Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Balanced Life Monthly Goals - December Review

It's time to do the last review of the year 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 daily prayers, meditating, being grateful, positive, and joyful.  I tried to be resilient!  I tried to cultivate non-attachment by being generous and giving to the extent I was able.  I spoke with the monks at the Temple, attended a funeral mass, and watched Christmas Eve mid-night mass from the Vatican on TV.  
I have maintained the rating at 10.

House & Garage (7.5)(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
- Decorate for the season
 
I cleaned and tidied the house prior to decorating for the season.  I slacked off a bit on the decluttering, but, items decluttered included a couple of holiday ornaments that fell and broke, some yarn and other items from the craft supplies stash, gift bags, and plastic plant pots from the shed.  A few kitchen utensils came in, but, I decluttered some of my old kitchen utensils and gave some to my daughter.  A new sweater and a new jacket were added to my wardrobe (gifts from my cousin and from my daughter), but, I decluttered a couple of other clothing items.
I am keeping the rating at 7.5.  

Garden (6.5)(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., and he planted out some of the snow pea seedlings.  The parkway improvements have begun as M bought and spread a bag of pebbles.  We will continue to work on that in the new year. 
I am keeping the rating at 6.5.

Daughter (10)(10) The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her:
- Keep in daily contact with her
- Hopefully, include another visit home over Christmas and New Year's Day!
    
I continued to have a close relationship with my daughter.  There were a few anxious days when she came down with Covid two weeks before she was meant to come down for the holidays, but, prayers were answered and she recovered in time to come home, especially since her friend, who was giving her a ride home, delayed the trip down by a couple of days to give her additional time to recover and test negative!
A definite 10!

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
- A family gathering or two at Christmas

I kept in touch with family and friends through texts, emails, phone calls, etc.  In addition, I attended my late friend A's funeral and there was a quick visit to exchange gifts with family members on Christmas Day, even though I didn't stay for the lunch and larger family gathering. 
I am keeping the rating at 8.0.

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

Once again, I participated in my community in the ways that I felt comfortable participating, online or on the phone for the most part.  Neighbor S kept me well supplied with treats, I exchanged regular phone calls with neighbor T and sent her a little Christmas gift through her daughter, and I spoke with the monks at the Temple on a regular basis.      
I'm keeping the rating at 10.

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.

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 maintained my health and well being in December.  I had one screening scan in mid-December which turned out to be normal, according to the doctor's office.  
I am keeping the satisfaction rating at 8.5.

Time Management (8.0)(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
- G
et ready for the holidays (Christmas and New Year).

I struggled a bit with my time management in December.  I was not quite as ready with my holiday gifts and card making, etc., as I would have liked!  I think this was due to the fact that my daughter got sick and I found it hard to get into the holiday spirits as I was worried about her.  Even so, I made and mailed my cards in good time and all the gifts that I normally give on Christmas Day were ready for giving on the day or mailed.  Two gifts were mailed the day after Christmas, because we didn't meet the recipients on Christmas Day.  The rest of the gifts are New Year's gifts and I have to finish one of them.   
I am keeping the rating at 8.0.

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 had another good month in this area of my life in December, too, with some holiday gift crafting.  I participated in the monthly photo challenge, did a bit of gardening, and relaxed.  
I am keeping the rating at 10.  

December was a good month, overall, when it came to maintaining balance in my life.  All the ratings stayed the same!   There is room for improvement in certain areas, but, overall, I am content.

I have been doing this exercise for several years now and I am wondering if I will continue with it in the new year.  I always seem to score high on certain areas and struggle with other areas!  I guess I am consistent, if nothing else?  

16 comments:

  1. I think this is such a well thought out, disciplined approach, and I admire your honesty and consistency. Do not be too hard on yourself - over the past year I suspect you have sometimes marked yourself down when in fact it was not your fault. Circumstances have been crazy during covid. Yet you've still supported friends and neighbours, and maintained a wonderful relationship with your daughter. Personal healthcare (physical and mental) has been hard for everyone. Your spiritual goals are met, your faith stays strong. I award you 5*, and hope you will have an equally balanced and happy new year, my dear friend. ❤️🙏☺️👍

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    1. Thank you, Angela. Maybe I need to start off with the caveat, "under the current circumstances, I have done what I have felt comfortable doing"! LOL.

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  2. After reading your goals for a while now and how you are achieving them, I am once again inspired. While I do have regular goals, I do not track them like you do. I think the tracking is important because it makes you more mindful of how you are living. And some day, I might do that in a more formal way.

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    1. Thank you, June. The tracking helps, especially since I've a tendency to think, "Oh, I didn't do anything with family and friends", for example, because I rarely visit them these days. And then, I think back and realize that I've called or texted them on a regular basis and since that's all what I'm comfortable doing at this point in time, it will have to suffice. :)

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  3. Well done for maintaining your ratings this month. I haven't quite worked it out yet but I am also changing the way I direct my focus on certain aspects of my life. Like you I'm consistently high scoring on certain categories but never seem to significantly improve the weaker areas so I have decided that I will focus on one of my weaker areas for the first quarter of the year and at the end of the quarter I will assess whether to continue with the same category or, if things have gone well, whether to start working on one of the other weaker areas. I think I will continue to maintain my high scoring categories without any dedicated focus on them so from January - March my focus is going to be on health and fitness with specific aims (which I haven't completely worked out yet) on nutrition and meal planning, regular exercise, and my daily routine but mainly making sure to get good quality and sufficient sleep. I think this approach will work better for me ... I hope so anyway!

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. Yes, I think I, too, will start focusing on those area that are not scoring as high as some of the others. I will continue to do what I am currently doing in such areas as Spiritual, Community, and Daughter, but, focus a bit more on Time Management, Health, House, and Garden. At least, when it comes to doing the monthly reviews. :)

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  4. Oh, my that seems a lot. But at the same time it seems if i understand it correctly, that you are quite loving lenient on your self. would I for example give my self a ten and then after doing it again a ten. hmm i like that, lowering expectations while still having a beautiful standard.

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    1. I've had to lower my expectations due to various reasons, especially Covid. These days, I'm learning to make more realistic goals that are more achievable given the circumstances. "What can I do to maintain contact with people if I am no longer visiting them? How can I live a spiritually meaningful life if I am no longer attending worship services?" etc. As long as I can achieve those reduced expectations, then, I am content. :)

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  5. Replies
    1. Thank you, Anne. Yes, it was a good month, over all. :)

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  6. A good month again. You could probably increase the rating for family and friends, as you have done well in spite of the necessary caution due to the various viruses out there.

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. Yes, I did have a bit of extra interactions with family and friends this month and I will be going to visit another cousin, later this week. :)

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  7. Another good month for you with your life goals.
    And now a New Year to look forward to.

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    1. Thank you, Debra; I want to try something slightly different in the new year - maybe skip over the areas that I'm doing well in and focus on the other areas.

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