Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Balanced Life Monthly Goals - October Review and November Goals

Once again, I'm late with reviewing and posting my monthly goals!  Talk about time management and procrastinating!  LOL.

Health, Self-Care & Well Being (6.75)(7.0):  The goal is good health.

October Health Goals Review:
My October health goal was to improve my health.  More specifically,
- consistently walk for 20 minutes daily
- increase the daily servings of vegetables to 3 and maintain that consistently
- decrease the consumption of added sugar
- reduce my weight by an additional 5 lbs. by the end of the month 
- Do another blood test at the end of the month

To that end, 
- I have been taking my medications and the supplements my doctor recommended that I take.
- I have been walking for 20 minutes, consistently, but, not quite daily. 
- I am still struggling to decrease my consumption of added sugar  and to have three servings of vegetables, consistently. 
- Nevertheless, I lost another 5 lbs. by the end of the month!  
- I did my blood test at the end of the month (on October 31)

I'm raising my satisfaction rating just a little bit to 7.0  

November Health Goals: continue to work on improving my overall health by:
- taking my medications daily
- walking for 20 minutes a minimum of 4 times a week
- increasing the daily servings of vegetables to 3 
- decreasing the consumption of added sugar
- maintaining my weight loss
- doing another blood test towards the middle of the month
- attending two doctors appointments

Time Management (8.00)(8.00): The goal is to spend my time in a mindful manner.
Spend time purposefully, mindfully
- Procrastinate less

October Goals Review:
I tried to curb my procrastination tendencies, in October, and I think I didn't do too badly (although this review is overdue!)  Somethings that I didn't want to do did get pushed back, but, the important things were accomplished in a timely manner.

I have kept the same satisfaction level.  

November Time Management Goals: To continue to spend my time in a mindful manner and to procrastinate less.  

House (8.75)(9.0):  The goal is a home that is pleasant, comfortable, and welcoming.

October House Goals Review:
My October goals were to keep a pleasant, well maintained house, keep the horizontal surfaces cleared, and declutter 10 items a day for a total of 310 items for the month.

I started out the month well, especially with the decluttering, but, I ran out of steam halfway through the month.  I didn't meet my goal of 310 items decluttered, but, I did declutter a little over half that amount and I am pleased with the dent I made.  The house was dusted, swept, and vacuumed, and while not "company ready" according to my usual standards, when unexpected company did arrive, I felt comfortable enough about the house not to feel I needed to apologize for the state in which it was. 
 
I have increased the satisfaction rating, based on the amount of decluttering and tidying up that I did.  

November House Goals: Continue to keep a pleasant, well maintained house, keep the horizontal surfaces cleared, and continue to declutter, albeit at a slower pace.  

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

October Spiritual Goals Review:
I continued doing the things I consider as important to live a spiritually meaningful life with daily prayers, meditation, being kind and helpful to others, and cultivating gratitude.  Towards the end of the month, the monks at the temple provided me with an opportunity to help them out with a donation of thread in specific colors for an upcoming blessing event and I was very happy and thankful to be able to do that. I'm keeping the same rating.    

November Spiritual Goals: Continue to pray daily, meditate, cultivate gratitude, etc.  I have also booked the date for the year end almsgiving and that's something to look forward to in December.

Daughter (10)(10) The goal is to continue to have a close relationship with her.
 
October Goals Review:  
My goal was to continue to maintain a close relationship with my daughter and I did that. There is no change in the satisfaction rating.   

November Goals: Continue to have a close relationship with my daughter.  My daughter came home for a visit on the first of November.  Initially, it was for a 12 day visit, but, because she is still unable to walk without crutches, she has received her supervisor's approval to continue to work from home and so, she will most probably stay with me for the month of November, returning to the Bay Area after Thanksgiving.  Lots of together time to look forward to.

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

October Goals Review:
My October goals included engaging in more fun, relaxing activities including crocheting, reading and gardening and I did all of those.   I also watched videos and listened to CDs (before decluttering them).  I am keeping the rating the same.   

