They’re a few days late, but here (finally!) are my monthly goals for March.
I’m going to break up this post under the four headings I used last month again, because I found that to be quite an effective way to articulate my priorities. Under each heading, though, I’m going to go back over what I set out to achieve in February before listing my March goals. My February goals were ambitious, and while I’m stoked that I was able to tick off some of them I’m not entirely surprised that I didn’t end the month with a 100% success rate.
I absolutely failed in my pursuit to post a blog post each day in February. I made it about halfway through the month, which is further than I expected when I began, before I ran out of steam. I’m not chalking it up as a total fail, though, and I’m going to try to do it again later in the year after some better preparation. I also resolved to post four book review posts, which I totally missed. So, my blogging month kind of sucked, but I blogged more in 14 days than I did in the entire year of 2015, so I’m proud of what I achieved. This month, I will:
★ Post at least three blog posts per week.
★ Post at least two book reviews.
★ Post at least one bookish post (not necessarily a review) each week.
If I tell you that I bought a new dress (my first new dress in over six months, but still) on 19 February, I think that sums up how my budgeting goals panned out this month (read: terribly). While part of the reason I failed is because I didn’t review my budget goals after I wrote them (and so completely forgot about writing a budget), I also had a couple of unexpected but necessary expenses pop up that completely derailed my plans. This month, I will:
★ Transfer 5% of my March salary to my high-interest savings account. (It’s moving month so it could get expensive, but 5% seems reasonable.)
★ Create a budget spreadsheet once we’ve moved and have reassessed our finances (e.g. new rent, new bill payments, new public transport costs etc.).
★ Transfer our bond refund into the high-interest savings account. This will then sit there untouched until we need to pay a bond deposit again.
I’m proud of what I achieved in February, fitness-wise. I feel one star (!) short of my gold star challenge of 21, but I had a full five days off earlier in February due to illness, so making it to 20 workouts out of 29 possible days was great (especially considering I only managed 12 in January). I’m back in a position where I feel comfortable doing 5 workouts per week, which was one of my goals, and while I didn’t work my way back to one pre-work sweat session prior to the end of February, that’s something I’m going to work on in April once daylight savings time ends. Seriously, it’s still dark at 6.30 at the moment and that’s just going to get worse over the next four weeks. Also, I’m up to being able to smash out 10 full push ups in a row. It’s not 15, but it’s better than it was! This month, I will:
★ Complete at least five workouts (30+ minutes) each week.
★ Complete a full body stretch at least once a week.
★ Complete a full set of 15 push ups without resting.
★ Complete a 5km run in 34 minutes or less. (This will be a super challenge because my troublesome orthotics have blown my 5km time out to 35-38 minutes.)
I set out to read 10 books in February, and that’s what I read. I was so proud of myself for achieving that goal. If you missed my February reading warp-up, you can check that out here. I finished the books I was reading before I started a new one, but I didn’t read 11.22.63 prior to the TV series starting. I also didn’t review 50% of what I read. This month, I will:
★ Aim to read 10 books again, but be happy with eight considering a) we’re moving and b) I’m going back to Brisbane for Easter.
★ Face my fears and finish reading The Fireman by Joe Hill. This book is hella creepy and getting the best of me.
★ Listen to at least three audiobooks.
That’s the plan for March. This month could spiral out of control after 19 March, which is when our lease expires and we have to be fully moved out with our place completely clean by then. Five days after that we head up to Brisbane for Easter, so that whole ten-day chunk is going to be crazy. Above all other things, I need to prioritise my health and my mental state to ensure that even if things do fall apart I will do my very best not to. What do you want to create for yourself this month?
