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)(9.5): 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
- Visit the Temple
I chickened out changed my mind about going to the Temple and decided to postpone the visit until I've had my Covid booster. I know lots of others are going out and about, but, I am still not quite ready to venture out, yet.
I don't believe that I lived a less spiritually meaningful life because I didn't visit the Temple as planned, but, I hate saying I'll do something and not do it! As a result, I've reduced the rating to 9.5.
November's Spiritual goals will include the postponed visit to the Temple, hopefully!
House & Garage (7)(7.5): 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
- 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 started on my fall housecleaning in October and made some good progress. In addition to the cleaning, I also got all the plumbing repairs done, too, which was this month's biggest accomplishment in having a 'well maintained' home!
My decluttering included a kitchen towel, two pot holders, a candle, a couple of cardboard boxes, some pipes and sprinkler heads that were removed from the parkway, etc., but, I didn't quite meet my goal of 31 items decluttered, unless I count the bits and pieces of fabric scraps from the stash which I decided were too small to be used and tossed (I think my cut off point was anything less than 1 inch wide and 2 inches long).
I am raising the rating to 7.5 because I got some cleaning done and some maintenance tasks accomplished.
November's House & Garage goals will be the same as above.
Garden (6.0)(6.5): 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 being maintained. M has been watering, tidying, weeding, pruning, etc. The biggest accomplishment was starting the parkway improvement project! The old non-functioning sprinkler system was removed and the pavers were put in place. The next step is to decide on what to put around the pavers to fill in the spaces - small pebbles or mulch. I've decided against planting anything there because, for one thing, it means having to water the plants, even succulents, at least until they are established (and that will probably encourage weeds to grow, too!) and for another thing, people are constantly dumping empty or half empty food containers, cups, bottles and cans, etc. in the parkway or hide them in the few bushes I have growing along the edge of the sidewalk instead of disposing of them properly and I can just see them doing that among any plants I might grow in the parkway, as well (if not uproot them as they did some previous succulents I planted there).
I am raising the rating to 6.5 because the parkway improvements were started.
November's Garden goals will be the same as above. I need to discuss any cool weather planting we will be doing with M and ask him to prepare the planting beds.
Daughter (10)(10): The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her:
- Keep in daily contact with her
I continued to have a close relationship with my daughter with daily texts, phone calls, and video chats.
A definite 10!
November's Daughter goals will include a much anticipated visit home over Thanksgiving! Hopefully, it will all work out well and she will be able to visit as planned.
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 October. Friend R surprised me with a wonderful meal delivered to me, mid-month, which was lovely! I visited the cemetery on my late mother's birthday although I didn't visit the Temple as planned.
I am keeping the rating at 8.0.
November's Family and Friends goals will be the same as above. I don't anticipate there being any in-person get togethers in November.
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 if and when I feel it is safe to do so
- Food exchanges with neighbors from time to time
- Participate in temple events if and when I feel it is 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 neighbor S.
I'm keeping the rating at 10.
November'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, budgeting and spending as mindfully as possible.
I am keeping the rating at 10.
November'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
- Continue to take my medications as prescribed
- Continue to take necessary precautions against viral infections
I maintained my health and well being in October. I got my flu and pneumonia vaccinations and did some blood tests. My appointment with the oncology nurse practitioner went quite well and my test results were mostly good.
I am keeping the satisfaction rating at 8.5.
November's Health & Well Being goals will be the same as above. I have a few more medical appointments coming up in November - I want to get my Covid booster, I need to make an appointment with the dentist (broke a tooth!), I have an eye appointment scheduled, and an appointment with my primary care doctor (need to schedule the lab tests appointment for that!). I also need to submit the paperwork for my annual medical insurance update!
Time Management (8.0)(8.0): The goal is to spend my time in a mindful manner:
- Spend time purposefully, mindfully
- Spend time purposefully, mindfully
- Continue to focus on making my schedule work for me
- Procrastinate lessI think I slacked off a bit with my time management, in October! I put off doing a few things because I was focusing more on sewing my quilt! However, important deadlines were met and I think I did well enough!
