I feel like I JUST set
my goals for January and here we are on the last day of the month. Time, man. Of course, it was already a third of the way through the month when I wrote that blog post. So how did I do with my goals over the twenty remaining days? Let's take a look...
JANUARY GOALS
BODY | Use a standing desk when editing videos and doing administrative work.
I would say I did this about 50-60% of the time. And even when I was sitting at my desk, I found that I was looking for excuses to get up and move around a little bit throughout the day.
MIND | Complete two writing sessions using creative writing prompts.
Done. And while I don't consider it 'creative writing' per se, I am trying to blog more regularly and I have transitioned to preparing full outlines for my videos instead of winging them on the spot, so I feel like I'm writing and processing my thoughts more in general.
SOUL | Start my morning by reading for 1/2-1 hour instead of picking up my phone or computer.
I am calling this goal achieved, though I didn't always read. I set my alarm to NPR, and I found that many mornings I enjoyed just taking the time to listen to the news. (On the other hand, this sometimes caused an inadvertent spike in my anxiety level, depending on the state of the world at any given time or how terrible the current Republican frontrunners are being, so I have to be mindful of that.) However, because my phone is still in the bedroom since I have a USB wall socket right next to my bed, the temptation to pick up my phone in the morning is still there. So I'm going to pull out my regular iPhone plug and move it into the living room for overnight charging.
LIGHT | Clear my laptop of excess files and clutter.
This was totally achieved, though I cheated a bit to get there. As I mentioned, I fried my external hard drive a few months ago. This month I ended up buying a new one, and I was able to clear off my laptop after backing up my files. I did ended up deleting over 48GB worth of old files on my laptop—though technically these files now just live on my external drive and I could still stand to go through them at
some point. But the hard drive was a VERY necessary purchase, and I'm glad (avoiding) this goal led me to biting the bullet to buy another.
ONE LITTLE WORD : JANUARY REFLECTIONS
Before I jump into February goals, I wanted to detail a few of the other ways my One Little Word of "Light" appeared in my life this month—because half of what makes your word so great is seeing all the unplanned ways it shows up.
• Given that it's mid-winter in Portland—read: overcast, rainy, and often dark—I found myself paying more attention to daylight in general, and shifting towards the light when it did appear. I felt a physical urge to go outside whenever the sun appeared, and I honored those cravings with lunchtime walks, even if it meant putting off what I "should" be doing. Whenever it was bright out, I would also sit as close to a window as possible and take regular breaks to appreciate the light. And on those bleak days where it's so dark the street lights never turn off, I made sure to take two vitamin D supplements.
• Another area I'm thinking about the idea of "light" is with makeup and skin care. It occurred to me that I mostly hate makeup. Or, rather, I hate the seemingly endless choices when it comes to makeup, both in terms of products for sale and how one chooses to do their makeup. It's a
process industry that's made me feel less like myself, not more. So, I've decided that by the end of the year, I want to establish my own signature makeup look, settle on a small selection of products that make me happy and make me feel like ME, and eliminate ALL of the rest. I want to be entirely done with makeup experimentation.
• Quite related to the last point, I do want to put more of an effort into my skin. I struggled with severe cystic acne for many years, and my usage of makeup is definitely tied to that. As my skin has improved, I'm less interested in covering it up. But maintaining good skin does take a certain level of care (especially since I tend to be on the dry side), and it's something that is tied to self-care for me in a way that makeup is decidedly not. I bought a few new skin items this month including an Ole Henriksen mini kit and a natural beauty box from The Detox Market that has a few different products I've wanted to try, including a Kypris Beauty Elixir serum. My goal would certainly be hydrated, glowy skin where I'd feel the need for even less makeup.
• Funny enough, once I became focused on the idea of luminous, glowy skin, I happened to win an Instagram giveaway from Herbivore Botanicals for their
Winter Glow kit! Manifestation at work ;)
• I also cut my hair, which is definitely making me feel lighter!
FEBRUARY GOALS
BODY | Get back on the workout train -- three times per week in February
While I walk basically everywhere and take a couple hikes per month, it's been a while since I exercised regularly. My current plan is to try for two
Tone It Up workout videos per week, one
yoga or
pilates session per week, plus a series of daily stretches aimed at managing my piriformis syndrome. My focus will be on core-strengthening and flexibility. Given my current issues, I'm physically not able to "go hard" with any type of workout (no running, HIIT, lifting, etc.) so the Tone It Up girls' general cardio/toning will be a good place to start right now.
MIND | Read four books.
January was not a great reading month for me and I'd like to get to more books this month. My challenging is that I often read at night, but the evenings are also my time to spend with Mark and I often abandon my books to hang out or watch TV with him. It will probably be worth trying to read for an hour at lunch instead of doing work or farting around on the internet.
SOUL | Practice daily gratitude.
I'm calling this my "Light" goal for the month as well because I think it's so beneficial to look for the bright spots in each day. I started doing this over the last several days of January and I want to continue the practice. Once again, my Inkwell press planner is coming in handy; I've been using one of the three daily sidebar boxes to record at least one thing I was grateful for during the day.
Happy February to you!
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{Blog photo: Image via Death To The Stock Photo, text via Cocorrina's 2015 Calendar}
