Stephany Writes

Categories: Goals

Six Small Goals for June

Okay, guys, I have to come clean. I did terrible on my May goals. Is it just me or did this month fly by? It’s like I blinked and suddenly, it was the end of May. I can’t believe today is already the first of June! What? Are we seriously nearing the midpoint of 2018? I cannot handle any of this.

In any event, here’s what I hoped to accomplish in May:

1) Lose the cruise weight. Um, nope. I lost a pound! So, I mean, at least the scale dipped down and not up for me. There’s that, right? It was really hard to get back on track after the cruise, especially since I was sick for two weeks. Ah, well.

2) Make a file on my computer with my mom and stepdad’s engagement and wedding pictures. What do you think? NOPE.

3) Email two therapists. I bookmarked the name of one therapist. Does that count?

4) Write 1,500 words a week in my novel. COMPLETE. The one goal I managed to accomplish this month. Every time I hit a rough spot in my novel, I want to throw in the towel, and that happened more than a few times this month. But having this tiny goal helped me to continue to move along in my novel. It’s all about that shitty first draft, you know?

5) Go on a spending freeze for the rest of May. I forgot I even set this goal, oops. I don’t think my spending was out of control in May – I think I spent maybe $5 on books and bought a $5 makeup item. It’s really my food budget that I need to figure out more than anything else. I spend so much money on food!

6) Take my car in for a checkup. Okay, I didn’t complete this goal either, but I did that on purpose, ha. My car still has a good 500 miles before it’s due for an oil change, so I’m pushing this goal off until July.

*hangs head in shame* So it wasn’t a super successful month for me. Womp. Let’s try again with my June goals:

1) Lose 5 lbs. I know, I know. I shouldn’t set an arbitrary weight loss number but instead focus on making better, healthier choices. Alas, I like having a number to strive for so I’m going to spend June chasing after a 5-lb weight loss.

2) Make a file on my computer with my mom and stepdad’s engagement and wedding pictures. Well, maybe the sixth month of this being on my goals list will be the charm. Maybe!

3) Make a therapy appointment. I really hope I don’t have to transfer this goal to my July list. Say a prayer for me, will ya?

4) Write 2,000 words a week in my novel. I’m upping my novel writing game this month by 500 words. I can knock out 1,500 during my weekly writing date with M., and then I’m going to try to find time during the week to knock out the other 500 words. I really need to get myself on a better writing schedule with my novel, so this is my small way of implementing that.

5) Spend less than $150 on eating out/entertainment. This is going to be difficult, but I really need to be careful about my spending habits when it comes to eating out/entertainment. I just really like drive-thrus and Pub subs and not having to cook my own meals. But I also like saving money and not carrying a balance on my credit card so, Steph, you gotta make some sacrifices.

6) Spend an afternoon at my pool. Let’s round out this list with an easy, fun goal for June: going to the pool. I want to spend an afternoon just dipping in and out of the water, reading a good book, and enjoying the sunshine. Fingers crossed it’ll be kinda quiet; the last time I was there, there was a huge group of people having some kind of raucous party. And yes, I am 85 years old, why do you ask?

Do you have any goals for June?

Linking up with Feel Good, Dress Better’s Small Goals linkup. 

Categories: Goals

Six Goals for May

Happy Monday, friends! I am back from my oh-so-fun cruise. I have vacation recaps planned for the end of this week and next week, so stay tuned! I cannot wait to talk about all the fun stuff my mom and I did on our cruise because it was surely one for the record books.

But before we get into that, I thought I’d talk about my monthly goals. After four months of my current goal setup (Biting Off My Yearly Goals and Nagging Tasks), I’ve decided to take a step back and instead join up with Feel Good, Dress Better’s Small Goals (thanks to Kate for suggesting this linkup to me!) monthly challenge. My plan is to make four goals that are directly related to my yearly goals, as well as two smaller “tasks” to accomplish.

But first, let’s take a look at how I did in April:

Biting Off My Yearly Goals

> Go to a movie alone. Not complete. This goal didn’t end up working out this month. I’m not much of a movie buff, so I have to really want to see a movie in theaters and there wasn’t anything that called to me in April.

