I was actually super happy with January. Despite Covid’s best attempts to thwart me, I came out on top! Huzzah. I hit almost all my goals and the one I didn’t almost hit! I am ready for a new month! Each small win is celebrated and before I create new goals, I go back to my Yearly Goals to make sure I am staying on track. (In the past, I’ve not always remembered to do this!)
Last Month’s Goals
You know the drill, let’s see how I did with January’s goals
1. Write 3,000 Words For The Blessed – DONE – Yes! Despite getting Covid right at the start of the year, I made sure to prioritise this goal and actually hit 5,556 words in January.
2. Create 2 New Product Lines – DONE – This was my only business goal and I got this done too!
3. Read 2 Books – DONE – I actually managed to read 8 books in January so that’s a crazy good start to the Goodreads Reading Challenge.
4. Write 4 Blog Posts – DONE – I wanted to get back to blogging every week following my very long hiatus, and I did it!
5. Do My Stretching Routine 3 times a week – DONE – I almost didn’t accomplish this, because, in the first week of January, I was still ill. But by the end of that week, I was much better and was able to start.
6. Walk at Least 27 Days in The Month – ALMOST – Again, Covid tried to scupper this because the last thing you want to do is go outside in the cold air and walk when you’re ill. I managed 25 days in the month, however, by the final week, I was walking twice a day.
7. Clear Through 2 Storage Boxes – DONE – This took longer than I had hoped because I struggle to let go of things and especially of staying focused to go through lots of little bitty things.
February’s Goals
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen these goals listed. I wanted to create goals for each of the important categories I am working on – writing, business, reading, blogging, health and house.
1. Write 3,300 Words For The Blessed
Writing Goal: I am just adding an extra 300 words. While I did well last month, I know how easy it is to overstretch by getting overconfident. I am highly aware that my depression is not 100% receded and my SAD has been a little rough so I’m working with my moods.
2. Add 8 New Items To The Shop
Business Goal: This comes to around 2 items a week, which includes making, photographing, editing, listing and marketing. I am aiming to get back over 200 items in the shop but I’m fine to do it slowly.
3. Read 3 Books
Reading Goal: One has to be an ebook. I want to make sure I am remembering to read through my large collection of ebooks, I have a ton of them on my kindle but whenever I think about reading something, I always go to the bookshelf.
4. Write 4 Blog Posts & Schedule
Blogging Goal: I want to make sure that any blog posts that can be written early and scheduled are, including the podcast episode posts (though the podcast posts are not considered in the 4 blog posts goal)
5. Start Running Again, Keep Walking & Stretching
Health Goal(s): The walking and stretching routines have been going well, so will continue to do the stretching routine 3 times a week, walk at least 25 days a month and we are starting up running again.
6. Go Through 1 Cube & Clear Through Cupboard Over Bed
House Goal: Still working through the Kallax Unit but I also want to start going through some of the other storage areas in my house that have been a little neglected. The cupboard over the bed became a bit of a catch-all so that needs to be emptied, cleared through and re-organised.
7. Sort Out The Mealworm Farm
House Goal: So, I breed mealworms for the wild birds in our garden. I’ve done this for years though I stopped when I moved here. I started it back up again a year or so ago, but my system has been pretty poor – including not actually putting the mealworms out (because I haven’t sorted the feeder… you can’t just put them in any ol’ type of tray feeder or they can escape). So I need to reset my systems.
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Currently, I am happy with how things have been going. This month’s goals are still pretty basic and I’m just getting back into a groove with doing goals again.
Happy writing & stay safe
I
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Awesome job on January’s goals! Especially since you had Covid. Good luck with the goals for February.
These days I find keeping goal lists short and simple is the only way forward. We’re working on decluttering and organizing too – very slowly. I’ll also be announcing that one of the two books I never got around to making available in audio last year is available in audio at last, I did two author interviews in January, and I’m reading enough to keep on track for my reading goal. I’d like to get some actual writing time in there too, but for health-related reasons I’m not pushing to make it a priority while I’m dealing with the decluttering and other aspects of authorly life, on top of life and ACB-related things I need to deal with each day; I’m considering the publishing and marketing stuff to be my writerly tasks right now.
Good luck with your goals. Do take it easy though, long covid is no fun. Be well, Sharon
Good luck with all of your goals 🙂 ❤ I was wondering about the mealworms when I saw you mentioned then on instagram. That's a lovely thing to do for the birds though I'm not sure I could cope doing it, they're just too wriggly for me, lol
lol I never used to like wiggly things, then I got a Wormery about a decade or so ago and ended up getting over the wiggly issue 😀
I can pick up earthworms or composting worms in my hands without any issue, but I can’t pick up mealworms or the beetles with my hands – I use a spoon.
Lol, I never thought of picking up anything with a spoon, will have to try that if I ever get a bug in the house, lol 🙂
lol It works best for worms, slow crawlers etc. Insect creatures, unless you get them on their back – they usually just dart off the side! lol
Wow – even on the heels of Covid, you did great Ari … you make me feel like a sloth. I am behind in the Reading Challenge and will read two short books in February to even it out and feel some accomplishment because I believe 25 books in 2023 might not get done otherwise. I will not regress to three or four books a year! You did better than me at walking (and right after recovering from Covid)!
lol I think I just got so antsy not being able to go walking because I was ill, I was practically scratching at the door to get out.
I have managed to make reading my nighttime habit and due to my partner’s change in work hours it means we get a little longer in the evening rather than going to bed late and exhausted.
I know I would feel the same. I walk year around as long as it is not icy or slick … the cold doesn’t really bother me as I took the bus to downtown Detroit for my job for decades, so I amassed a lot of warm clothing as buses were not always prompt. I’m not too keen on walking in the rain, but last year I bought a pair of waterproof walking shoes and I still have my golf umbrella, so maybe it’s time to rethink cancelling a walk due to rain.
I have to make time to read as well Ari. I follow Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Twitter and he recently wrote that shutting down computers/devices ONE hour before bedtime is preferable to just 15-30 minutes as was suggested for years. Even an hour to read would be enjoyable. I’m eight days behind in Reader, so I tell myself I should try to get through Reader first.
Looks like you did have a good January, Ari! Love your goals for February, too. It’s good to hear that you’re feeling better after Covid and that you were able to get back to your walking.
Thanks, Kate. Yeah, glad I didn’t end up with long covid. A few people we know ended up with that recently.
I had fatigue after COVID, but thankfully it only lasted two weeks. I can imagine how frustrating having long COVID would be 😔.
Best of luck!
Thanks, Andrew
You’re welcome, Ari.
Wow. An overwhelming success, I’d say. Good luck with February! It can either be good (because of how little time we have to screw up) or bad (because of how little time we have to make up for the potential screw-ups).
lol very true. Let’s hope for the good 😀
You did extremely well. It is so good to hit the ground running. (and you did it in spite of having Covid!)
Thanks, Darlene. I am glad Covid didnt derail me as it can really have a psychological affect for the rest of the month. So I’m glad I was able to push past it and keep going 🙂