This year I decided to start 2025 with a few guiding aspirations. In the past years began with either no specific goals, or with huge goals. The huge goals seemed impossible to tackle after the first few days and so I gave up. Having no goals also left me floundering and not achieving as much as I’d have liked. So in 2025, I have aimed for smaller more consistent goals. These are aligned with my personal values to keep me grounded and also moving forward.

To start, I chose a word of the year to act as a touchstone. This year, that word is RESET.

RESET is about giving myself permission to begin again at any point. RESET can happen daily, weekly, monthly, or even hour by hour. It has helped combat my all-or-nothing thinking. Instead of letting one off-morning derail an entire day, I split my day into quadrants. I treat each quadrant of the day as a new opportunity to RESET. This mindset has been transformative. If the morning doesn’t go to plan, I can reset in the afternoon. This flexible, forgiving approach has helped me stay on track and feel more in control.

Begin again at any point.

Another powerful tool this year has been life gamification. My family and I turned our daily challenges into a game, assigning points to various habits and goals. For instance: 10 points for finishing a painting, 15 for completing a book, and even 1 for taking vitamins. We tally our scores monthly, aiming to hit targets across categories. My categories include things like vitality- health and well being, gaiety- having fun and stewardship- household tasks and chores. We collect character points, which help us “level up” and earn rewards. It adds a fun structure to our goals and makes consistency feel more rewarding. (For more on this idea, check out YouTuber JashiiCorrin who explains the system in detail.)

Here are some of my specific goals for 2025:

• Read 25 books
• Watch 25 films
• Paint 25 paintings
• Complete the 100 Days of Collage challenge
• Do Fodder School 1
• Write 25 blog posts
• Film 25 YouTube videos
• Plus various health and personal development goals

Progress So Far

Thanks to RESET and gamification, I’ve made real headway on many of these. I’m thrilled to share that I’ve read 24 books so far—almost at my target! This includes audio books alongside physical books. That’s a huge leap from last year, where I estimate I read fewer than 10. I owe this improvement to consistency. I committed to reading for 30 minutes each day. In May, for example I missed just two days—and even then, I still managed 10 minutes.

Habit stacking also played a big part. I was Inspired by the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. I stacked the habit of reading on to my already established habit of journaling each morning. This helped turn reading into a natural part of my day.

I’ve also painted 22 of my 25 planned paintings. Again, consistency and valuing creativity have been key. Attending local art classes and groups helped foster both accountability and inspiration.

Where I’ve fallen short so far is with my digital content. This is only blog post #5 of the year, and I’ve yet to make much headway on YouTube videos. I took a break from social media this year, which likely influenced this. I’ve been immersed in the joy of making art rather than documenting it.

And that’s okay. I’m considering letting the YouTube goal go—we make our goals to serve us, not the other way around. But I still want to aim for 25 blog posts. Writing more is another of my goals. Publishing online can be daunting, but now that I’m stepping back from short-form media, it might be the perfect time to explore long-form content that aligns with my value of depth.

Other Projects and Creative Adventures

I’ve been continuing my life drawing practice this year. I hope to share some of my recent work soon, including how I’ve translated sketches into paintings. I also hope to share some new techniques I’m starting to explore.

In May, I joined in the Painting Padiham Plein Air painting competition. I chose to paint at the impressive National Trust property Gawthorpe Hall. My painting was Inspired by the post-impressionists. I tried to channel Cézanne and Van Gogh into my piece. You can decide whether I achieved this or not!

I’ve also signed up for Fodder School 1 (it’s currently in its fifth year, I’m starting from the beginning). It’s a year-long course focused on creating collage elements, papers, and ephemera. You can find out more about it HERE. I will hopefully share some of the things I’ve been making as the year progresses.

Another joy this year has been The Thursday Art Club. We meet twice a month to create along a shared theme. We’ve focused a lot on collage so far this year, which is perfect for me. I’ve really loved witnessing other artists fall in love with the medium.

I’m also planning to restart the 100 Days of Collage Skillshare course. The teacher has resumed uploading new classes. Look out for posts sharing what I’ve created later this year.

Looking Ahead

For the second half of the year, you can expect to see more content here on Mushroom Moon Designs. My hope is to share deeper, more meaningful posts. This will include creative updates, long-form essays, how-tos, and maybe even a few book reviews.

Wherever you are in your own 2025 journey, remember: if things aren’t going to plan, you can always RESET. Let’s keep consistently creating and reaching our goals together!