Monthly Balanced Life Goals - February Review and March Goals

As I've explained before, my monthly balanced life goals are similar to the spokes of a wheel, with the length of each spoke representing my satisfaction in that area of my life, from 1 to 10, with 1 being most dissatisfied and 10 being most satisfied.  Ideally, all the spokes are of equal length and the wheel will roll along smoothly.  If the spokes are of unequal lengths, then, the resulting wheel will be lop-sided and wobbly.  My ratings for each segment are shown within the parentheses, with the beginning of the month ratings in black and the end of the month ratings being shown in blue.

Monthly goals:

Spiritual (10)(10):   The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life:

- Continue with daily prayers, meditation, being grateful, positive, and joyful

- Continue to attend Temple prayer/blessing services online
- Continue to cultivate non-attachment by being generous and giving to the extent I am able

In February, I continued with my daily prayers, meditation, being grateful, and I have tried to be positive and joyful.  I feel that I do live a spiritually meaningful life and I will continue to keep the rating at 10.

March Spiritual  goals will be the same as above.

House (9.5)(9):  The goal is a home that is pleasant, comfortable, and welcoming:
- Clean - Deep clean the house as needed 
- Organize - Continue to find a place for everything and keep everything in its place
- Well maintained - Keep "erasing the evidence"; implement daily and weekly cleaning schedules
- Decluttered - Continue with the decluttering process; call for a donations pick up by the end of the month

I started off the month well, getting quite a bit of cleaning done, but, it sort of fizzled out towards the end.  The house is being maintained, but, I feel like I've slacked off a bit!  I am lowering the rating to 9 as I feel the higher rating is not justified!  

March House goals will be the same as above. 

Garden (9)(9.5):  The goal is a garden that is productive, yet drought tolerant:

- Maintain (water 1- 2 times per week, depending on how much rain we get; weed)
- Clean out the garden shed
- Discuss spring planting plans with M

The garden was well tended to in February!  Four new fruit trees (an Asian pear, a nectarine, a plum, and a Fuyu persimmon) were planted as well as three blueberry bushes and two rose bushes were transplanted.  The peach tree has tiny new peaches forming and we continue to pick oranges, lemons, and calamondin.  I have been harvesting small amounts of vegetables from the tiny vegetable bed we planted and gained much joy from doing so!  The garden shed hasn't been tackled, yet, but, even so, I am raising the rating to 9.5.  I guess the house and the garden changed places in terms of satisfaction ratings, this month!  

March Garden goals will include:

- Maintaining (water; weed, thin out the peaches)

- Clean out the garden shed

- Maybe start germinating the summer vegetable seeds?

Daughter (10)(10):  The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her:

- Enjoy her being home!

I am definitely enjoying having her home and she has extended her stay until at least May!  I am keeping the rating at a 10!

March Daughter goals will include:

- Celebrating her birthday

Family & Friends (10)(10):  The goal is to have a close connection with family and friends:

- Regular phone calls and emails to check on them

I interacted with family and friends through phone calls, emails, texts, online chats, etc., and two of my cousins blessed me with some clothes that had belonged to their late mother.  I am keeping the rating at 10.  

March Family and Friends goals will be the same as above. 

Community (10)(10):  The goal is to be involved in my community:

- Continue to participate in the various community groups to the extent possible in the following ways:

  - Participate in the blogging community

  - Participate in the online organizing group

  - Weekly phone calls with neighbor T
  - Participate in temple events

I participated in the blogging community and at least one other online community, stayed in contact with the monks at the Temple, received many wonderful meals from my neighbor S and her family, spoke on the phone with neighbor T, and tried to be a good neighbor in small ways.  I am keeping the rating at 10.

March Community goals will be the same as above.

Finances (10)(10):  The goal is financial security:

- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose. 

I continued to spend mindfully in February.  Some expenses such as medical and groceries have increased, but, other expenses such as gas to the car have decreased, and, overall, things are well balanced.  I am keeping the rating at 10.

March Financial goals will include:

- Filing my taxes!

 Health & Well Being (8)(8.5):  The goal is good health:
- Continue to work on the following life style changes: 

  - better diet - eat more vegetables and complex carbs, less refined sugar
  - better hydration - drink 8 x 8oz glasses of water, daily
  - better sleep habits -  get sufficient sleep and try to adjust the sleep schedule
  - more exercise - continue with a walking schedule 

- Continue to strive for a healthier weight 

I didn't have any medical appointments in February.  I continued to work on my life style changes; my weight kept fluctuating within a 5 lb. range, but, I end the month a couple of pounds lighter than I was at the beginning!  I'm keeping the rating at 8.5 due to the slight decrease in weight!

March Health and Wellbeing goals will remain the same as above.  I have no medical appointments scheduled for March.  

Time Management (8)(8): The goal is to spend my time in a mindful manner:
- Spend time purposefully, mindfully

- Continue to focus on making my schedule work for me

- Procrastinate less

This is still a work in progress!  I accomplished most of what I wanted to accomplish this month in a timely manner, with only a little bit of procrastinating!  I am keeping my satisfaction rating to 8.   

March Time Management goals are the same as above, but, I would like to see a little less procrastinating!

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time (10)(10):  The goal is to relax doing something I enjoy doing for the pleasure of it.
- Engage in daily joyful activities

I have been engaging in daily joyful activities and I completed the granny square blanket that I had been working on in January.  I also gave myself a pedicure as part of my 'me-time' which I am changing to self-care from now on (I feel that I have plenty of me-time, these days, and want to focus on doing some extra pampering as self-care).  I am keeping the rating at 10.  

March Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time Self-Care goal remains the same as above.  

February was a well balanced month, I think.  Several areas remained the same, a couple (Garden and Health/Well Being) increased, but, the House came down a bit.  I do recognize that these ratings are rather arbitrary!  It's all based on how pleased I am with what I was able to achieve in each area, that month!  Some months, I am able to achieve a little bit and it pleases me a lot; other months, the same amount of achievements don't feel quite enough!  But, I am looking forward to March and what I might be able to accomplish.

How was your February in terms of maintaining balance among the different areas of your life?  What do you wish to accomplish in March?