Balanced Life Monthly Goals - November Review and December Goals

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 cultivate non-attachment by being generous and giving to the extent I am able

I continued with my daily prayers, meditation, being grateful; I have tried to be positive, generous, giving, and joyful in November.   I feel that I do live a spiritually meaningful life and I am very pleased with this area of my life!

I will continue to keep the rating at 10.

December Spiritual  goals will be the same as above.

House (8.5)(8.5):  The goal is a home that is pleasant, comfortable, and welcoming:
- Clean - 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

 

I was able to keep up with my cleaning routines in November.  I also kept up with the decluttering during the month, exceeding my goal of decluttering 30 items this month.  One big improvement made in getting my house organized, this month, is the new sideboard my daughter assembled and set up for me.  It is providing a lot of covered storage space which has done a lot to reduce the visual clutter in the family room!  

I am keeping my rating at 8.5.  

December House goals will be the same as above, with the addition of decorating the house for the holidays.  I am planning to continue with the decluttering in December, too; the goal is at least 31 items!  I have also scheduled a donations pick up for December 22, so that will make sure that the decluttered things will be leaving the house rather than being piled up in the corner of the spare bedroom! 

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

- Maintaining (water, fertilize, and weed); M will continue to visit twice a week

- Focus on the vegetable and fruit plants
- Schedule tree trimmers to trim the eucalyptus tree

The garden was well tended to in November.  We have already harvested some leaves from the Japanese purple mustard greens and purple mizuna that we planted and the pea plants have their first flowers!  The fruit trees are continuing to be pruned and sprayed in readiness for winter dormancy, although the recent warm summer-like temperatures are probably going to cause the peach tree and the plum tree to bloom early!  Which won't be helpful because we often get a cold snap in spring and that will damage the flowers!  The eucalyptus tree was trimmed, as scheduled, on November 11.  Unhappily, some unknown person seems to have decided that the yucca plant stems in the front garden that were just sprouting new growth needed to be trimmed, too, because several plantlets had been removed!  There are two stems that were planted, a taller stem and a shorter one.  Each had about 5 or 6 new plantlets sprouting along the top part of the branch, from the former leaf nodes:

Shorter Stem: Still has several plantlets

Taller Stem: Only one plantlet left 

Where a plantlet was removed

Another missing plantlet

 

I don't mind sharing plants from my garden; but, I do mind people helping themselves to the plants without asking!  This is not the first time; on previous occasions, they've dug up plants!  Oh, well; at least they are not breaking into my house! 

I am keeping the rating at 9.5, because the garden has been doing quite well.    

December Garden goals will include:

- Maintaining (water, fertilize, and weed); M will continue to visit twice a week
- Focus on the winter vegetable and fruit plants

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

- Continue to enjoy the rest of the time together before she has to go back

- Do more fun (safe) activities together (some craft projects, painting, etc.)

I am continuing to enjoy having my daughter home with me and am especially thankful she was here when I needed help getting up after my fall.  Fun (safe) activities have included making some tea cup candles for gift giving and celebrating Thanksgiving together.

I am keeping the rating at 10!

December Daughter goals will include:

- Continue to enjoy the rest of the time together before she has to go back
- Take her to get her booster dose
- Do more fun (safe) activities together (some craft projects, painting, etc.)

- Celebrate the holidays (Christmas and New Year) together

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, mostly through phone calls, emails, texts, etc.  Several of my cousins and friends called, emailed, or texted to wish me for my birthday, which was really nice.  I got to video chat with another friend, although there was more chat than video as I couldn't get my camera to work (hadn't known that there was a button on the laptop to allow the camera to be switched on!) and her camera was automatically turned off to save bandwidth, according to the message we received; even so, it was a lot of fun.  One of my cousins had invited us to a family Thanksgiving she was hosting, but, we declined, preferring to stay at home.  There was, also, the exchange of food with friends from time to time!    

I am keeping the rating at 10.  

December Family and Friends goals will be the same as above.  I will be attending a memorial service for my late aunt (can't believe it has been one year, already!) and I will probably see quite a few family members and friends then, but, I will not be attending the reception which will be held at a venue, afterwards.  I will probably visit my cousin at her house, later in the week.  I hope to see her daughter and grandsons who will be coming down from New York for the memorial and I will be able to give them their holiday gifts, then.

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 when safe to do so

I participated in the blogging community and interacted with my neighbors; we still have a steady sharing of food among us!  I am counting unknowingly supplying garden plants as part of my community participation!  LOL.  I'm keeping the rating at 10.

December Community goals will be the same as above!

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

- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose; the big expenses this month will be paying the property taxes and for the tree trimming. 

I continued to budget and spend as mindfully as possible in November.  I paid the property taxes and for the tree trimming.  I came under budget for groceries and gas for the car; I used my grocery budget savings to stock up on some specialty items and to get some holiday treats for gift giving. 

I am keeping the rating at 10.

December Financial goals:

- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose; the big expenses this month will be paying the homeowner's and earthquake insurance for next year (due at the end of the month) and holiday gifts, although I budget for that, year round.  

Health & Well Being (8.0)(8.0):  The goal is good health:

- Focus on continuing to improve my health
- Focus on diet and hydration

My health goals are on-going.  The focus on the diet lasted only for the first 10 days of the month!  Then came my birthday and all good intentions flew out the window when there were scones and cakes and other goodies to be enjoyed!  Followed soon after by Thanksgiving feasts!  However, I have not gained any weight, even with all the feasting, so, I shall count that as a good thing!  I received my flu vaccine earlier in the month and the Covid booster dose mid-month and had relatively minor side effects for both vaccines.  There was the fall, at the end of the month, but, again, I wasn't badly hurt.  On the whole, things have been OK.

I am keeping the satisfaction rating at 8.0.

December Health and Well Being goals

- Focus on continuing improve my health

- Focus on diet and hydration

- Go for a blood test towards the end of the month

Time Management (7)(7): 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

I have felt better about my time management, this month!  I've become more accepting of my current schedule!  Things are still getting done, even if it takes more time to do them.  However, I am still procrastinating on some things and I know that I can manage my time a bit better!   There is much room for improvement!  Therefore, I will keep the rating at 7.  

December Time Management goals are the same as above.  

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

I engaged in daily joyful activities in November.  They've included celebrating my birthday, doing a facial with my daughter, making holiday gifts, chatting with family and friends, and spending time in the garden when NOT falling!  LOL.  I am keeping the rating at 10.  

December Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Self-Care goal remains the same as above, with the focus on getting the holiday gifts done!

November has been another good month, overall.  My ratings remained the same as nothing improved or got worse that dramatically.  Health/Well Being and Time Management will continue to be the focus areas in December, too.      

Anyone else making monthly goals for a more balanced life?  If not, how do you try to maintain balance in all the different areas of your life?