Antonia Bernardin

I’ve done these for a couple years now and they are fun to look back on, and for some reason people read them so, here we go.

You can read previous yearly reflections and quarterly updates (if you desperately want to but I’m not sure why) here

I’ve done my reading goals in detail in another post but essentially: 100 books again. I hit that in 2024 but read 70 this year, which is okay, when I do reading goals it’s more as motivation to remind me to read and not just scroll.

My 2025 goals were:

• Move out!
• Keep growing and hopefully make some money from this blog
• Do more ARC reading/ review more indie books on here
• Keep working on those debts
• Grow my tiktok/instagram
• Really begin writing those books I’ve always dreamed about writing.
• Restart my duo lingo
• Continue working out consistently and eating in a more balanced way.

How did I do?

1. I moved out! I have a house I absolutely love with my partner and although the move itself was stressful (car broke down on moving day…) it was 100% worth it.

2. The blog has grown again, not as big of a jump but still a pretty decent amount, especially with the rise of AI.

3. I did start the year with reading ARCs but I quickly found that the time sensitive nature of them was quite tricky for me, so I came up with another idea:

About half-way through the year I launched my indie author spotlight, the video asking for submissions on Tiktok did surprisingly well and I got SO many that even with weekly posting I will still be working my way through them until a few months into 2026!

4. This, plus semi-regular posting has helped grow both my Tiktok and my Instagram, the latter being a little slower because I’m terrible about sharing video content on there.

5. I didn’t end up writing but I spent a bit of time working through the mental block I have there, so I’m hopeful for this year.

6. I did re-start duo-lingo but stopped it during the stressy months and haven’t restarted.

7. I have consistently, even through the move, worked out and eaten well. I have also been seeing someone to address some of the lingering issues from my old injuries, which has given me my body back over the course of the year.

I think, all things considered, I have a lot to proud of this year.

2026 goals

• I going to start some freelance work on the side, just to see if I could do it (so if you need marketing help, hit me up).
• I want to sell my own bookish accessories, designed by me but we’ll see how rusty my Adobe skills are first!
• I would like to continue to grow this blog and my socials but I think with sustainability for my sanity around work in mind.
• Write. Just write anything at all.
• To keep the consistency and keep working on my old injuries, and get the fitness I had a few years ago back.
• Keep working on debt stuff, but I think that is the perpetual millennial burden.

Overall, I just want to keep working towards the things I want but in a way that keeps my mental peace too, my life is the calmest it’s ever been and I want it to stay that way.