> Make an appointment with a therapist. Not complete. I continue to put off this goal, ahh. I think it’s just the fact that I’m kinda overwhelmed by the process of finding the right therapist since my last attempt at therapy didn’t go well. But I know that therapy is exactly what I need and I have to stop resisting the steps to get there.

> Buy a book about the Enneagram. Not complete. Oops, once again, I forgot about this goal.

> Make a file on my computer compiling all of my mom’s engagement and wedding photos. Not complete. Ugh. Will this wedding album ever get made?

> Write 3,000 words a week. Not complete. I really tried to make this goal, but writing 3,000 words a week is not a small feat! I’m averaging about 1,500 words per week.

Nagging Tasks

> Schedule a carpet cleaning. Complete. Finally, finally, finally! It literally took the cleaners all of 20 minutes to apply the cleaning solution and clean my carpet (I only have carpet in my bedroom and my bed takes up most of the space). The carpet looks perfect now… you’d never know my elderly dog spent the last year of his life peeing all over the carpet. 😉

> Figure out my nighttime routine. Complete-ish. I started going to bed at a more decent hour last month (closer to 9:30 than 11, at least), but I could still be better about implementing a nighttime routine. It’s a work in progress.

> Hang up my mirror. Complete. Yay!

> Mail my donation to Locks of Love. Complete. Such a simple goal, but one I kept putting off because it took a bunch of little steps: finding an envelope, addressing the envelope, driving to the post office, etc. And, damn, just writing that sentence made me realize that I am incredibly lazy. Ha.

> Clean my oven. Complete. Oh, my oven looks so beautiful now and I’m so glad I finally got this task accomplished! The stuff I used was potent, though, and I had to be super careful about how I removed the cleaner after letting it sit in the oven (I wore gloves and covered the floor with towels). It also made my apartment smell the first few times I used my oven after cleaning it (and, of course, made me freak out that I’m going to ingest some of the chemicals and die because I’m really logical most of the time). I think I’m going try something more natural the next time I clean the oven – I hear baking soda and water does the trick, too!

So, that was a fun experiment, huh? I didn’t complete any of my goals related to my yearly intentions but got all of my nagging tasks accomplished. Interesting!

Six Goals for May

1) Lose the cruise weight. And then some. I was doing pretty well with my weight loss efforts, closing in on that first 10 lbs gone, but then I kinda fell apart right before my cruise. I don’t have any good reasoning for it, other than I just didn’t want to eat my same ole healthy meals anymore. So, I stepped on the scale yesterday morning to find out that I need to lose 3 lbs to get back to my pre-cruise weight. It’s not as bad as I imagined, so I’m pretty certain I can lose the cruise weight and hopefully another few pounds along with it!

2) Make a file on my computer with my mom and stepdad’s engagement and wedding pictures. Step one: download all of the photos off my camera, step two: organize those photos into files, step three: download the engagement/wedding photos my mom has on her computer, step four: organize those photos into a file. Okay, there. I have a plan! I can do this!

3) Email two therapists. Back on the list for the fifth month in a row. Let’s see if I can actually schedule a therapy appointment this month.

4) Write 1,500 words a week in my novel. Every month, I make a goal for writing 3,000 words a week and I never make it happen. It’s not even like it would take me a while to write 3,000 words – maybe three hours tops. But yet, it eludes me. So, this month, I’m going to take it easy on myself and only try to write 1,500 words a week, which I often do during my weekly writing dates with my friend M.

5) Go on a spending freeze for the rest of May. Vacation always means that my credit card takes a bit of a beating, which I don’t regret, but it means I need to be diligent about paying it off and not spending unnecessarily. This means no more one-click Amazon orders or Target trips or takeout orders. Time to buckle down with my spending!

6) Take my car in for a checkup. My car is due for an oil change soon, and I think I’m going to take her into the dealership so they can do a full systems check to see if there is anything I need to replace or repair. She’s got 110,000 miles on her now, so I’m crossing my fingers that there isn’t anything major to replace!

What’s something you’d like to accomplish in May?

