Stephany Writes

Categories: Goals

2011 Resolutions: October Recap

On January 1, I made a list of 10 resolutions for me to complete in the next twelve months. I’m not a hater of resolutions by any means and I actually quite like them. (Which, um, is why I made my own. Captain Obvious over here.) I’ve decided to make a “25 Before 25” list starting the day after my birthday, which means the goals I haven’t been able to complete (or are still in progress) will be added to that list.

Goals I’ve completed…

  • Graduate from college. It still feels surreal that I’m a college graduate. But I am.
  • Begin working a full-time job, utilizing my degree. Check! I remember saying in my last resolutions check-in post how disappointed I would be if I was still on the job hunt. I feel so blessed to have found a job and am still pretty happy with what I am doing. I’m not exactly sure marketing is IT for me, but it’s a good place to learn and grow.
  • Travel. I didn’t do a whole lot of travel, but I went out of the country for the first time in my life so I’m counting this as a success!

Goals that will be added to my “25 Before 25” list…

  • Get to my goal weight. My weight loss has been pitiful this year. Just like years prior. One day I’ll get it, right?
  • Pay off all my credit cards. I have successfully paid off one, am very close to paying off the second, and will finish payments in February for the last one. Once that is done, I will be credit card debt-free! And then I get to work on my medical bills for the stitches I got last September. Yay.
  • Complete Project 365.
  • Join a book club. Just need to put my social anxiety aside and do this. I know I’ll be happier when I do.
  • Begin therapy. I’m not sure what kind of therapy my insurance covers (if any), but it’s something I desperately need to start. My anxiety has been a little out of control lately.

Goals that will be completed before my birthday…

  • Read 60 books. I’m currently sitting pretty at 54 books and I’m quite sure I’ll be able to mark this goal off by November 28th. Woo! Now I just need to come up with a different book goal.

Goals that won’t be completed, nor added to the new list…

  • Run a half-marathon. No. Just… no.

I need a new book challenge for my 24th year (well, my 25th. But let’s say 24th because it makes more sense.) Anyone have any ideas for me?

The winner of the training ball from PlanetGear.com is Missa Lee! Missa Lee, email coming your way today!

Categories: Goals

August

August. Oh, August! I am so ready for this month. So many changes happening and all of them for the better. My life is going to look drastically different one month from today and I’m excited, but also slightly scared, for what’s coming up. July was a month mainly used for applying for jobs and trying to get my health back on track. I set 5 goals for myself:

1. Reorganize my room. Eh, somewhat. My room is a huge work-in-progress and for the majority of the month, we were in a holding pattern, deciding whether or not we were going to move. (Our rent is only going up by $20.) We’re staying here for one more year so I really need to get my room together. It’s a mess, currently, but I’m confident it will look more put together very soon. (First step: buying a dresser.)

2. Drink 1 liter of water a day. FAIL! Huge fail! While I have been consistently drinking water every day (which is a huge win) but drinking a whole liter every day is a big goal for me. I need to start smaller and focus more on when I’m drinking water, not so much how much. I don’t drink a lot by nature, so it’s more necessary for me to focus more on drinking more water than anything else (especially soda).

3. Start writing again. Another big fail. I did a little writing this month, but not much and definitely not at the level I need to be writing if I ever want to become a published novelist. I don’t know if I’ve just lost my motivation or inspiration, but my writing has stalled a lot this year.

4. Make a budget and stick to it. I didn’t even attempt this goal in July. But, honestly, there wasn’t much need with the money I’m making right now. But! I am starting a new job in August (have I mentioned it enough yet?!) and will be contributing to the bills much, much more. So I’m excited to actually make a budget and learn to play with my finances.

5. Apply, apply, apply to jobs. Oh, success. A big, big success. Maybe you didn’t hear? I was offered a job and START IN SIX DAYS? Oh, my God. Crazy, crazy! In the best possible way. (And yay, for the first time in 3 months, this goal won’t be on my list!)

August is going to be an incredibly busy month, but an incredibly awesome one. My goals are as follows: to start working and embrace my new role with gusto, complete VEDA as best I can, track my food every single day (even if I’m over my limit for the week), begin boot camp at my gym and try not to die, and finally, make a budget and stick to it.

What fun things do you have planned for August?

Categories: Goals

Resolutions 2011 Check-In #2

Resolutions completed (1/10)

Graduate from college. I made this goal knowing it would be complete in May, but still under a cloud of doubt that something could happen. I could fail a class, my credits might not be in order, anything that could cause me to fail was planted in my mind. Last week, I finally received my diploma. For the first time in who knows how many years, I’m free from school. It feels weird, like I should be gearing up for another semester in August. But mostly, it feels good and relaxing and freeing. Graduate school is still a possibility but I’m going to enjoy a few school-free years before I even think about taking the GRE.

Resolutions I’m on track to completing (5/10)

Get to my goal weight of 115 – 120 lbs. While it would be nice to reach this milestone before the end of the year, I’m also going to be satisfied if I’m anywhere close to it (within 10 pounds or so). I don’t want to put a strict time limit on my weight loss, but gosh darn it, I want to conquer this beast. Changing your entire mindset about healthy living is hard, yo.

Read 60 books. Currently sitting at 35 books read, with 3 more to be finished very soon. Which means I am killing my goal. I know now that reading 100 books in one year was a stretch, but I’m hoping to make it to 75-80 before the year is out.

