December Monthly Goals-A Whole Year of Trying

Well, we’ve made it to the final month of 2022. I have spent a whole year working on goals with some success and a whole lot of progress! In January 2023, I’ll review the whole of 2022 to see not only what I accomplished but what I said I intended to do but didn’t. The new year (or anytime really) is a good time to reflect back and see which goals keep making the list but never get completed.

Let’s review my November goals:

HOME

Bathroom Sink-clean under bathroom sink; clear the pipes; call plumber if needed: I’m doing these 3 as one because they are really one connected goal. The goal was to get the sink unblocked and draining properly. Initially, I thought I would have to get under the sink and remove all of the items so that I could get into the pipes to clear the blockage. However, after re-orienting myself with some YouTube videos on checking sink backups, I realized the first thing I needed to do was check and clear the sink pop up drain. After realizing that I could just unscrew it to release it, I did that. I will not show you the photos of the disgusting and large amount of hair that I pulled out but the moral of the story is, unscrewing the pop up drain did the trick!!
I did not need to get to the pipes so I did not need to remove anything from under the sink and I did not need to call a plumber!!! It was almost like magic how quickly the sink began draining. This task is COMPLETE!!
Needless to say, I will now begin clearing the drain more regularly during bathroom cleaning!!

CREATIVE

Start holiday card–COMPLETE I’m very happy to report that I did start my holiday card. I decided on the design and made a couple of prototypes to determine how I wanted to lay out the card. I even started cutting out the elements for it!! Now, let’s see if I can get them all put together and mailed out by my chosen date.

HEALTH/FITNESS

Close my activity ring 5 0f 7 days each week-(this is on my apple watch)COMPLETED. I managed to close my activity ring 20 days in the month. This is a good indicator for me of how much I’m moving around vs. sitting. It is harder for me to meet this goal when I work from home because I literally sit for hours. I know that I should get up and move more on these days and I’m working on it. I’m trying to walk around when I take calls. Unless I need access to information on my computer, this is usually at least a bit helpful.
5,000 steps x 20 days-I got close on this one. I completed this one 17 days in the month. Again, this goal is a good one to make sure that I am moving. I need to become more cognizant during the day of what my movement is like because I’d like to have at least 70-80% of my goal completed before 5 PM. My ultimate goal is that I get 10,000-15,000 steps per day. When this happens, I’ve been active in many ways and generally feel better.

SPIRITUAL

10 minutes of quiet time x 2 days per week–NOPE. I didn’t do this not even one time this month in spite of me setting an alarm to remind me twice per day. I’m not sure why this is such a challenge for me. I know partly it’s because when I’m in the middle of my day I just don’t want to stop what I’m doing. I’ll have to give it some thought about whether or not to continue with this goal in the future. I do know that having meditative time can be very energizing and make the day more productive and positive. I’m not going to give up on this goal yet but I may need to find a better way to implement it.

FINANCIAL

Continue with the weekly savings challenge–COMPLETED
Finalize holiday spending-I again had an idea n my head but I haven’t written anything down. Part of the reason is because we don’t really buy gifts for the adults in the family. I have a niece who is 7 months old who I’m going to buy for but it will likely be under $100 total. Other holiday expenses include materials for gifts that I am making as well as food for potlucks, dinners, etc….I don’t tend to go overboard and for DIY stuff I’ll mostly be using materials that I have on hand. My goal will be simply to not overdo the spending.

MONTHLY GOALS AND INTENTIONS

December is a busy month for many of us and I include myself in that. The things that I am busy with though are enjoyable and I am happy to be engaged in this way. I have 2 dinners with friends and work colleagues, 3 holiday parties on the same day but at different times so I will be able to hit all of them, a holiday potluck with my neighborhood group and a celebratory potluck to honor a candidate that I supported in this last election. And, this is all before I leave to visit my family for the holidays. I have holiday cards to finish and mail out and some DIY gifts to make. And finally, I love to decorate for the holidays as well.
Again, these are all enjoyable events and tasks for me so I don’t feel put upon doing them. But they all take time and I still need to work my regular job, too! My ultimate goal for this month is simply to enjoy the season!!!

HOME/CREATIVE/HEALTH/SPIRITUAL/FINANCIAL

My goal for this month for all of these categories is to prepare for 2023. I’m going to spend time thinking about what I would like to accomplish in the new year and devising a plan to do that.
I’m also going to think about what has worked and what hasn’t and really take a look at my processes. I’m not opposed to experimenting with a new way of doing things so I’ll likely hunt around the internet and YouTube to see what others have to say.

I do know that in addition to continuing to work on my home I will also work on myself. I’m going to ask for help more and ask for more opinions so that I can get other perspectives.

In 2023, I will be doing things that 18 months ago, I would have never imagined. I’ll talk more about that soon but these new activities will require me to stretch my brain, my expectations, have faith in myself and to operate outside of my comfort zone like I have not had to in a long time. I will have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and being a novice. And in spite of how scary this all sounds, I’m looking forward to it!!

So there you have it-my final goals post for 2022. I hope that you are working on whatever matters to you and that everything works out in a way that makes you proud!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!