Categories: Goals

Yearly Goals: Quarter 1 Update

Happy Friday, friends! It’s been a doozy of a week for me… the kind of week where I realize how much I cannot hang with a busy life. I like my weeknights free and my weekends fairly plan-less, but that’s not the case for me this week. I’m just thankful that this is not the norm for me – doing it every now and then is okay, but I am not cut out for doing it long-term. Kudos to everyone who enjoys a busy life – it’s not for me.

Since we just entered the second quarter of the year on Sunday, I figured it was time to write an update on how I’m progressing with my yearly goals. I’m actually pretty happy with my progress and I think it’s due to the fact that I consistently make smaller goals to attack the larger ones I’ve set.

Let’s take a look:

  •  Lose 30 lbs

In progress. I’ve lost 8 lbs so far this year and I’m really happy with that progress, especially since I only started getting serious about eating better and exercising more near the end of February. I’m feeling good about this goal and that I’ll finally end the year weighing less than when I started it.

  • Complete the Whole30

No progress made. I’m kinda wondering if I even want to do this goal anymore, but I also think it would be a good experiment to figure out what my food sensitivities are. I’m thinking of doing this in August or September, though.

  • Cut out soda completely

In progress. I haven’t cut it out completely, but I have seriously cut down on how much soda I drink. When I made this goal, I was having at least one can of Dr. Pepper a day, but a few days a week, I was having more than that. Now I’m only drinking it 2-3 times a week and when I do drink it, it gives me an upset stomach. Hopefully, with my next update, I’ll be able to say I’ve cut it out completely.

  • Buy a new couch

No progress made. I’m hoping to do this sometime in May or June. I need to sell my sectional (I love it, but it’s just way too big for my small apartment) and then I’m going to use the money made from that sale to put toward a new couch. I went to a furniture store earlier in the year to get a feel for what I could expect to pay for a new couch, and I’m just so excited to make this happen and open up my living room more.

  • Complete a yearly shopping ban where I don’t buy any new clothes

Well, I can say that I won’t be able to mark this complete, as I bought a pair of black skinny jeans to wear to work since my current ones were getting too tight. But that’s actually the only piece of clothing I’ve bought so far this year, and I’ve also donated three other pieces of clothing. So, I may not be perfect with this one, but I’m still going to do my best to not buy too many new clothes (I think it might be better for me to adopt the “one in and one out” rule rather than a complete ban).

  • Stop using plastic bags at the grocery store, Target, etc.

In progress. I’m not doing great with this goal, although I’m trying. I could do better and I really want to track how many times I use reusable bags vs plastic bags when shopping this next quarter to get an idea of how many plastic bags I use.

  • Read 100 books, including four classics

In progress. Ah, the easiest goal I ever set for myself. I’m already at 39 books (remember, I read a lot of romance. This is not 39 dense, heavy reads). I also read my first classic for the year (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith) and in quarter two, I think I’m going to tackle 1984 by George Orwell.

  • Give up all dating apps and websites for the entire year

In progress. Yep! I’ve successfully spent the first quarter of 2018 without succumbing to the desire to re-download Tinder to my phone. After Dutch died, I was super lonely and suddenly had more free time than I knew what to do with, so I contemplated adding dating apps back to my phone but I knew I wasn’t in the right state of mind. And I’m still not. There are definitely some mental roadblocks that I need to work out in therapy because I feel like I’m not really in a healthy place for dating.

  • Try something new once a month (i.e., kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, yoga, etc.)

No progress made. I forgot about this goal, but I’m recommitting myself to it in the second quarter of the year.

  • Start therapy

No progress made. In January, I sent some emails to potential therapists, but they either didn’t accept insurance or never responded back. And then Dutch died and my world collapsed and I just couldn’t deal with finding a therapist. But I know I need therapy more than ever, so I’m really hoping that I can say I did this the next time I update you guys on my yearly goals.

  • Finish my novel

In progress. I’m behind on this goal (only about 6,000 words into my novel), but I’m working toward it every week and that’s all that matters.

  • Figure out what my Enneagram type is

No progress made. I need to buy a book and get cracking on this one!

  • Travel to one new state

No progress made. This is a goal I’ll most likely complete in quarter three of 2018.

  • Exercise at least three times a week, every week in 2018

In progress. I haven’t exercised three times a week every week, but I have done it most weeks. Progress, not perfection, right?

