Balanced Life Monthly Goals - March Review and April Goals

As mentioned 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.  I do realize that the wheel can be perfectly round with short spokes, but, that would be an indication that there is overall dissatisfaction!  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, and being grateful; I continue to try being positive, generous, and joyful.  I feel that I do live a spiritually meaningful life and, although I am not attending any Temple services, yet, I feel that I am doing very well in this area of my life!

I will continue to keep the rating at 10.

April Spiritual goals will be the same as above.  

House (8.5)(9.5):  The goal is a home that is pleasant, comfortable, and welcoming:
- Clean - Clean the house as needed; Clean out the garage
- 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

 

The focus this month was on cleaning out the garage!  It took me most of the month, but, I chipped away at the task and did a good initial round of cleaning and decluttering in there!

House cleaning almost took a backseat to the garage cleaning, but, I did accomplish one major task inside the house, earlier in the month, when I tackled the big picture window in the living room - drapes were taken down, washed, and lace curtains replaced, drapery rods were taken down, cleaned and the sliders replaced, and the window was washed before the drapes were rehung.  The rest of the house just got a "lick and a promise" as the saying goes, during the rest of the month, but, it was maintained.  

Decluttering has gone well, too, as I got rid of a lot of stuff from the garage!  I have raised my rating to 9.5  based on the amount of garage cleaning I did!  However, I will be readjusting the rating system in April, as there are a few other things that need doing inside the house before I can feel 100% satisfied!

April House & Garage goals will be the same as above.  I am planning to continue with the cleaning and decluttering in April, too.  I am feeling motivated to declutter even more; I am setting the April decluttering goal at 5-10 items a day.  I will consider each manila file folder of papers I shred as one item decluttered.   

Garden (7)(7.5):  The goal is a garden that is productive, yet drought tolerant:

- Maintaining (water, fertilize, and weed)
- Focus on the winter vegetable and fruit plants

- Repot the passionfruit vine and set up a trellis for it

The garden continues to do well.  I am still picking lemons, oranges, peapods, and broccoli florets (side shoots).  We bought more fertilizer and M has been watering, fertilizing, and weeding, too (plus pruning to keep things manageable).  M repotted the passionfruit vine in a larger container and set up a trellis for it.

I am raising the rating to 7.5.     

April Garden goals will include:

- Maintaining (water, fertilize, and weed)
- Prepare for planting summer vegetables!
- Start improving the parkway in the front

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

- Celebrating her birthday

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

We celebrated her birthday at the beginning of the month.  I have continued to enjoy having my daughter home with me.  She was able to spend all of March down here with me.  She is tentatively scheduled to return to Berkeley mid-month in April.  I am keeping the rating at 10!

April Daughter goals will include:

- Continue to enjoy the rest of the time together before she has to go back
- Keep in daily contact once she does go back

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
- Wish those who are celebrating birthdays!

I interacted with family and friends mainly through phone calls, emails, texts, etc., and wished those who celebrated birthdays!  I did a curbside visit with friend R,  dropped off some containers and brownies for friend S, and took some food for friend A.

I am keeping the rating at 10.  

April Family and Friends goals will include:

- Regular phone calls and emails to check on them

- Curbside visit with friend R
- Attend A's mother's funeral

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 the online organizing group (to a lesser extent).  I interacted with my neighbors, too, as usual.  I didn't attend any Temple events, but, spoke with the monks.  I was summoned to serve jury duty, but, my service consisted of calling in daily to see if I was required to report in person during the week and was very pleased and relieved that I was not required to do so!  As one of my blog friends, Lady Ella said, I'm a pillar of community support!  LOL. 

I'm keeping the rating at 10.

April Community goals will be the same as above.

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

- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose  

- Do my taxes! 

I continued to budget and spend as mindfully as possible in March.  I filed my taxes, too.

I am keeping the rating at 10.

April Financial goals:

- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose 

Health & Well Being (8.5)(8.5):  The goal is good health:

- Focus on continuing to improve my health through diet, hydration, etc.
- Do the additional tests my doctor wants me to do

My health goals are on-going.  I was unable to do the additional tests in March, but, I plan to do them in April.  I am keeping the satisfaction rating at 8.5.

April Health & Well Being goals: 

- Focus on continuing to improve my health through diet, hydration, etc.
- Do the additional tests my doctor wants me to do
- Attend my doctor's appointment
- Schedule my second booster shot

Time Management (7)(7.5): 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

Time management is still a bit of a struggle for me, BUT, I met my own self-imposed deadlines and I am happy about that.  I got the taxes filed in time, I paid the bills on time, I got the garage cleaned as planned, etc.

I have raised the rating to 7.5.  

April 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.
- Continue with craft projects that are in progress

- Participate in the Monthly Photo Challenge and the Winter Photo Scavenger Hunt
- Watch some videos with my daughter

I didn't make a lot of progress on the craft projects in progress (quilts), but, I participated in the Monthly Photo Challenge and the WPSH and I watched a couple of videos with my daughter.

I am keeping the rating at 10.  

April Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Self-Care goals include:

- Continue with craft projects that are in progress

- Participate in the Monthly Photo Challenge
- Watch some videos with my daughter

March turned out to be a very good month!  My House, Garden, and Time Management ratings increased and the others remained the same.  I will continue to focus on the house and the garden and on health/well being and time management in April, too.  

How was your March?  Did you make any monthly goals for a more balanced life?  What are your goals for April?