Hi, friends! I know a lot of people felt like January was the slowest month ever, but it went by at warp speed for me. Maybe because I was so busy at work and every weekend was crazy? February looks to be the same, so I’m sure it’s going to speed by just like January did. Whew.
I’ve got some new goals for February to talk about but first, let’s discuss my January goals!
January Goals
1) Drink water every day. Mostly complete. I marked off 25/31 days on the calendar I’m using to keep track of the healthy goals I’m setting each month, and I consider that a huge win. I’ve found that as long as I have my Yeti tumbler filled with ice water, I have no problem drinking water. But it’s just that simple act of going into the kitchen, getting my tumbler, filling it with ice, and then adding water… I find myself resistant to doing it. (Or maybe I’m just being lazy?) It’s the oddest thing. But I’m getting better at just doing it even when I don’t want to, and soon, it will become an autopilot thing. Just have to make it a daily habit.
2) Write 10,000 words in my novel. I wrote 8,300 words so I didn’t meet my goal but I’m still proud of myself for writing this month! It’s been tremendously difficult to get back into a normal pace of writing after NaNoWriMo.
3) Work out 13 times. I worked out 11 times so I didn’t meet my goal for this one, either. Womp! I need to get back into the habit of early morning workouts because I’ve been going after work (around 6pm) and it’s so crowded and I feel intimidated by all the super-fit people. Early mornings are so much better for me.
4) Read Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump’s America. I started this book but abandoned it after 30 pages because I just didn’t feel like going through all the emotions of the 2016 election anymore. I wish I had read it when it was first published (early in 2017) because I think it would have brought me great comfort then.
5) Start meditating. I didn’t do this every day but most days! I found this really great 30-day meditation challenge on YouTube that was super helpful and made me really fall in love with meditating. I meditate at night, right before bed, and it is such a peaceful way to end the day.
6) Switch over my files. I didn’t do this, oops.
7) Schedule an eye appointment. I had an eye appointment in early January, where it was confirmed that my eyesight got slightly worse as did my astigmatism.
8) Cancel my “checking plus” account. I forgot about this!
9) Play with the cats for at least 15 minutes every day. Not every day, but I did get into a better routine of playing with them at night. They love it, I love it, a win-win all-around!
10) Check my bank account every night. Yes! I’m in a much better habit of checking my bank account nightly and keeping tabs on it. Yay!
Goals for February
1) Eat one serving of fruit every day. This is my February’s health challenge. Real talk: I can’t remember the last time I ate fruit. Eeks. I’m so picky when it comes to food, especially so when it comes to fruit, and there are so many varieties that I won’t eat. However, there are a good number of fruits that I love: strawberries, pineapple, grapes, oranges, kiwi, peaches, watermelon, etc. That’s plenty to choose from and I need to eat at least a serving every day.
2) Write 12,000 words in my novel. I have to “make up” for the 2,000 words I didn’t write in January, so in February, it’s up to 12,000 words. Eeks. Let’s hope I can buckle down and do it!
3) Work out 14 times. By the end of February, I need to hit 25 workouts to stay on track for my 150 workout goal. That means I need to log 14 workouts. (I’ve already crossed two off the list!)
4) Read The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. February’s challenge for the Unread Shelf reading challenge is to read a book that’s been gifted to you. A little more than six months ago, a dear friend gave me this book. She was leaving to spend a year traveling the world with her partner and decided to gift her friends some of her most-loved books (she had to give up the majority of her belongings since she wouldn’t have a home base for a while). I’m excited to dive into a book that was so lovingly selected for me!
5) Participate in a mud run. My “do something new every month” goal for February, and I have to thank my mom for this one. She found this mud run a few months ago and begged me to do it with her. After I saw that it wasn’t going to be super difficult and hardcore, I agreed. It will be an interesting time, that’s for sure!
6) Order Warby Parker try-ons. I have a brand-new prescription for glasses and I think it’s time to upgrade my current frames into something else. I’m thinking of trying out the Warby Parker try-on program (you pick out five glasses from their site, they send them to you to “try on” for five days, and then you send them back in a prepaid package).
7) Schedule vet checkups for the girls. It’s been about a year (a little longer for Eloise) since the girls have been to the vet, and I just got an email that Lila is due for shots (which means Eloise is, too). Wish me luck in this endeavor. I have no idea how Lila is going to handle being at the vet—she barely even lets me hold her!
8) Develop a nighttime routine. This is my biggest goal for February. I really need to develop a nighttime routine that works, one that relaxes me and where I can go to bed at a decent time (ideally, 9:30pm). I’ve already started planning it out, but implementing it is going to be an interesting task.
9) Cancel checking plus. Well, I didn’t do this in January like I was supposed to, so back on the list it goes for February.
10) Switch over my files. Another task that I didn’t complete in January. This really shouldn’t take me longer than 15 minutes, but I keep procrastinating about it!
What’s something you’d like to do in February?
You have access to some really great oranges in Florida – or I imagine you do since they are grown there! So hopefully you can accomplish your fruit goal! You could give yourself permission to buy cut up fruit if it will help you achieve this goal? I love fruit but I need it to be prepped (cut up) in order for me to eat it. I kind of like cutting up fruit so I am pretty good about doing it on the weekend but sometimes I don’t enjoy doing it but tell myself that week-day Lisa will be glad to have it for snacks!
I took Feb 14th off as I am going to a concert the night before so know I will be pretty tired the next day. On that day off, I’d like to bring the cushions on our window seat to an upholstery company to have them re-upholstered. I also want to buy some paint samples to put on our walls so we can figure out what color to go with. We’d like to get the interior painted this spring or summer.
I am glad you are getting in to the habit of drinking more water! I totally hear you on being too lazy to fill up your bottle. That is how I get at work, since the water machine is on the other side of the floor. I am my most dehydrated on my face days. Ha ha ha.
That’s exciting you are doing a mud run! Please please please be careful with your ankles 🙂 Did they tell you to bring old shoes to do it, and to plan to leave them there? LOL.
Hmm, in February, I’d like to stick to running 4-5x a week!
Aw, I love the story behind your copy of The Bean Trees!
Can’t wait to hear about the mud run and the glasses try on!
You had quite the list of goals in January, so I think you did pretty well!
I’ve started tracking my water intake this year and actually “tracking it” (as in, putting it in my app whenever I drink a glas/tumbler/bottle) has been oddly motivating. I am trying to hit at least 60 oz a day and I’ve been going to the restroom like a crazy lady LOL
What does ‘switch over my files’ mean?