November Goals include more of the same plus maybe doing a craft project with my daughter while she's visiting. 

Garden (10)(10):  The goal is a garden that is productive, yet drought tolerant.

October Goals Review:
My October garden goals were to continue to nurture the fruit trees and vegetable plants, to clean up and maintain the garden, and to start thinking about planting cool weather plants.  Unfortunately, the September heatwave caused the persimmon tree to die, so we had to pull that up.  We will probably plant the tangerine tree in that spot, probably in the spring.  I am keeping the rating the same.

November Garden Goals:  Continue to clean up and maintain the garden.  Start planting cool weather vegetables and put in a new pathway of stepping stones to lead from the garage side entrance to the back steps.    

Family/Friends/Community (10)(10):  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 with family and friends
- The occasional in person visits as and when I feel comfortable with doing so
- Participate in the blogging community and the online organizing community

October Goals Review:
I kept in touch with family and friends through phone calls, texts, and emails.  I participated in the blogging community, as well, and interacted with neighbors, especially new neighbor E who fixed my overhead garage door opener free of charge!  I am keeping the rating at 10.

November Goals will continue to be the same as above.  

Finances (10.0)(10.0):  The goal is financial security.
- Continue budgeting and spending mindfully, with purpose

October Goals Review:
My October goal was to continue to budget and spend mindfully, with purpose, and I believe that I have met my goals.

November Financial Goals: Continue to budget and spend mindfully, with purpose; I have also set up an appointment with my financial planner to go over my finances.


October was another good month.  I raised my satisfaction rating in two areas (Health and House), which was great and all of the other areas remained the same.  I feel very pleased about it.  I hope that November will be another good month.

How was your October?  Did you feel that there was balance in the different areas of your life?

14 comments:

  1. I think you're hitting it out of the park with your goals for a meaningful and balanced life. I could use a few of your health goals like eating less sugar and more vegetables. :)

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    1. Thank you, June. I'm feeling quite pleased with how I'm doing in many of my areas of life. :)

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  2. You did well to shed 5 lbs. I have a sneaky feeling that I have gained 5 and I have not checked but I am trying to cut out snacks!
    It is nice to be unembarrassed when someone arrives unexpectedly. I don't worry about people arriving unannounced, the way I used to years ago, as I manage to keep things under reasonable control. I do remember a neighbour at our previous address, whose house was so spotless as to be unreal, apologizing for it. At the time I was taken aback to say the least, being very disorganized in those days!

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. My weight tends to fluctuate quite a bit, but, I've been on a downward trend and I need to maintain that for health reasons.
      It feels good to have the house picked up and maintained. I need to tweak my routines a bit to accommodate daughter working from home during the day, but, I think it will get easier as I continue to declutter.

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  3. I always appreciate reading your life goals posts, as they are an incentive to me to evaluate various aspects of my own life. Suffice to say, things are a little off balance for me at the moment :)

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    1. Thank you, Jules. I'm sorry that things are a little off balance for you at the moment, but, I do hope that it will be a temporary state of affairs and things will become more balanced in time. :)

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  4. Well done *****👍😊❤️definitely a good month

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  5. Well done with your goals! Another good month.

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  6. Another gold star! Especially on the weight-loss front!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Lady Ella! I haven't received a gold star in years! :D

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  7. Glad to see you raised a few of your "performance scores" ;)
    I think you should get all 10's!
    That would make your wheel very plumped up would't it?
    Congratulations on losing 5 lbs. It is ever easy but especially as we get older.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Debra. If I ever get all my areas plumped up to 10, then, I might revise the whole thing and set the goals up higher! For example, go to the temple in person at least once a month, or meet up with family and friends instead of calling and texting, etc. They are some of the things I eliminated from the goals list during the pandemic because I wanted to focus on the things I could do, under the circumstances, instead of feeling discontent because I couldn't do them or felt uncomfortable doing, even after the circumstances changed. The new year will be a good time to reconsider a few things.

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