for goals that need it. Make the other ones vague. There are lots of different templates out there depending on how you want to do it. I just use a Google Sheet.
Check in quarterly and see how you are doing. I personally check in on the solstices and equinox. So Mar 21, Jun 21, Sept 21, Dec 21. I count the period of 12/21 to 1/2 as a sort of reflections time when I can put together my goal list for the coming year and think about what worked or didn’t work for me in the past year.
My Successes for 2025:
I came to know myself better than ever. My strengths, my weaknesses, my vulnerabilities, my insecurities, my super-powers. I can look myself in the mirror and honestly see who I am and like myself despite my flaws. I know that I can become a better version of myself.
I am closer to knowing what I want and need to be happy in this life.
My daughter knows that she is loved, she knows that she is valued, and she knows that she always has a place in the world and people who will love her for being exactly who she is at any given time, unconditionally.
I wrote one new book published another that has been a long time coming, and worked with my agent and publisher to increase my visibility and image as a writer and creator
I made friends all over the world. I traveled in five countries and felt at home in all of them. I ate food that TV shows could be made about. I learned about tea, coffee, food, alcohol, cultures, fashion, and subcultures and somehow managed to be a part of all of those things.
I improved my health. I’m healthier today than I was a year ago.
I gained new skills and understanding. My Japanese improved. I traveled and discovered many wonderful things in Hokkaido and in Japan.
I planted, grew, harvested, and cooked food from Satoshi Manor and shared it with guests.
I hosted guests from seven countries (maybe more) and also hosted several old friends from the USA.
I created a lot of art and wonderful gardens. I improved my house.
I survived both financially and physically.
I learned a lot about friendship, what a friend is and isn’t and about relationships and what they can be and what they can’t be.
My Failures for 2025: (In terms of the goals I set)
I did not pay off my debts.
I did not earn significant income.
I did not buy a house or land in Hawaii.
I did not progress as much as I wanted in Japanese or other languages.
I was lazy about exercise, study, and music (playing the uke) . I did not take a yoga class, learn to surf while I was in Hawaii, or lose enough weight to be at my physical peak for this age.
I allowed myself to wallow in self-pity and to engage in self-hatred behaviors that didn’t do me any good and actually did me harm. In this sense, I wasn’t a very good Baoist because I was doing TOX and avoiding ROX.
