July Balanced Life Goals: Wonky Wheels!

It is July!  The first half of this year is over!  It is time to look forward to the second half of the year!  It seems like a very good time to do a mid-year check on my goals and resolutions for this year, to see how things are coming along.  After all, that is what my monthly Balanced Life Goals are all about!

My New Year Resolutions for 2018 were:

• Resolution 1:  Continue to pursue good health - keep all medical appointments, eat a healthy diet, drink enough water and stay hydrated, increase my activity levels to build up stamina and strength,  get more sleep and rest, continue to climb the mountain.

• Resolution 2:  Procrastinate less - attend to things right away and get them done.

• Resolution 3:  Be more organized - declutter, have a place for everything and  make a habit of having everything in its place.

• Resolution 4:  Be more positive - focus on accomplishments.

• Resolution 5:  Maintain a balanced life.

I have been trying to incorporate them into my Monthly Balanced Life Goals to make sure they are worked on throughout the year.

As I've explained before, when I do my monthly balanced life goals, I picture a wheel with several spokes, each spoke representing an aspect of my life that is important to me.  Taken together, I like to think that they make a well-balanced life.

When I first started doing this balanced life wheel exercise, I was instructed to rate each category, from 1 to 10, in terms of my satisfaction with how things were in that category, with 1 being most dissatisfied and 10 being most satisfied.  The length of each spoke would represent my satisfaction.

Ideally, each spoke is of equal length and the arcs drawn between the spokes would make a nice, perfectly round wheel.   For me, the emphasis is on being of equal length - not necessarily having each spoke at a rating of 10.  Obviously, a rating of 10 would be lovely!  But a rating of 7 or 8 would be good, too.  A rating of 5 or 6 would be just average, but, if all spokes are of that length, then, it won't be a jarring ride.

More often, however, in reality, the spokes are all of different lengths, with some being a 3 or a 4 (time management, perhaps) and others being an 8 (Spiritual, perhaps) or even a perfect 10 (relationship with a loved one).  The resulting balance wheel is something that looks like a bicycle wheel might after a very bad crash!  Dented, somewhat misshapen, deflated with a punctured tire, and maybe even a spoke or two broken and sticking out of place!   And that is exactly how my balance wheel looked, when I first started doing this, years ago! 

A well-rounded balanced wheel results in a smoother ride; a dented wheel results in a bumpy ride.  Add some ruts (doing the same old stuff, day in and day out) and a pot hole or two (a cancer diagnosis, for example) to that road and you can imagine just how wobbly that ride can get!  Currently, as shown in my month-end reviews, I am mostly wobbling along!  But, at least, I am traveling along the road, and for that, I am grateful! 

But, since I am doing a mid-year check, I will add my satisfaction ratings to my spokes, this month.  Which brings me to the question  of what would make me feel that I am perfectly satisfied with how things are in any given area or segment of my life?  For me, it would be a feeling that I have achieved all what I would like to accomplish in each area.  I will give the current level of satisfaction (on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being highest) and, at the end of the month, when I do my review, I will rate my level of satisfaction, again.

These, then, are my goals and current ratings for July:

Spiritual (8):  The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life.
- Continue with daily prayers and gratitude; focus on being positive
- Take time for meditation - at some point during my day, pause long enough to consciously meditate for 5 minutes; 10 if possible 
- Cultivate non-attachment - focus on letting go of attachment to material possessions
- Attend the monthly rosary prayer gathering

Environment (5):  The goal is a clean, tidy, uncluttered house and a well-maintained garden.
House: 

- Focus on decluttering and maintaining cleaned areas - get 20 bags of donations out of the house by the end of the month!
- Deep clean my bedroom - It is the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night; it should be a place of calm restoration!
Garden:

- Maintain (water 2x per week; weed)
- Scatter some seeds and see if they will grow!

Daughter (10):  The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her (without being over-protective!)
- Daily texts, phone calls, emails, and video chatting
- Look forward to her visits (2) in July - over the 4th of July weekend and, again, towards the end of July
- Be supportive of her enthusiasm for the upcoming Anime Exposition by sewing part of a costume, by giving her rides to the event and back, etc.

Family & Friends (8):  The goal is to keep in touch with various family members and friends.
- Wish friends A and R on their birthdays
- Go out to lunch with friend R
- Attend cousin V's son's wedding (7/21)
- Attend another friend R's daughter's wedding (7/28)
- Regular phone calls and emails
- Will be seeing several members of the family and friends at the various family gatherings this month
- Weekly calls with neighbor T/have coffee with her one day

Community (8):  The goal is to become more involved in my community.
- Continue to participate in the blogging community

Career (9):  The goal is to continue to work while planning for retirement.
- Complete as many assignments as I can in the next 3 weeks and bring the others to a good pausing point
- Clean up my work space and files
- Continue to work on retirement related stuff

Finances (9):  The goal is financial security.
- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose
- Make an appointment with financial planner
- Make final decisions about pension options

Health & Well Being (6):  The goal is good health.
- Attend the appointments with my various medical doctors - 2 scheduled for July, so far, with maybe 2 more to be scheduled upon authorization approval!  
- Call and make dental appointments!
- Continue to monitor blood pressure, sugar levels, and weight
- Continue to focus on a healthier diet, drinking enough water (8x 8oz), exercising regularly (walk for 30 minutes during the work week), and getting sufficient sleep
- Focus on accomplishments and staying positive

Time Management (4):  The goal is having enough time to do all what I want to do!
- Procrastinate less
- Implement routines and schedules

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time (7):  The goal is to relax doing something I enjoy doing for the pleasure of it.
- Set aside 30 minutes a day to do something relaxing, such as reading books  blogs, or doing a craft

And how does my balanced life wheel look?

Balanced Life Wheel at the Start of July

Just a bit wonky, wouldn't you say?  The blue outer circle is how it would be if everything thing was a 10.  The red shape is the wheel I get when I connect the dots, so to speak.  (Please ignore the pointed bit at the Career spoke; I made a mistake and connected to 10 instead of 9 and didn't feel like redrawing the circle; also, please ignore the fact that some of the segments are larger than others - it is truly not an indication of their importance or lack of importance; it's simply because I have 10 spokes and I didn't bother to divide the circle into 10 equal segments!)

The good thing is, only one item (Time Management) dips below a 5, and only because I procrastinate a lot and don't really follow a cleaning routine.  The others are at a 5 and above, with one (Daughter) at a 10. 

Showing the circle at the midway point of 5, in green

Health, Time Management, and Environment are the areas I need to focus on, in July. 

Have you ever tried doing a balance wheel?