  • Create a wedding album for my mom and stepdad

No progress made. This really shouldn’t be such a hard goal to complete, but it feels so massive that even crossing off a small step is overwhelming to me. Ahh!

Out of the 15 goals I set, I’m consciously making progress on 9 of them and I’m really happy about that! I never set yearly goals with the intention of crossing each and everyone off, but just working toward something is what matters most.

Here’s what I want to focus on in quarter two:

  • Continue eating well and exercising so I can continue losing weight
  • Sell my sectional and buy a new couch
  • Keep track of how many plastic bags I use vs how many times I use reusable bags
  • Try three new things, one a month
  • Find a therapist
  • Consistently work on my novel every week, even if I only write 1,000 words – progress is progress
  • Buy a book on the Enneagram and read it cover to cover
  • Work on my mom and stepdad’s wedding album by sorting through the pictures I have and choosing the website I want to use for the photo book

Whew! That feels like a lot, but it encompasses three months and I’ll be using this as a guide as I plan out my monthly goals. I think it should set me up for a successful Q2.

How are you doing on your yearly goals?

Categories: Goals

Monthly Goals | April 2018

I published my February monthly goals just a few days before Dutch passed, so obviously, all of the goals I set fell to the back burner. February (and some of March, if I’m being honest) was about survival for me and just getting through each day. In March, I started feeling as if I could tackle some of the goals I set and I started working toward them, but not pushing myself too hard.

And now it’s April (well, almost!) and I’m feeling good. I still miss Dutch desperately, but the rawness of losing him has dissipated somewhat and I feel ready for what lies ahead of me. So here we go with goal-setting once again, and it feels really good to get back to it.

Let’s start off by recapping how I did with my February/March goals:

Biting Off My Yearly Goals

> Track food on MyFitnessPal. Complete. I’m not using MFP to track my food, but an entirely different system that is working much better for my needs and has led to great results so far. I’m working on a post about it, so stay tuned!

> No soda at work, no soda on Mondays. Complete. Oh, hell yeah. The solution to my soda addiction? LaCroix. It took me a while to get used to the taste because no, it’s not the same as soda (gotta love that HFCS). But once I got used to the taste, there was no turning back. By adding sparkling water to my diet, I’m down to just 1-2 sodas a week.

> Buy a book about the Enneagram. Not complete. Oops. Forgot about this one.

> Make a file on my computer compiling all of my mom’s engagement and wedding photos. Not complete. Geez. Why am I so resistant to this goal? I just need to download the damn photos!

> Write 500 words every day. Not complete. Lolololololol. Even committing to writing 500 words daily is just too much for me right now.

Nagging Tasks

> Schedule a carpet cleaning. Not complete. I wish I could schedule this online because damn, I hate calling companies to request quotes. But it really needs to get done because my carpet needs a serious deep clean.

> Frame the painting I bought in Puerto Rico and hang it up. Complete. Fiiiiiiinally! I did it! It’s hanging up in my bedroom and it’s perfect.

> Organize my kitchen. Complete. I did this after Dutch died because I needed to get rid of his treats, food, medication, etc. and it prompted a complete kitchen reorganization. So, I’m glad I did this, but wish it wasn’t for such a heartbreaking reason.

> Find a place to recycle. Complete. My mom’s apartment complex has this nifty little recycling center, so I’m using it as my recycling center. Ha. It’s the perfect setup for me. Now, if only my apartment complex could figure this out but, alas, they don’t even have an online system for rent payments and maintenance requests, so I think I’m expecting too much here.

> Clean my oven. Not complete. Oops. Forgot about this one.

So, I accomplished 5 of the 10 goals I set and honestly, I’m happy with that. These past two months have been a doozy for me to say the least, so even attempting these goals is a step in the right direction. Plus, two of those goals were massive accomplishments (tracking my food and cutting out soda), so gold stars for me.

