I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. I make sure I spend time every year looking back at what I have done, reflecting on what went well and what I could improve on. This allows me to make realistic and useful goals for the following year, focusing on both personal and professional growth.
I read once that the reason time goes faster as you get older is because each year is a smaller portion of your life- so one year when you’re two is half your life, at age 10 it is 10%, so now at my age it is less than 2.5%. It sounds like a good theory, I’m not sure it really explains the perception difference between being busy and time going fast, compared to waiting for something and time just dragging. I think for me the speed of the year is related to how much I have packed in, which you can read about below.
You can read my goals from last year here: https://www.homeopathbarbara.nz/goals-for-2025/ but I will go through them all below.
If this has not been your year, if times have been tough and you are just surviving, hang in there. My intention in this is not to have anyone compare themselves to me and feel bad because they haven’t achieved what I have. If getting through each day is what you have accomplished this year – then kia kaha and hang in there.
- I completed my one post each week for Facebook. I’m really pleased I have managed to keep this going, I enjoy it (although sometimes I scramble to get something put together!)
- BALANCE was a goal for 2025. This is tricky, and to be honest I don’t know if I have this right. I’m still not playing my piano or sewing as much as I would like. I have added yoga, and since February I have done yoga every day (usually 20 minutes) straight after waking. I think I’ve had three days off, one with the flu and two while travelling from overseas.
- Research. My goal was for two projects – one on success as a Homeopath, and the data collection has been completed, I’m just still working through analysing 23 1-hour interviews! I was lucky to have four awesome Homeopaths help me out with the interviews – a big thank you to Andrea, Kate, Jenny and Amanda.
My second project, looking at homeopathic students in a longitudinal study did not come to fruition. I have recently resurrected this from my too hard basket, and have a plan to move forward with a pilot study next year as first step towards this long term project.
HOWEVER, I still managed to complete a second project. I ran a survey of Allied/Complementary Health Professionals about their use of homeopathy in their practice. It only closed on 30 November, so I have this data to analyse, but the preliminary report has been sent out to participants, and will be published in the Homeopathic Society eNews in January. - Study. I completed my Graduate Certificate of Professional Coaching in the first semester. I really enjoyed the takeaways from this, and have definitely been able to utilise some of it. I have completed the first half of my Fellowship with the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, and I completing that next year. I also have managed to complete my continuing professional development (CPD) plan for Pharmacy. My idea of continuing my homeopathy learning with at least one webinar or lecture or other CPD activity every other month was a little ambitious, but I have managed to do a number of webinars and courses anyway.
- As part of my Pharmacy CPD, I decided I needed to do more to contribute to community health. I organised and ran two Women’s Health evenings about Perimenopause and Menopause, one in Kerikeri and one in Russell. This was awesome, and well attended. I would like to do something similar again, if I can make the time and the space in 2026.
- I attended the Homeopathic Research Institute (HRI) Conference in Thessaloniki, Greece and presented my Demographics Survey research as a poster. It was an amazing experience, I met lots of people, learnt a lot about research in homeopathy, and even managed to party til 2am.
Some other highlights from 2025:
- I have had another busy year in clinic, seeing more clients over the whole year.
- I’m still working Thursdays at Unichem Kerikeri Pharmacy, and I love it.
- I have written a post for this page every week.
- I started a Patreon page! Thanks to Janis for her encouragement. At this stage, it is mostly just the posts from Facebook – next year I have plans to offer different things, so watch this space.
- I have completed a first draft of my book. It’s still untitled, and it’s with some colleagues for their review before I look more at it myself and then find an editor. When I’m ready I’ll share more about it here.
And some personal achievements: I’ve been doing yoga daily now for nearly 10 months. That definitely feels like an achievement, but it has also been a really awesome way of keeping my nervous system regulated and managing stress. I’ve also been (slowly) losing weight over the last 3 months. My BMI reached 30 (although with my Māori heritage and bone structure ‘obese’ is considered over 32, and there are also numerous problems if only considering BMI as a marker) and I decided I needed to do something about this. My focus was just on portion control and making good choices with my food, with some reduction in carbs. I’m happy with my progress so far, but I plan to shrink a little further.
One sad thing on this list, the College of Natural Health and Homeopathy went into liquidation. I did enjoy working with students and sharing my knowledge and experience. I’m pleased that the ip has been bought and a new college will open in New Zealand next year, and most of the students have found a way forward with their studies. Pip and I did a lot of work to mark all outstanding assessments once the college closed, and spend time with students discussing their options with them.
Wishing you a Happy New Year. If you are out celebrating (and overindulging or drinking) for New Years don’t forget to take your Nux Vomica!