I Didn't Accomplish Most of My 2025 Goals
I have a confession.
Most of my goals for 2025 went unaccomplished. Like 98% of them. And while I could immediately jump to positively spinning things, the reality is that this absolutely annoyed me. Even if I never told anyone, I was embarrassed for myself. It’s not about what others think or even about the accomplishments themselves bringing some sort of validation. It was about me sitting there, asking myself, “Giselle, what exactly did you even do with the time you had? A whole 365 days of nothing???” I could feel myself spiraling as I came to that realization. One thing about me, I hate time wasted. And for a moment I couldn’t help feeling like I wasted a ton of my own.
If you’ve been following along lately, you may know that recently I came to the realization that I had been living a life that reflected the survival mode I once was in, but had internally moved on from. I wrote more about that realization here. I was still making decisions from a scarcity mindset, still moving through my days with the muscle memory of someone who had to fight to get by. My closet still reflected old survival habits. My outside wasn’t reflecting my inside, and while I still have plenty of growing to do, there was a glaring mismatch between the progress I’d already made and how that was actually showing up in my life. I left my ‘Egypt,’ but still somehow looked and lived like an ‘Egyptian’ because I was used to it and it was comfortable. Comfort can be sneaky like that.
So, as I took inventory on my 2025, I struggled to see beyond the goals I’d written down and actually find the good I had accomplished in this year. I had a heart to heart with my husband as we sat down to vision cast for 2026. And then I was honest with myself, and realized a few things:
I wrote my 2025 goals down in hope, and it never really turned into faith demonstrated by action. I had the list, but I didn't have a real plan (although I convinced myself I did or that I’d just figure it out as I go). I didn't seek God for the 'how,' only dreamed about the 'what. This is actually super uncharacteristic of me—I love to plan—but I believe it’s definitely connected to the whole survival mode season I’d just come out of.
I learned all about exactly what it was God placed in me that makes me fully capable of accomplishing what He’s called me to do. Before this year, calling and gifting felt abstract—nice words that didn't connect to my real life and seemed to make sense to everyone but me. This year, God made it concrete. I can now name the specific ways He's wired me, the unique combination of gifts He's given me, and how those are meant to work together.
God told me 2025 was all about Trying Again for me, and I actually did a lot of that. I constantly tried again at my business. I tried again at homeschooling in a way that felt sustainable for our household. Each time I got back up was proof that something in me had fundamentally shifted.
So while I didn’t accomplish much of what I originally wanted, I now realize that I did spend my time productively this year, because I actually became the Giselle I needed to be to accomplish those goals. Before 2025, I spent a lot of time focusing on just healing and surviving. This year, God took me beyond that to learn all about the person He designed me to be, now that the rough stuff was out of the way.
I think sometimes we tend to underestimate the process God takes us through and misinterpret it as wasted time. This can happen by becoming so focused on what feels like the more tangible manifestation—the physical things you touch and see that you consider proof that something good and productive has occurred. I almost fell into that trap—focusing so much on the ‘tangible’ things that didn’t happen that I almost missed the opportunity to celebrate the necessary growth and foundation that was laid.
We’re called to “walk by faith and not by sight”, but typically the desire is to want to walk by sight and use what we see as the prerequisite to our faith. That’s backwards though, and nothing worth building looks perfect and neatly packaged at first. Just look at Abraham:
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:8-10 CSB
When God called Abraham he was still Abram. He hadn’t yet become the man ready to receive God’s promises, although the potential was always inside of him. God changed his name, and then Isaac, the son through whom God would fulfill His promise, was born. Abraham had to first fully become the person that could carry what God promised.
I think if Abraham (and so many others) could make the choice to obey God and continue forward with faith, then surely we can go through a whole year and rejoice in what has been done so far, even if we haven't yet seen promises fulfilled in our lives.
For me, what felt like only hopeful thinking before has become faith now. I’m at a place in my mindset where you can’t convince me that what my family and I have outlined and sought the Lord about for 2026 (and beyond) won’t happen. Before, I was admittedly shaky on that, and the lack of a real plan—or even the lack of effort to seek out a plan from God—was evidence of it. But 2025 wasn't wasted. While 'Try Again' was my theme for 2025, 'Upgrade' is the word God has given me for 2026. I’ve been asking myself, '“What would it look like for my life to fully match what God always had in mind for me?” As He shows me, I’m taking things step by step in obedience and trust, and I'm ready for it now because I spent this last year becoming someone who can carry what's coming.
Hebrews 12 says, “Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”
So let me encourage you: if you're ending this year feeling discouraged because you don't feel like much was accomplished, if you're still waiting on promises to be fulfilled, or if you've experienced a lot of setbacks…pause and think about what God was perhaps doing inside of you and how He has been perfecting your faith. Who did you become this year? Don't be afraid to revisit those things you wrote down before, but this time with His leading. Take the time to seek Him on how your faith can partner with action and practical steps to actually see the fulfillment in this next season. He desires to do great things for you, in you, and through you.
I’m praying that your 2026 (and beyond) is fruitful and full of victories and joy in the Lord.
If you want to share what God has been speaking to you about this next season and the upcoming new year, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to email me at giselle@creatinghallelujahs.com or message me on Instagram @creatinghallelujahs. I check those regularly, and everything stays confidential unless you give permission to share.
