Oy. September was quite the month for me. The first week was spent packing and planning for my move, my mood excited but also cautious. The last three weeks have been an adjustment period and boy, has it been challenging. I knew it would be, but man, it’s been overwhelming at times. The good news is, how I feel today is better than how I felt two weeks ago and I know it’s only going to get better and better.
This place is slowly starting to feel like home.
This new life is slowly starting to feel comfortable.
The hard stuff always gives way to the good stuff.
September wasn’t only about my move, though. It also included celebrating my brother’s birthday, celebrating my nephew’s seventh (!) birthday, getting some new responsibilities at work, fun girls’ nights, pool days, and a successful pneumonectomy for my grandma. It was a big month, is what I’m saying.
I planned some goals for September, but I’ll be honest: the only one I accomplished was organizing my photographs. (Which was fun and such an interesting walk down memory lane!)
I did not make a budget for the rest of the year, mostly because it felt very overwhelming and there were certain bills I wouldn’t know the due date nor amount due until the first one came in (which ended up being just a few days ago!) So I’ve been in a waiting game, and that goal just didn’t get accomplished.
Tracking my food and exercising six days a week also did not happen. I was busy and then I was sad, and when I’m busy and sad, healthy living falls to the wayside immediately. That’s just how it is.
Lastly, no Busch Gardens trips or 15-minute morning brain dumps happened because… life.
So, what’s on the docket for October? I decided to set three easy goals:
First, I want to begin exercising again
Exercising has fallen by the wayside big time in my life. Exercising does make me happy (even if I moan and groan all the way to the gym) and I know the endorphins are just what I need to feel more like myself again. Plus, I have an incredibly cool gym at the new place that includes spin bikes! I honestly have zero excuses here.
Second, I want to spend 15 minutes every day working on my fiction novel
It’s just a little bit of time, and it doesn’t matter when I do it, but I want to get back into a daily practice of writing fiction. My story is coming along, but only writing 1,000-1,500 words a week means I’ll be working on my novel for a long, long time if I don’t get serious about writing!
Third, I want to keep a careful budget of everything I spend
This may entail starting a free trial of You Need a Budget (I’ve been really wanting to try this software out, but I worry I won’t use it as much as I should!), or it may simply entail using a spreadsheet and being more mindful of my spending and where my money is going.
And there you have it. Three simple, easy-to-achieve goals for October. I don’t have much planned for this month and that feels good. I need slow and simple and easy. I’m hoping to carve a pumpkin, see some movies, spend some time at the pool, and leave the rest of it up in the air.
What’s one thing you’d like to accomplish in October?
Ah! Sorry to hear you’ve been having such a rough month/transition. I know each day will get a little better for you and I’m so proud of you for handling this with such grace. You’re amazing.
September was a pretty rough month for me, as well. There were so many good things, but there was definitely a situation that went sour that has been hanging over my head a bit. Hoping October will be a nice fresh start!
xox
Good luck with your goals this month! I think that setting 3 is the right amount! Hopefully you’ll be able to attack them now that the move is behind you. And hopefully the endorphins from exercising will help with some of the sad feelings you’ve been having!
My goal for October is to run a strong marathon and then after that I want to enjoy all of the fun things I have planned!!
YNAB — DO IT!!! If you start the trial start NOW since tomorrow is the first of the month! It’s SO much easier to start right away at the first of the month. Then download the mobile app and you can track what you spend. Seriously YNAB changed my and my husbands life when it comes to budgeting. Manually entering our spending is the only way we’ve been able to stick with things.
I love the line about bad stuff giving way to the good stuff- so true!
Love your three goals. I don’t know if I have any goals for October? Once we are done with our trip to WA I want to really focus on the house- lots of little things need to get done (purging of things we don’t use, donating/selling, getting rid of papers that we don’t need, getting all of our important docs in one place, etc.) and then spending some of those fall nights grilling out and sitting on the back patio. And reading with the windows open because, well, I love it.
We keep a spreadsheet for our budget and it helps us. I know our grocery bill has been higher since I’ve started the new cleaner eating: I’m going through so much yogurt, turkey, chicken and whole wheat stuff it’s insane but I guess it’s for my health so it’s ok? That’s what I’m telling myself, anyway 🙂
Great post and love your goals! I wish you the best of luck with accomplishing them.
As for me, one of my goals is nearing completion (it transitioned from September into this month) – organizing my house! All it needs now is a good Fall clean and some tools/furniture to help maintain said organization.
To accomplish: writing down (and finding ways to manage the nervousness) the speech I will be saying at my sister’s two-weeks-away wedding, motivating my boyfriend to organize his overflowing collections and keep them that way, and keep at it with healthy eating and exercise.
Happy October!
Those goals sound totally manageable, which is the important part! Budgeting is hard. I track my spending in an Excel sheet – since I use my credit card for almost everything, I keep track in case anything weird pops up on my statement. It’s annoying sometimes, but helps me see what I spend and where I can cut back (like buying lunch at Quick Chek every other day, whoops).
I’m trying to build more time in my schedule for me, which is my biggest struggle. I have books to read, I need exercise (and feel better when I do it), and I have craft projects and decorating I’d like to do for the apartment. That’s my main goal, because I’m so bad at following through so I just need to focus on that.