Yea, I still have problems here. I made it a goal because I've realized that it's really actually a problem. There are just so many thing I want for myself right now that I feel like I'm ready for, like a house with a yard, children, a real career. I want to be more in control of my life and I want to have accomplished more. But I need to focus on being awesome in each day and to not compare myself to others because they're not me. Jealousy is useless. Setting goals and working to attain them is what is useful.
2. Learn to integrate and streamline my endless notes, papers, clutter. Use my technology to its capacity.
I have made leaps and bounds on this one. I've stopped using a paper planner and so many sticky notes. I've also stopped writing my lognotes for work and type them. Now I use ...
- Google calendar for scheduling as well as keeping up-to-date with school deadlines
- Evernote for memos or longer notes or lists
- I was using Evernote for a while to speak client lognotes (omitting names, of course, as it's not a secure server) so I didn't have to type them and could do them en route to the next client
- Skydrive to move and store files instead of emailing them to myself or using a thumb drive
- I have even begun depositing checks via Wells Fargo's Mobile Deposit
- I also intend to scan all my "file cabinet" materials so we can keep them digitally instead of in a big accordion folder
That's right, I am embracing the heck out of the digital lifestyle. And I am loving it.
3. Learn to stress less. Take time on things that are important and less time on those that aren't. If I can't do anything about it, don't worry about it.
DBT skills, my friend, DBT skills. I have been practicing them a lot. Especially radical acceptance. If you can't change it, accept it and move on. I have been doing alright in this regard. Improving anyway. I have been using the mantras "like water off a duck's back" and "have bad moments, not bad days" a lot this yeat so far. ;)
4. Learn to manage time better. Be on time to things. Time is a commodity and needs to be budgeted to get the most out of it. Be responsible & respectable. Get up & start getting ready hours before I have to leave. Go to bed earlier.
I have not been going to bed earlier consistently, but I have been getting up earlier to start getting ready earlier in hopes that I am more punctual. Being late to basically everything is possibly my worst habit (I can't really think of much worse right now). I just don't have a good sense of time and how long things take. So to alleviate that I need to start getting ready earlier and need to leave earlier. It is okay to be a couple minutes early to things. I have not made great improvements here yet. Something always seems to "come up" and then all of a sudden I'm late. Or I use my talent of hitting the snooze button for a solid hour before I get up. I'm still working on it.
5. Take time to read, do yoga, play video games, go for walks; do things that make me happy and don't feel guilty about taking 'me time.' Sleep more, take care of myself, and allow myself to spend a little money to look nice & feel good.
This last semester I really took very little "me time." I started watching the show How I Met Your Mother late in the semester, but I only read a couple chapters of the novel I didn't finish over Winter break, I did yoga maybe once, I played WoW maybe twice. The time off I had I spent staring at Facebook or something similar and feeling guilty about not being 100% caught up or having 100% read on my schoolwork or other such necessary evils.
Sleep also went out the window. For a while there I was trying to train my body to handle 6 hours and like it. That didn't work out that well. I drank way too much caffeine this semester. (And wasted the money on it.) I know that my body functions better on more sleep and I'm less grumpy. I need to get it. I have a gadget on my radar that I am on the edge of just going ahead and getting it. The Jawbone Up. I think that the Smart Alarm function alone will be well worth the money. Also, who doesn't love biofeedback?
As for the last sentence on that goal, this means that I need to actually go to the chiropractor when I'm in a lot of pain instead of popping some Motrin and calling it good enough. I need to actually go to the professional salon and have my hair cut instead of saving $25 and spending 45 more minutes having a student do a mediocre job at the beauty college. And I need to not wait til my hair style is grown out, I am about to shave my bangs off because they're in my face, and my roots are several inches long. I have decided that it is okay for me to spend a little money if it makes me feel better about myself because I look nice. As for how this is going: I can do better. In fact, tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut as well as colored professionally for the first time!
6. Get in shape. Go to the gym. Eat healthfully. Cut out stuff that isn't good for me and replace it with something that is one thing at a time.
We started off the semester going to the gym a little, but stuff always "came up." So I splurged and bought Insanity as well as a heart rate monitor. I made an effort (for a while) to do those workouts and eat better, using My Fitness Pal as a guide for fixing up my habits. That was nice. While it lasted. Now that the semester is over I will be resuming my workout regime. Must get decent looking before summer really hits. This flab has gotta go!
I was successful on largely cutting out soda from my diet, down from 1 to 2 Mtn Dews per day. The end of the semester made that flop, but I was doing pretty well. I also cut out white breads and replaced them with whole wheat breads. And I had pretty much cut out normal peanut butter and started using fresh ground. I also have mostly stopped drinking juice and have mostly stopped buying and eating standard snacks and have replaced them with healthier snacks (Melba toast, rice cakes, baby carrots, and lots of fruit). As long as I'm being mindful and providing myself with good snacks and not getting bad ones, I'm good with this. I do like to eat healthy, really.
7. Be more positive. Be more wholesome and less vulgar.
I am still working on this one. I can really get down on myself and be negative. Also, working in the social work arena has not done wonders for my mouth. Work in progress.
8. Go to church. Study the scriptures, pray more regularly, go to the temple.
We have 9am church and all semester I have had large assignments due Saturday night. So I go to bed late and I wake up late. Then we have "backwards" church (schedule "B") where sacrament meeting (the important one where the sacrament/bread n water is passed and there are talks/sermons) is last in the 3 hour block. If sacrament is first, I feel compelled to go to it, then I end up staying for Sunday School (lesson) and Relief Society (where the gals get together for more lesson). If we have sacrament last, I tend to skip those first two. Because, can I be honest, I don't like RS in Utah/Idaho. Anyway, I need to go to the lesson hours, take what I can get out of it, find (make, really) time to study my scriptures, and get back into the habit like I used to be.
9. Excel at school & work hard for a 4.0. Excel at work & be the best I can be.
I tried my best again this semester and I'm not sure I got a 4.0, but if I didn't I got very close. I started really working it at work too instead of going through the motions. So I think I'm doing well here.
Well, there you have it. My raw and uncensored personal goals for myself. I know that I have a lot of things that I can improve, and these are the ones that I'm trying to get a little better with this year. Progress can't be measured if it's not written down and reevaluated. And people frequently feel more accountable if others know about their goals. So here they are. Enjoy them for what they're worth to you.
number 5 is definitely important (all the goals are, but i think this one in particular)! for something as simple as a haircut, the amount of money is well spent when you look in the mirror and feel great :) i used to get my hair cut for free during 1.5h long sessions at a beauty school too, and eventually decided the salon experience was more worth it. a little splurge is good every now and then ;)
ReplyDeleteit has seriously taken me all this time to convince myself of that. when i look nice and am put together i feel better, so gosh, why not spend $30 on a haircut every couple months if it make me feel good? frugality has it's merits, but i think i take it too far sometimes. :P
DeleteThese are lofty goals! I used to want the house with the yard... but now I'm thinking, do I really want to mow and weed that?
ReplyDeleteLove ya!
yes and yes. growing up on 2 acres spoiled me. I need my space!
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DeleteAwesome goals! I don't even have any goals. My past missionary self would be so upset. I hear you on not enjoying going to Sunday school and relief society. It's sad to say, but I was hoping to escape some of that culture here in Boise. It is slightly better, but Eric and I still have our complaints and wish we lived in a place with a different type of religious dynamic.
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