The transition from October to November is always difficult for me. October is my favourite month of the year—and November is by far my least favourite. Less daylight and dreary weather take their toll, and the sparkle and joy of Christmas feel far away. Enough complaining, though! It’s time for my October 2025 goals update.

October goals update

After making great progress on all my goals this year, I hit a roadblock in September. October was my chance to get back on track. Let’s see how I did.

Fitness goals

I started to ease back into my fitness routine in October, thanks to the terrific selection of seated workouts on YouTube.

On the weeks I was home, I came so close to my goal of 200 minutes of physical activity a week, including 2 strength training and 3 balance/flexibility sessions. I averaged 184 minutes a week, 2.25 strength training sessions, and 1.75 balance/flexibility sessions. All things considered, I’m calling this one a win.

On the week I was away visiting Laura, my goal was a daily walk and an average of 7,000 steps a day. I exceeded this one with an average of 9,175 steps a day.

Reading

I’m on a roll with my reading goals. I achieved my 2025 Goodreads goal of 50 books in October. For someone who barely read 3 or 4 books a year until a couple of years ago, that’s huge progress. I also met my October goal of reading 5 books.

Here’s what I read in October:

• By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
• The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew
• When Things Go Missing by Deborah Brasket
• Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
• The Next Chapter is Yours by Retirement Coaches Association

Music

I did take the time to practise my songs, but I didn’t meet my goal of coming up with two or three new song suggestions for the band to play. I can think of hundreds of 80s songs, but I’m struggling to come up with post-2000 rock songs. If you have ideas that are suitable for a female singer, drop me a comment below to let me know.

Work/Other

• Wrap up the work for my curriculum development contract at Conestoga College. DONE—and I am excited to put that one behind me.
• Explore volunteer opportunities for 2026 related to a couple of areas of interest. NOT DONE.
• Update our emergency binder. DONE.

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My November goals

Overall, October was a decent month. Can I maintain my motivation to keep up the progress in November? I’ll have to dust off my November survival strategies to survive the dreariness.

Here are my plans for this month:

• Fitness:
  • For workouts, I’m hoping to replace some of the seated workouts with low-intensity standing workouts. My goal is to complete 250 minutes of physical activity a week, including 2 strength training and 3 balance/flexibility sessions.
  • And, to keep my energy levels up, I plan to get outside for a short walk every day. I keep hearing that walking in the morning helps with the darkness this time of year, so I’m going to try to get my walk in before 9 a.m. every day.
• Reading: Again, my goal for November is to read 5 books.
• Music: Choose Christmas music for our church choir.
• Work/Other:
  • Explore volunteer opportunities for 2026 related to a couple of areas of interest.
  • (Start and) Finish Christmas shopping.

Thanks for dropping by to check out my November 2025 monthly goals update. Do you have any exciting news to share? Drop me a comment below to let me know. And, if you have ideas on how to keep up our energy levels in November, I’d love to hear them.