Balanced Life Goals - July Review and August Goals

My overall goal is to live a life that feels well balanced to me.  To that end, I have created several areas of importance to me to focus on.  I try to evaluate each area, rating 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 areas get equal rating, but, lower satisfaction ratings indicate that these areas need more work.  My ratings for each area are shown within the parentheses, with the beginning of the month ratings in (black) and the end of the month ratings shown in (blue). 

These are the individual areas of my life and their ratings for June:

Spiritual (10)(10):   The goal is to live a spiritually meaningful life:
I continued with daily prayers, meditation, etc.  I feel that I am living a spiritually meaningful life in accordance with the teachings of my religion.  I am happy with this area of my life.

My goal in August is to continue to live a spiritually meaningful life.

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

Daughter and I continued to keep in touch by phone, texts, and video chats in July, too.  She attended a conference in Boston and continues to do well.  We are not planning any visits during the summer.

My goal in August is to continue to have a close, if long distance, relationship with her!

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies (10)(10):  The goal is to relax doing something I enjoy doing for the pleasure of it.

In July, I went to the library for the first time since the first Covid lockdown!  I had requested a book which was put on hold for me and I went in to collect and check out the book.  After that, I requested another book and went in to the library to return the previous book and to check out the second book, which I am reading now.  I have requested two additional books, so I foresee going back to the library at least once or twice more in August!  I look forward to more reading in August.

In addition, I participated in the monthly photo challenge.  I am also participating in the Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt, although at a rather slow pace!

The quilt I was repairing was set aside as it became too hot to sit with a quilt spread on my lap!  That project will be set aside until it becomes cooler!

Finances (9.5)(10):  The goal is financial security:

I continued to budget and spend mindfully, with purpose, in July.  I don't do any so-called "no spend" months, but, I keep my spending under control.  I do have a rather detailed budget and for the most part, I stay within budget.  

I will continue to budget and spend mindfully in August, too.

Garden (9.0)(9.0):  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 winter vegetable and fruit plants

The garden started to wilt in July as it began to warm up!  However, I've picked tomatoes, some potatoes, and some serrano chilies from the garden in July and there is still some fruit ripening on the Asian pear tree, the passionfruit vine, and the orange tree.  

The August garden goals include keeping the plants watered, etc.  Gardener M usually takes two weeks off during August, so, I don't plan to do much other than regular watering.

Family/Friends/Community (9.0)(9.0):  The goal is to have a close connection with family and friends and be involved with my community:

- Regular phone calls and emails, etc., to keep in touch

- Participate in the blogging community and the online organizing community

There were regular phone calls, texts, emails, etc., with family, friends, and neighbors in July.  I was able to help out neighbor T's daughter K a couple of times and I attended the open house for T's house.  I visited neighbor S very briefly on her return from her vacation and there were a couple of evenings of music, compliments of the other neighbors!  There might have been some exchanges of gifts of food in the neighborhood, as well!  LOL. 

Goals for August will remain the same.  

Health, Self-Care & 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

As I've stated before, improving my health through diet, hydration, etc., is an on-going effort!  I had another blood test done on the last day of July for an upcoming appointment with my oncologist.    

Health goals for August will be to continue improving my overall health.   I have a follow-up appointment with my oncologist on the 4th and I will receive my bone density booster injection at that appointment.  

Time Management (7.5)(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

I am afraid I am still struggling with this.  I keep finding reasons to procrastinate on the things I need to do such as housework, paperwork, organizing, etc.  I can find a million excuses not to just do it!  Earlier, it was too cold to move away from the space heater.  Now, it is too hot to move away from the fan!  On the positive side, I pay my bills on time, appointments are kept, there are clean clothes to wear, Dancer's litter box is cleaned on a regular basis, and there's plenty of time to relax!

The goal in August is to continue to improve my time management skills!  

House (7.5)(7.5):  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

The house could do with a good deep cleaning and organizing of cupboards, etc., but, it is a bit too hot to do much.  At least, that is my excuse and I'm sticking to it!  It's not too bad, really; most of the house is being maintained.  It's just that I've slacked off a bit and it is starting to show!

I'm struggling with the decluttering, too.  My goal was to declutter at least 31 items in July, but, I didn't meet that goal.  I decluttered several (8) really old (the majority were packaged for the 2010 growing season) seed packets by planting the seeds (we have three squash seedlings coming up!), one old bath mat (tossed), one glass (broke; tossed), one fly swatter (broke; tossed), a couple of plastic food storage containers and several empty jars (had been used to store dried beans, etc.; recycled), and several storage boxes (recycled), but, nothing major.  I was planning to declutter some of my books (cookbooks, crafts books, etc.) and got as far as pulling a few out, but, then, I made the mistake of looking through some of them and I felt sad to part with them.  So, they've been put back, for now, at least.  

August goals include doing a little more deep cleaning and organizing and yes, decluttering.  I have a goal of decluttering 31 items, again.

Once again, certain areas continued to get a high satisfaction rating, one area (finances) increased very slightly, and others remained the same.  None of the areas decreased in my satisfaction ratings, which is good.  All in all, July was a good month, even if I didn't meet all my goals.  I'm looking forward to August.