Pay off all my credit cards. Very close to paying one off completely (my lowest balance), on track to pay off the middle bill, and have successfully paid 5 of the 12 payments needed to get my last (and biggest) credit card paid off. I am right on track with this one! Yay!

Travel. Well, there was my cruise, as if I didn’t talk about that enough. That satisfied my travel bug, cruising through the Carribbean and hitting the Cayman Islands and Mexico. I’m hoping to add on more trips once I get a job, visiting faraway friends and places I’ve only seen in pictures. Hopefully, I can start a travel fund and begin exploring my country and world soon!

Complete Project 365. I won’t have this fully completed by the end of the year, but I’m hoping to keep at it until I finish! I’m also blogging about my pictures on Saturdays to keep my motivation intact. So far, so good.

Resolutions at a standstill (4/10)

Begin working at a full-time job, utilizing my degree. If this goal isn’t on my completed list the next time I do a check-in, I will lose it.

Join a book club. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m letting my social anxiety/laziness control me with this.

Run a half-marathon. This is a goal I know won’t be completed, since I have no interest in completing it. Funny how much things can change in 6 months!

Begin therapy. I had one, fairly informal, therapy session with a good family friend. It was relaxing and it lead me to have a lot of insight into my dad and my future. But I still want to see someone more regularly, because I still have a tendency to hide my emotions and pretend things are fine and dandy when they are not. I still need to learn how to live with social anxiety – successfully. And I still need to move on from my dad and learn how to forgive him.

***

All in all, I think I’m doing well at this stage of the year! I think the biggest goals I want to focus on for these next few months are losing weight and finding a full-time job. And maybe joining that book club. Maybe.

Categories: Goals

July Goals

1. Keep applying to jobs and follow up. Yes and a somewhat yes. I did apply for lots of jobs and there were a few I’ve followed up on, making sure my resume has been received and finding out about the interviewing process. Towards the end of the month, I decided I needed to take more action with my job searching and stop using the websites everyone is using. I’m looking at Craigslist and other media-centric job search engines.

2. Get back to eating healthy. Success! I am back on Weight Watchers and following the plan like I should. And now that I have eTools, I think it’s going to be even easier and more motivating to keep within my points range. I’m really hoping July is a month for crazy-good weight loss!

3. Exercise 5-6 times a week. Another big check mark for this one! And I can thank my new gym membership for getting me back on the exercise train — and loving it. I let my body rest on Saturdays but every other day of the week, I’m at the gym for at least an hour doing anything from a fitness class to regular ole cardio. Buying that membership was the best thing I ever did. (Plus, at $60 a month, there is no way I wouldn’t use it to its full advantage. That’s too much money to be throwing away!)

4. Make the most of my weekends. This goal was half-won. The first half of June, I killed it. One Saturday was spent at Busch Gardens, another spent at a water park with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. It finally felt like I was doing more with my weekends and it felt good. But then I slipped back into my ways, living small and keeping to myself. My goal is to keep at this goal, making plans – simple as they may be – every weekend. I want to be more social and this is one small step to doing that.

5. Tidy up my blog. Uh, no. If anything, I made it worse. Sigh. Lots of work to do this month on my blog.

Goals for July: reorganize my room (it’s a mess right now, things shoved in different areas of the room with no real design feel), drink 1 liter of water a day, start writing again, make a budget and stick to it, and, of course, apply, apply, apply to jobs!

Categories: Goals

June

June marks a whole lotta nuthin’ for me. It’s nice to have a month free of obligations and nothing pressing to get to, but there’s also a sense of sadness that all the fun stuff of 2011 is over and now it’s time to hit to job hunt hard. I think it’s imperative I find a job for everyone’s sake. You really don’t want me complaining for another two months now, do you?

My goals for May were simple and achievable:

1. Graduate from college: Big fat checkmark for this one! My commencement ceremony was one of the highlights of my life. I was in a bit of a fog as I walked across the stage, mostly afraid I would trip or look stupid, but I just remember how happy I was that night. Happy that this part of my life was over and happy that I had finally achieved this monster goal. The fact that I’m not preparing for classes or trying to figure out how to coincide my work schedule with my school schedule makes me insanely joyful. No more school – ever! (Unless I decide to go to graduate school, which is still a decision I have yet to make.)

2. Enjoy my cruise. Oh, yes. I most definitely did. My mantra for the cruise was to enjoy the moment. I didn’t want to think about leaving the ship or going back to work or anything but what was happening at that moment. It was the best vacation I’ve ever gone on and I think I’m hooked on cruises now!

3. Apply to 3 jobs a day. Ehhh? I think I applied to somewhere around 15-20 jobs during the month of May, none yielding any positive results. Boo hiss. Discouragement is rampant but I’m also trying to settle myself down and just focus on applying my little heart out until the opportunity shows itself. While my current job isn’t ideal, it does give me some income and keeps me busy so I’m not sitting around like a bum. So there’s that.

4. Restart Project 365. Success! Even if I did start it on the first day of my cruise. I’m hoping to find it easier to just take pictures this go round, documenting the little areas of my life. I know that when I’m not seeking this goal, my camera gets thrown in a drawer and forgotten about so it’s a good way for me to keep snapping photos, no matter how lame they may be.

5. Take Dutch on two long walks a week. Let’s not even talk about this. Sorry, little guy.

As for my goals for June, it’s time to get back on the wagon! I want to keep applying for jobs daily and follow up on the ones I apply for when I can, get back to eating healthy, exercise 5-6 times a week, make the most of my weekends, and tidy up my blog.

Here’s to a rockin’ June! Who has fun plans for this upcoming month?