Tuesday, January 31, 2017

January Monthly Goals - Update

I'm not ready for this month of January to be over, yet!  Seems to me I didn't get around to achieving half my goals!  

Spiritual:  The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life.

- Continue with daily prayers and gratitude - Done; every morning, one of the first things I do is turn on the altar lights and say a quick prayer of thanksgiving (for a safe night, for waking up and being alive, for being granted another day); every night, the last thing I do before going to sleep is say my nightly prayers, including gratitude for the blessings of the day (for being alive, relatively healthy, unhurt and unharmed, etc.) 
- Attend the January monthly prayer gathering, if possible - Done; I learned of Mary, Untangler (or Untier/Undoer) of Knots, for the first time.
- Continue to focus on joy, gratitude, abundance, and blessings - Continued on a daily basis by specifying each day's blessings in prayers and lists of daily gratitude, incorporating joyful activities from my joy list, focusing on abundance by eating mostly from the freezer and pantry, by altering the clothes in my closet rather than buying new, etc. 

Environment:  The goal is a clean, tidy, uncluttered house and a well-maintained garden.
- Focus on cleaning and tidying, one room at a time - Let's just say I focused more on maintaining, this month, rather than cleaning and tidying, although I did a bit of that, too!
- Take down and put away holiday decorations -Not quite!  Christmas tree is still up!  I'm thinking of keeping it up all year and adding hearts for Valentine's, eggs for Easter, etc.!
- Declutter as I go - Very little decluttering was done.

- Continue to spruce up the garden - prune and transplant roses; plant succulents where the roses were. - Roses were pruned; we haven't transplanted them, though.  But we got lots of rain, so the garden is looking a little better.

Daughter:  The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her. 
- Stay in touch by phone and computer - Done!  Lots of time spent video chatting, talking on the phone, texting, etc.  :)

Family:  The goal is to keep in touch with various family members.
- Call and wish cousin and aunt on their birthdays - Done.
- I'll see some of the family members at the January prayer gathering - Done; it was held at an aunt's house; was given a ride to and from by a cousin and her daughter; saw several family members at the gathering.
- Respond to holiday/New Year greetings sent by family - Not quite; spoke with several family members on the phone, but didn't send any cards this year.
- Exchange holiday gifts with family members I didn't see in December - Did some, but there are others I haven't seen, yet! 

Friends:  The goal is to keep in touch with friends.
- I'll be seeing some of them at the monthly prayer gathering - Saw several friends at the prayer gathering; attended my neighbor's funeral mass; spoke on the phone with some friends and exchanged emails with others.

Career:  The goal is to continue to do work which I enjoy (for the most part) and which enables me to support myself.
- Continue to work from home for a bit longer - Most of the month, actually!
- Prepare to return to the office, eventually - Went into the office a couple of times.  Altered some clothes so I have a few outfits to wear to the office.  
Finances:  The goal is financial security.
- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully - Came under budget in most categories in January. I tried to eat from the freezer and pantry and that helped with the grocery budget.  I altered some of my clothes instead of buying new clothes and that helped with the clothing budget. 
Health:  The goal is good health.
- Attend the appointments with my various doctors - 2 scheduled, so far, in January - Done.
- Continue to monitor blood pressure and sugar levels as requested by primary care - Done; resulted in the dosage of one of my medications being halved.
- Continue to focus on a healthier diet, drinking enough water, exercising regularly, and getting sufficient sleep - Tried; I have been drinking 8 glasses of water.


Time Management:  The goal is having enough time to do all what I want to do!
-  Organize myself and put routines into place so I have enough time for work and for play! - Didn't quite manage to do so!

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time:  The goal is to relax doing something I enjoy doing for the pleasure of it.
- Listen to more music - Done
- Read a book (or more) - Does re-reading a couple of favorite books count?

I am happy with what I was able to achieve on some of the goals, but didn't do as well as I would have liked in other areas.  I will continue to work on these same goals in February, too.  Did you make any goals for January?  If so, how did you do?

14 comments:

  1. I shall be off to read about Mary Untangler after I've replied to you. I actually think leaving your tree up and adding appropriate decorations is a really good idea. I bet it would look lovely with hearts and eggs. I always think you goals are lovely because none of them are about 'wants' and so many of them involve family and friends.

    Bless, if you never de-clutter again your mammoth sessions last year will more than make up for it!

    Happy 1st February. Hope it's a good month for you. xx

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    1. Thank you, Suzanne. You are very kind. :) But we can't be resting on our laurels! That would never do!

      Glad you like my goals, but, in a way, they are wants, too, I suppose: I want a more spiritual life, I want a tidier environment, I want more financial security, etc. But mostly, I want a well-balanced, happy, healthy, and peaceful life. I don't want a lot of material things, however.

      I hope this will be a good month for us all! Hope all is well with you and your family.

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  2. I didn't make a list of goals on paper, but had them in my head. My main goal was to do what it takes to get our house on the market and we accomplished that. And we got a contract. My goal for February is to actually sign the papers to sell the house and to get all of our things moved to our new house. I think we're going to make it. :)

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    1. You accomplished a major goal with getting your house on the market and getting a contract! I know you will accomplish your February goal, too. Have a wonderful month!

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  3. Bless, you don't give yourself enough credit... you met A LOT of your goals! Well done, my dear. I think I did pretty well on my January Goals. I didn't meet all of them either but I had been very ambitious. My February goals will be posted shortly.

    Good luck to us in February! May we remain focused and inspired...

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    1. Thanks, Nathalie. I think you did very well with your goals, too; you accomplished a lot!

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  4. I really admire how you work towards your goals in such a positive way. Don't be too hard on yourself. You manage to achieve so much. X

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    1. Thank you, Jules. I guess I felt I should have done more because I was home, but I keep forgetting that I was still technically working at the same time. So I really didn't have all that much time to do housework, as well.

      Hope all is well with you and you have a good month ahead of you.

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  5. Like everyone else I did not meet all my January goals, but I am still content. I have been purposeful in creating joy in my life and purposeful about what I am doing, even allowing for some purposeful doing nothing time.

    Onward to February!

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    1. A life lived with purpose! Sounds good to me, Anne. I hope February will be as purposeful!

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  6. Bless, I so agree.. January was so fast.. I did not reach all my goals either.
    You did a great job and accomplished a lot.. You have been a sick lady , lots of doctor appointments,etc.. In my mind....I say, 'Congrats on the many things you accomplish." smile.
    I hope to really get some goals done this month?? I am working on cleaning out the closet in the extra bedroom.. Need to donate some clothes items..etc.
    Have a blessed week.

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    1. Thank you, Judy. I guess I do need to cut myself some slack for still recovering from the past year of treatments, etc. Glad to hear you've moved on to the closet! That's on my agenda, too! Maybe this weekend.

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  7. Rereading favourite books certainly counts! There are some books that just won't go away over the years and once in a while it is time to reread one. A particular favourite of mine is "Christy" by Catherine Marshall, a fictional historical novel which she bases on the true story of her mother who taught in the Appalachian mountains in the early 20th century. I love the story of the mountain people, and the beauty of the scenery. But don't ask me to re-watch any movie based on the book. The only one I saw changed the ending and infuriated me!

    Bushlady

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    1. Ha, ha, movies are famous (or should that be notorious?) for changing the endings of books, aren't they? I haven't read this particular book, so thank you for mentioning it. I shall check if the library has a copy.

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