I am keeping the rating at 8.0.
November's Time Management goals are the same as above, with a bit less slacking off, please! I have a few deadlines to meet and several appointments to fit in! It's going to be a busy month!
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
- Engage in daily joyful activities
- Engage in leisure activities
- Do crafts and pursue hobbies
I had another good month in this area of my life in October, too. I finished the quilt I was making, participated in the monthly photo challenge, and relaxed.
I am keeping the rating at 10.
November's Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Self-Care goals will be the same as above.
October was a good month. The majority of the ratings stayed the same, but I reduced the rating for Spiritual area because I didn't go to the Temple after all, and raised the ratings for House and Garage, and Garden, because there were progress in both those areas!
I am looking forward to November, especially since my daughter is planning to come home for a week! 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 November?
This is inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI think you have the right idea about Temple. I think that it's helpful spiritually to worship with others, but that the important thing is how your thoughts and actions reflect faith. These days, it's important to be careful, especially someone like yourself who could be vulnerable. Hugs x
Thank you, Lyssa. According to what the Buddha is supposed to have said, while attending Temple services and giving alms, etc. are important, living ones life according to the teachings of the religion is more important. I believe that I do live my life in accordance to the teachings of my religion, or, at least, I try! :)
DeleteAnother good month of living purposefully. How long have you been keeping track of things this way?
ReplyDeleteThank you, June. I've been doing this for years - I started keeping track sometime in 2005 or so. I was working full time, a single parent to a pre-teen who had several extra-curricular activities, taking care of my mother who was a semi-invalid by then, involved with the Temple, and feeling very overwhelmed and dissatisfied. I had several areas which scored 3s and 4s when it came to satisfaction and a very lop-sided wheel. Over the years, things have improved quite a lot.
DeleteOctober was a good month for you. It's good to see the home and garden ratings being increased though I think you are being hard on yourself about reducing the spiritual one.
ReplyDeleteI haven't set any balanced life goals this month but do have a short list of things I want to achieve before the end of the year, mostly to do with the garage and things I need to replace in the house.
Yes, it turned out to be a very good month, didn't it? I'm pleased.
DeleteI hope you are able to accomplish your list of things to achieve; knowing you, you probably will! :)
A very fulfilling month, it would seem. The quilt might well have stolen attention from other things but it was time well-spent, you made something beautiful, used up some oddments and most of all you enjoyed it. Nothing wrong with that! Meanwhile everything else has been ticking over nicely and it must be satisfying to see progress on the parkway too. I look forward to seeing how it develops, though I am sorry to hear that you have to take certain antisocial behaviour into consideration when planning.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lady Ella. Yes, it was a good month and the new quilt is on my bed, helping to keep my warm at night. :) M and I discussed the parkway a little more, today. He will buy me some bags of small pebbles to put around the pavers to finish off the parkway.
DeleteOnce again you seem to have had a good month. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bushlady; it was a good month! :)
DeleteYou had a really good month. I probably would've done the same as far as not visiting the temple in person - I don't think a reduction was in order though. You are faithful to your beliefs and live a life in line with those beliefs. A cautiousness with your in-person visits is warranted. At least I think it is.
ReplyDeleteI read your response to Live and Learn about when you started following your life wheel progress and found it very interesting.
Thank you, Debra. Yes, it was a good month and I am happy with what I was able to do. I am hoping to visit the Temple, this month, instead, and I'll feel better about it because I've had my booster (I'll still wear my mask, though!)
DeleteGlad you found it interesting. I was spread too thin, at the time. I was trying to do too much. I had to learn how to scale back. For example, I realized that participating at the Temple bake sale didn't mean I had to bake contributions for the sale, myself, that I could buy something from the grocery store bakery, or, simply give a donation. I also learned to say, "No" to commitments and requests to do certain things when I didn't have time to do for myself or my own family. It wasn't easy and I still found myself putting myself lowest on the list of priorities, but, I must say that things have improved a lot since then! :D