Here’s what I’d like to accomplish in April:

Biting Off My Yearly Goals

> Go to a movie alone (goal: try something new once a month)

> Make an appointment with a therapist (goal: start therapy)

> Buy a book about the Enneagram (goal: figure out my Enneagram type)

> Make a file on my computer compiling all of my mom’s engagement and wedding photos (goal: make a wedding album for my mom and stepdad)

> Write 3,000 words a week (goal: finish my novel)

Nagging Tasks

> Schedule a carpet cleaning (back on the list and hoping third time’s a charm)

> Figure out my nighttime routine (because going to bed at 11 p.m. is no bueno for this girl)

> Hang up my mirror (I bought a full-size mirror over a month ago and have yet to hang it up… obviously, I need this accountability)

> Mail my donation to Locks of Love (um, oops, I probably should do this, huh?)

> Clean my oven (back on the list… April’s the month of spring cleaning, right?)

What’s something – big or small – that you’d like to accomplish in April?

Categories: Goals

Monthly Goals | February 2018

Has January felt like it was 74 days long to anyone else? It’s been a weird start to the year. Not in a bad way, just in… a weird way. But I’m excited to mark this month complete because I feel like I checked off some important goals and I’m looking forward to what February will bring.

Here’s how I did on my January goals:

Biting Off My Yearly Goals

> Start tracking my food on MyFitnessPal. Not complete. I attempted to track my food, but I wasn’t consistent with it. I know that tracking what I eat is the key to losing weight (I like to pretend it’s not, but it is), so I just need to get into a routine of tracking no matter what.

> Drink only water and coffee while at work. Complete. This was a great success and it was actually a very easy goal to complete because I gave myself simple, attainable parameters.

> Email two therapists. Complete. The first therapist I emailed doesn’t accept insurance and I’m waiting to hear back from the second one that I emailed earlier this week.

> Write 10,000 words in my novel. Not complete. I only wrote 3,500 words in January, which puts me behind in my goal of finishing my novel this year.

> Make a file on my computer compiling all of my mom’s engagement and wedding photos. Not complete. Oops, just completely forgot about this goal!

Nagging Tasks

> Schedule a carpet cleaning. Not complete. Ugh, I filled out an online form on a carpet cleaning company’s website and they never contacted me back. Argh… I’m going to have to actually call them on the phone and I just keep putting it off.

> Put together my bookshelf. Complete. I’m really happy to have two bookshelves in my room now. It was much needed because I’m using the second one as my “TBR” shelf, of books that I own but haven’t read yet. It’s not too full because I only recently started buying books (after years of only buying e-books if I wasn’t borrowing the book from my library).

> Sell my coffee table. Complete. I listed it on Craigslist on a Saturday and by Sunday morning, I was meeting up with the buyer to hand it off. It was so easy and I’m enjoying the extra space in my living room. I hope that selling my sectional is just as easy!

> Donate my old laptop. Complete. I recently learned that Goodwill now accepts old laptops and I had a drop-off to do there anyway, so it was a quick and painless task.

> Frame the painting I bought in Puerto Rico and hang it up. Not complete. I actually completely forgot I had this as a goal. I need to figure out the frame size I need and just get this done. That painting is too gorgeous to be sitting on a shelf.

So, I accomplished 5 out of the 10 goals I set and I’m ok with that number. It’s only half of the goals, but half is better than nothing, right? Here’s what I want to get done in February:

Biting Off My Yearly Goals

> Track food on MyFitnessPal (goal: lose 30 lbs)

> No soda at work, no soda on Mondays (goal: cut out soda completely)

> Buy a book about the Enneagram (goal: figure out my Enneagram type)

> Make a file on my computer compiling all of my mom’s engagement and wedding photos (goal: make a wedding album for my mom and stepdad)

> Write 500 words every day (goal: finish my novel)

Nagging Tasks

> Schedule a carpet cleaning (back on the list it goes… here’s hoping I will have freshly cleaned carpet by the end of the month)

> Frame the painting I bought in Puerto Rico and hang it up (back on the list… no more procrastinating)

> Organize my kitchen (in December, I went crazy organizing my bathroom and walk-in closet, and February is when my kitchen gets the organization overhaul it desperately needs)

> Find a place to recycle (I don’t recycle and that has got to change)

> Clean my oven (I’ve lived in my apartment for nearly a year and a half… that oven needs to be cleaned)

What’s one goal, big or small, that you’d like to accomplish in February?