Thursday, September 1, 2022

Monthly Balanced Life Goals: August Review and September Goals

It's time again for a review of my monthly goals for a more balanced life!  

Very briefly, I picture my life as a wheel with ten spokes, each representing a different area of my life.  I have stated goals for each area and below each goal, I list how I plan to attain those goals.  The numbers within parentheses show my satisfaction ratings, with the beginning of the month ratings in black and the end of the month ratings being shown in blue. 

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

- Continue with daily prayers, meditation, being grateful, positive, resilient, 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, positive, resilient, joyful, generous and giving, etc., in August.  I feel that I do live a spiritually meaningful life.
I will continue to keep the rating at 10.

September's Spiritual goals will be the same as above.  

House & Garage (7)(7):  The goal is a home that is pleasant, comfortable, and welcoming:
- Clean - Clean the house and garage as needed
- Organized - 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've kept up with the housework, cleaning, organizing, maintaining, and decluttering.  August decluttering included 1 chair (broken, tossed), 1 children's picnic table (recycled), 1 file folder with 2 years of bill statements (recycled), 1 planter (tossed), 1 item of clothing that was torn beyond repair (tossed), 1 porcelain vase (given away with flowers).  There were other bits and pieces, but, I stopped keeping count after some time and I don't think I met my goal of 31 items decluttered, unless I include all the dead plants from the garden that were tossed/composted and the too small bits of fabric from the scrap basket!   
I am keeping the rating at 7.   

September's House & Garage goals will be the same as above.  My Room of the Month will be my bedroom and my decluttering goal is 30 items.

Garden (8.0)(8.0):  The goal is a garden that is productive, yet drought tolerant:
Maintaining (water, fertilize, and weed)
- Start improving the parkway in the front

The garden is struggling!  It's summer, we have watering restrictions, and high temperatures.  I have been watering as often as I dare to and cleaning up.  We transplanted some ferns to the front garden to replace the spent osteospermum plants.  The ferns seem to have taken well to being transplanted and have some new growth in them while the osteospermum have self-seeded and the seedlings are coming up! 
I've picked the last of the serrano chilies, beetroot, passionfruit,  sunflowers!  M harvested one of the sunflower heads and I will be collecting the seeds from it.  I've picked some of the Asian pears and pomegranates; we pulled out the tomato plants and the zucchini plants - this was not their year!  But, the moringa tree produced a good harvest of pods and I picked most of them!  
The parkway improvements are on hold until cooler weather arrives in October.  But, I'm keeping it listed, just so I don't forget it!
I am keeping the rating to 8.0 because the garden is doing its best under the circumstances.

September's Garden goals will be the same as above, with the inclusion of more cleaning up.

Daughter (10)(10) The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her:
- Keep in daily contact with her

I continue to have a close relationship with my daughter with daily texts, phone calls, and video chats.
A definite 10!

September's Daughter goals will be the same as above.

Family & Friends (8)(8):  The goal is to have a close connection with family and friends:
- Regular phone calls and emails to check on them

I kept in touch with family and friends through texts, emails, and phone calls in August and sent cards to those celebrating birthdays.  Other than that, there haven't been much interactions, but, I am fine with that.  
I am keeping the rating at 8.0.

September's 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
  - Food exchanges with neighbors from time to time
  - Participate in temple events when safe to do so

I participated in my community in the ways that I felt comfortable participating, online or on the phone, with some limited in person interactions with neighbors.  
I'm keeping the rating at 10.

September's Community goals will be the same as above.

Finances (10)(10):  The goal is financial security:
- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose

I have continued to manage my finances in a more or less responsible manner, budgeting and spending as mindfully as possible.  I managed to stay under budget for groceries in August (after going over in July) and since I didn't need to put gas to the car in August, I have that budgeted amount to put into savings or pay for some unexpected expense (a higher water bill, perhaps!). 
I am keeping the rating at 10.

September's Financial goals will be the same as above. 

Health & Well Being (8.5)(8.5):  The goal is good health:
- Focus on continuing to improve my health through diet, hydration, adequate sleep, etc.
- Attend my medical appointments
- Continue to take my medications as prescribed
- Continue to take necessary precautions against viral infections

I feel that I managed to maintain my health and well being in August.  My goal of walking daily and increasing the duration of the walk didn't work out quite as I had hoped; I walked more of less daily (there were days when I didn't walk for one reason or another), but, my attempts at increasing the duration of the walk were unsuccessful due to leg pains and my reluctance to push through the pain.  I will keep trying in September.  I didn't have any medical appointments this month, but, I do have one scheduled for the end of September.
I am keeping the satisfaction rating at 8.5.

