It feels like 2025 has only just begun, but somehow, we’re already at the halfway mark. I can’t believe that! 6 months ago, I made a list of New Year’s Resolutions for 2025, with a good variety of goals, ranging from fitness to crafts and education. At the end of March, I wrote a post with my 3-month progress. Today, I’m returning with a 6-month check-in. If you’re curious how my 2025 resolutions are going, here’s an honest report.
Finishing Spanish Duolingo course
At the start of the year, I was at Section 7, Unit 10 of the Spanish Duolingo course. I estimated that, in order to complete the course this year, I’d need to finish Section 7 around May-June. I’m happy to report that I finished Section 7 on May 9th, well on track! Currently, I’m at Section 8, Unit 14. I have 22 Units left until the end of the course, and I’m sure I can smash it this year.
Once I’ve finished the whole course, I will certainly write a dedicated post about how much I’ve learnt and whether it’s possible to master a foreign language via Duolingo alone. I wrote a post with my thoughts about Duolingo when I hit a 5 year streak, have a read if you’re interested.
Learning to crochet
Another goal I had for 2025 was to learn to crochet. I took my first steps around Easter, and it was a bumpy road. I wrote about my first crocheting projects in this post. Now, knowing just how difficult it is, I can confidently say that I won’t be a crochet expert by the end of the year. However, I’m sure I can learn to successfully make simple pieces, and that’s my goal for the second half of 2025. I haven’t made a huge amount of progress since my last post, but I did recently make cute avocado coasters – it was a great project to consolidate and refresh my basic skills acquired a couple of months ago.
Sewing on clothes
Oh no, I completely forgot about this idea, again! I said it in the 3-month check in, and since then, I forgot about it again. I still love the idea of embroidering my own design onto some clothes, but I might struggle to find time for an ambitious project like that. I’ve not made any progress on this goal yet, but maybe one day I will!
Being better at improving my professional skills
My next resolution was to get better at developing my professional skills. I planned to measure my progress by aiming to spend an hour a week on structured learning. Well, I haven’t done it at all, and we’re nearly in July.
That being said, I’ve been involved in a complex project at work for the last 7 months, and I feel like I’ve learnt a lot in that time. I might need to rephrase this resolution to better fit my situation, but it certainly hasn’t been a complete failure.
Fitness – running
I entered 2025 with two running-related fitness goals. The first was to run 5km in under 24 minutes 15 seconds. The second was to complete a 15 km run, in any time.
I didn’t have a chance to run much since my last resolutions update. I did manage to run 11km, in a pretty good time, but then my old lower back issues decided to strike again and I wasn’t able to run at all. I managed to sort those problems out, but because I’m going on an intense hiking holiday next week, I’ve been avoiding anything that could trigger my back problems again.
I’m certainly not giving up on my resolutions and will attempt to start running again when I’m back from holiday, but I might have to accept the fact that my body simply doesn’t want me to do sports that have a high impact on one’s back. Time will tell.
Fitness – learning to do one pull up
My strength training, focused on learning pull ups, was also affected by my health issues. In general, my physical activity over the last 3 months has been the worst in many years, and not by choice. But it’s fine – I’m taking care of myself and once I feel perfectly healthy again, I’ll return to working on my goals. As frustrating as it is to have to slow down, it’s the reasonable thing to do.
Do more flexibility exercises
My aim was to do a stretch & flexibility workout twice a week.
I wouldn’t say I stuck to this resolution perfectly at all times. In fact, I completely forgot about this being a resolution at all, and yet I did try to do stretching exercises semi-regularly. It’s not a great sign if I forgot about my resolution, but on the other hand, the fact that stretching became part of my regular routine at all is a good thing. I just need to try to do it more frequently!
To be less messy and better organised with house chores
As a messy person by nature, I feel like this will always be a struggle for me. I’m doing my best, but I’m miles away from perfect. This resolution is probably a failure at the moment, I don’t think I’ve improved much compared to last year.
Better at resting
This is probably the resolution that’s going the best this year, and I’m not sure how I feel about it! As I already mentioned, my health hasn’t been the best this year – luckily, nothing serious has happened, but I’ve been fraught with minor illnesses and injuries pretty much all the time since early February. I’m trying to listen to my body and have been taking things slowly, but it’s also making me feel like a lazy potato. Especially with the heavily reduced gym routine, compared to previous years. Taking rest is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, but I can’t wait to be able to alternate the rest with my beloved physical activities!
Reading books – 6 books a year
I enjoyed reading the fifth Harry Potter book at the start of the year, which I mentioned in the last check in. It fit perfectly in my evening routine. Since then, I haven’t read much, unfortunately. I blame it on the beautiful weather and spending a lot of time outdoors, usually walking. In all honesty, I completely forgot about this resolution for a while! I’m about to go on holiday though, which might be the perfect opportunity to catch up with my reading goals.
Final thoughts
And that sums up my 6 month check-in for New Year’s Resolutions 2025. Some of them are going great, other – not so much, for various reasons. 6 months might be gone, but I still have 6 more left this year. I’m sure I can still smash the majority of my goals.
Did you make any resolutions for this year? Are you still sticking to them? Let us know!
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