I’m back at it! Ready to review January goals and plan for February. As I’ve said in the past, there is usually a ton of energy in January to make goals and changes but the feeling can easily wane.
I am determined to put my goals down on paper and then just do my best.
At the end of this post, I will talk about the lessons I learned in this first month of 2023.
JANUARY GOAL AND HABITS REVIEW
HOME (GOAL)
Get a quote for the kitchen ceiling dry wall-NOT COMPLETED
Clean out garage storage-NOT COMPLETED
CREATIVE
Continue with Project Life for 2023-COMPLETED
Make cards for 3 birthdays this month-NOT COMPLETED. I love how I bragged that I usually get this one done at the beginning of the year!!
While I didn’t make the cards, I did make some photo ornaments requested by my sister’s friend. I had made some ornaments of my baby niece for Christmas (I forgot to take photos). My sister’s best friend who is very close to the family asked for some for herself and I was happy to oblige. You’ll see them in an upcoming post!
HEALTH/FITNESS (HABIT)
Exercise 8 times-ZERO I am not happy about this but I had no motivation or discipline.
Steps-5,500 x 12 days-15
SPIRITUAL/SELF CARE (HABIT)
Daily Journaling-COMPLETED
Weekly skin/body care-COMPLETED 2 of 4 I’m going to need to work on this earlier in the evening and not wait until I go to bed. I’m too tired at that point.
FINANCIAL (GOAL/HABIT)
No spend for 15 days-COMPLETED 7 days
Complete January budget-COMPLETED
FEBRUARY GOALS AND HABITS
HOME
*figure out what to do with all the CD’s in the dining room
*get quotes for the kitchen ceiling drywall
*clean out the garage storage cabinet
CREATIVE
*make 2 birthday cards
*continue with project life
HEALTH/FITNESS
*exercise x 8 days
*steps-5,500 x 20 days
*reduce bought food (fast food) consumption to lunch only
*monitor blood sugar tracking-7 days, 30 days, 90 days Goal-110-125
SPIRITUAL/SELF CARE
*continue with daily journaling
*special facial and/or body care x 4 days per month-this is not my normal AM/PM skincare. This is extra special-deep cleaning, steaming, exfoliating, masks, etc…
FINANCIAL
*complete February budget
*no spend 1 day per week
LESSONS LEARNED
I learned a few things while working on my goals last month:
From tracking my spending, it became abundantly and frightening clear that I spend way too much money on fast food!! Too much for my wallet and for my health. My plan moving forward is to meal plan more often (this is a work in progress), increase my grocery budget, prep and eat more dinners at home. I usually eat lunch out when I am working and out visiting clients. In the future, I will work on bringing food with me but right now I feel like it’s more important to focus on not eating fast food for dinner.
Also in the financial realm, when I plan to do a no spend I need to be more clear about what that means. It does not include bills, groceries, gas or pre-scheduled expenditures. It is really about not impulse spending. This also includes fast food. It does not include re-purchasing things that I need. For example, I needed allergy medication which is not an impulse buy. That is a need and not a want. Craft supplies would be a want (even though they feel like a need). Initially, I thought that I had completely failed in my no spend for January. I had said 15 days but completed 7. I thought I completed zero. However, when I went back and looked at my budget (good thing I completed it) I saw that I actually had 7 days where I didn’t spend any money.
And the final thing in the financial realm, I really enjoyed filling out my budget work sheet! I loved how it took my information and put it in the right categories. It also opened my eyes to my spending habits (some good, some not). Seeing the numbers made me cancel my wine subscription club! I already have a ton of wine and I ordered 26 more bottles to close out my account and then I canceled the membership. Seeing the numbers like that made it clear for me!
I’ve also added blood sugar tracking to my health/fitness goal because I want to be very intentional about getting my blood sugar to a healthy level. I do take my blood sugar daily but haven’t paid much attention to my averages. Having and managing a chronic illness is HARD!! I’m going to document my averages so that I can’t pretend they are not real or that they’re better than they are. This is a process and I expect to do well sometimes and to not do well at others. It is my hope that the other events in my health/fitness category help with my blood sugar. FYI-I am working with my medical team on my goals as well. I can’t change everything all at once but I can make small changes here and there.
My starter/baseline numbers:
7 day average: 175 30 day average: 196 100 day average: 198
Goal is 80-130. The goal for my A1C is a7.0% to 7.5%. I have had it in this range in the past. Being on lockdown during COVID really did a number on me! I ate whatever I wanted and made a lot of desserts which I ate by myself! I am currently at an A1C of 8.8% down from a high of 11.1% in January 2021.
I feel good about where I am in general right now. I have room for improvement and I don’t have to make enormous changes. I feel like slow and steady wins the race and I’m good with where I’m starting.
Enough about me! How has the start of your year been? What are you working on? Share in the comments.