September's Health & Well Being goals will be the same as above. 

Time Management (7.5)(8.0): 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 kept a time log during the first week in August and I became more aware of how I was spending my time! It led to some conscious decisions and prioritizing my activities.  I have had to let some things go and I decided it was OK for the time being.  I still need a better schedule, however, and that will be my focus in September.  
However, I feel a little happier about my time management, mostly because I've taken the time to do a couple of projects I had been wanting to do for several months.  As a result, I have raised the rating  to 8.0.

September's 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
- Engage in leisure activities
- Do crafts and pursue hobbies

I feel I had a good month in this area of my life in August.  I took time to play with fabric, sorting through my scrap stash and starting on a quilt!  I participated in photo challenges, gardened, played online games, and relaxed.  
I am keeping the rating at 10.  

September's Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Self-Care goals will be the same as above.

I feel that August was a good month.  Most ratings stayed the same, but I increased the rating for Time Management and nothing got reduced.  I am looking forward to September.  I hope to maintain those areas with a high rating and improve those areas that have room for improvement. 

Do you make any monthly goals for a more balanced life?  If so, what are your goals for September?

18 comments:

  1. Daughter #1 and family are around till Sunday. On Monday I go to Manchester for 10 days, to help Daughter #2 with her new baby. The second half of September I am keeping free of outside commitments to work on 'home' tasks - serious meal planning, and tidying my craft stash in the loft (planning a quilt project). You have done well with your goals

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    1. What a wonderful way to spend the first half of this month, being with your daughters and grandchildren! Sounds like you'll have plenty to keep you occupied during the second half of the month, too! Looking forward to seeing your quilt project; I'm sure it's going to be lovely! Thank you; I'm pleased with how my August turned out. :)

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  2. You are definitely on an even keel, no better than that as you are managing your time more productively. You're doing well.

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. It's too hot to do more than hold steady, but, I've reassessed my time management and making some adjustments which are working out well for me. :)

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  3. You do so great with your goals each month. You are inspiring me to make some of my own!

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    1. Hi, Mandy; thank you! Hope all is well with you and glad to hear that I'm inspiring you to make some goals of your own. I hope you will be successful in attaining those goals. :)

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  4. Look at all those 10's. It is very impressive!
    My September goals? Though the month is here I have not set mine yet. I seem to always be a day behind (or in this case two days behind) no matter what is happening!

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    1. Thank you, Anne. I've dialed down in some areas - not the goals, themselves, but, how I go about accomplishing them. For example, "spiritual" no longer has "visits to the Temple" listed under it! So, I no longer feel I've failed in that area and it makes it easier to achieve a 10! LOL. I'm waiting until the daily Covid numbers go below 1,000 on a consistent basis to visit the Temple; not sure if that will ever happen!
      Take your time making your September goals - even the name of the month is 2 months behind! :D

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  5. This is inspiring. I don't think I could ever match it, but I respect it so much.

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    1. Thank you, Lyssa; I think you manage to be quite well balanced in many of the areas in your life, even if it doesn't feel like that to you. :)

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  6. It sounds like another good month. You're doing well to maintain the ratings and especially to increase the time management rating as I know that's something you have been focusing on. Well done!

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. :) If I can keep the time management to an 8, I shall be very happy! :)

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  7. Once again you have done well. I think my own wheel would have had some wonky spokes last month as there were some setbacks, and some phone calls that needed attention. But September is a new month!

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. I'm pleased with how August turned out. I'm sorry you had some wonky spokes in your wheel, but, as you say, September is a new month! :)

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  8. August was a good month for your life goals.
    I like how you are kind to your garden saying how it did the best it could given the circumstances. I like that measuring stick :)

    I am doing well with tomatoes this year (for once!)
    I'm keeping track and so far I have picked 18 full-sized tomatoes and more cherry tomatoes than I can count lol
    My basil, herbs and even the chives are still hanging on helping things taste great this summer.
    We have enjoyed our little harvest.

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    1. Thank you, Debra; yes, it was a good month. I'm trying to use that same measuring stick as I used for the garden for myself, too! Did I do the best I could under the circumstances? That is really all one can do, isn't it? :)

      Yay for your garden harvests! That is wonderful that you are getting a nice tomato crop! Are you going to try and freeze or can any of your harvest?

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  9. Replies
    1. Sounds good to me! Nothing like fresh produce straight from the garden! :)

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