Kathy’s Corner » Goals, Quests and Getting Stuff Done: What's Your Plan? » January 2026

Thank you for joining us today, Jane Chapman, Jennifer Jones, Marian Beaman Becky Hetchler, Linda Teather, Marci Keats Rudolph 🙏, Bill Moore, Kimberley, and so many more. What a fantastic start to the new year. I was touched by the range of discussion. It has put us in a wonderful, positive mindset for planning and making forward progress in our journeys this year. I was especially touched by the notion of supporting, nudging, and encouraging each other along on the journey. Did a friend share this post? Fantastic! Learn more about Projectkin and join our community of family historians hooked on stories. Projectkin.org/about.As Projectkin, we’re hooked on family history stories. So often, these stories start with the stuff left for us by our ancestors. Deciding what to do with them is often a fast path to a Gulf of Overwhelm. In Kathy’s Corner, we’re here to get through it together. Today’s episode, Kathy Stone takes us by the hand to talk seriously about setting goals, or just taking a fresh look at goal setting. Below are a few useful resources mentioned during our conversation: Resources We’ll start with Kathy’s own post that started this conversation: As background, Kathy shared the post that inspired her to look at what she was trying to accomplish as a quest. This post from Ashley Janssen, “Why Traditional Goal Setting Doesn’t Always Work and What To Do Instead,” had her thinking about “growth loops.” That set us off on a discussion of goals in the context of a journey, a quest. As we went around the Zoom, Jennifer Jones added insight, reflecting on a new year post she’d released for her alternative publication, The Retirement Phase: We also discussed strategies for managing the overwhelm in terms of your genealogical research. One approach Jane Chapman mentioned combines her research on three substacks (BJNL’s Genealogy and Kyeburn Diggings One-Place Study) with a repository using the WeAre.xyz platform.About KathyWith her decades of experience as a professional photo organizer, Kathy always has another special insight to get us through it. Learn more about Kathy’s Coaching.As Projectkin, we’re here to help families tell their stories in any form. I feel strongly that our collections of photos and other artifacts are key to our memories and, in turn, our stories.If you think this post might interest a friend or colleague, why not just pass it along? These are public posts, and our events are free, made possible by the support of our Patrons.You can also bring your friend along to join us at our next Kathy’s Corner event. See our upcoming events here. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe