Hello, friends! I hope everyone had a splendid weekend; mine was filled with fall festivities. I carved a pumpkin, watched The Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time ever (!), and watched football. We’ve had nice weather here in Florida lately, but I’m still wearing shorts and flip-flops, so anytime the weather wants to dip 10-15 degrees cooler, I am A-OK with that.
Today, I wanted to take the time to review the third quarter of 2015. I’ve done it for the past two quarters and I think it’s something I definitely want to continue. I love to reflect on my life, to discuss the high points and low points, and to set goals, so a personal quarterly review is right up my alley.
What went well in Q3?
- My mom married Robert in a simple ceremony by the water in Downtown St. Petersburg.
- I had a fun girl’s night out with two friends where we went to a local comedy club to see Joe Machi do his stand-up routine.
- I took a break from blogging and social media for a whole month, which completely refreshed me.
- I moved to a beautiful new apartment in Tampa with my best friend. Our apartment is so lovely and brings me so much joy.
- My nephew turned seven and we celebrated with a fun-filled afternoon at an arcade center.
- Dutch stayed healthy for an entire quarter (worth noting because in Q1, he pinched a nerve in his back and in Q2, he dealt with a UTI for a month). Very grateful for a healthy pup!
- I started writing fiction again and meeting up with a writing friend once a week to spend a few hours on our novels.
What was challenging about Q3?
- I experienced intense, nearly debilitating anxiety in relation to my move. Big change like a move is a trigger for my anxiety, so I was in the trenches in the few weeks.
- I made zero progress on my healthy living goals. I haven’t been exercising, barely drinking water, and I’m eating way too many sweets. It’s frustrating.
- I wanted to be better at managing my money, but I’m still spending more than I should and saving very little.
If I could do Q3 over again, what would I do better?
- I would make time for exercise and not let little excuses get in the way of my health.
- I would have been kinder to myself when I was in the transitional period, and not have been such a bully about having a tough time with the move.
- I would have reached out to friends more and made more social plans.
What did I want to accomplish in Q3?
- I wanted to move to South Tampa, which I did.
- I wanted to start therapy, which I did not.
- I wanted to lose 15 lbs, which I did not. (I also didn’t gain any weight, so silver lining? Meh.)
- I wanted to take a break from social media and blogging, which I did.
- I wanted to write more fiction, which I did.
What do I want to accomplish in Q4?
- I want to get a tattoo (there are murmurings about the ladies in my family to get tattoos commemorating my grandma).
- I want to participate in The Holiday Council 2015 and invest the time in the homework.
- I want to bake my first-ever pie to bring to Thanksgiving dinner.
- I want to win NaNoWriMo 2015.
- I want to consistently exercise 3-4 times a week and consistently drink 32 oz of water per day.
What would make Q4 a successful quarter for me?
- Losing weight – my goal would be to lose 7 lbs to get me under a certain number that has been plaguing me for this whole year.
- Spending money wisely during Christmas – my family tends to go all out, so I want this Christmas to be a frugal one with an emphasis placed on time together rather than tons of presents.
- Investing the time in my writing – I don’t want to be lazy about NaNoWriMo, but to be truly dedicated to completing this challenge.
What’s one thing – big or small! – you accomplished in Q3? What would you like to accomplish in Q4?
Big thing for me? Signing up for – and sticking with- a new workout/meal plan. I needed to reset after the girls left and so I did in August. It’s been great for me.
What I want to accomplish the rest of this year? Read my 62 books (should be easy as I’m on 51 right now and have some trips coming up where I’ll have time to read!) for the year; maaayyybbeee pick up journaling again; make a decision on my blog (keep/not keep).
I really like this style of a recap! I might have to borrow it in the future!
A couple of goals I met in Q3 were changing jobs (which was huge) and finishing the read harder challenge. In Q4 my goal is to keep establishing myself at work. I am traveling the next couple of weeks for work which is exhausting but a great way to build a reputation and gain confidence from others at work. Besides that I want to do a better job of carving out me time each month. I didn’t do a good job of this in October.
You’re doing great – keep it up my friend!
A big thing I accomplished? Still exclusively pumping. I was just looking at my pump log app last night – I didn’t find it/start using it until August so I don’t have recorded what I pumped for the first three months or so of P’s life, but according to my app, since the beginning of August I have had 493 pumps, which is the equivalent to almost TEN days. Yeah. I’d say that’s something accomplished!
For the last quarter I’m committed to do Holiday Council too! I’ve kind of half-assed it the past couple years because of where I’ve been emotionally/mentally, so I’m ready to do the work and dive in this year!
I love the idea of a quarterly review! What an awesome way to check in with yourself throughout the year.
My Q3 was full of good stuff. I managed to pull off working full time + going to school full time, finished my degree, got promoted to director of my organization, and moved into a nicer apartment in an area that suits my lifestyle much better than our previous (but still lovely) neighbourhood. In Q4 I would like to pull off a few big projects at work, get my sleep schedule back on track (working on it!), and pay off our credit card debt.
Love this review idea!
An accomplishment for me in this quarter would have to be affixing a normal sleep schedule at last! I used to have a lot of troubles sleeping and would sleep for sporadic amounts of time due to a wonky work schedule (early, early mornings, some late nights), and it took awhile to adjust to a typical work schedule (9-5), but in the last quarter sleeping followed suit.
In Q4 I would like to achieve obtaining another full-time job with typical hours and that pays enough to live off of. Even though it’s only been a short time, I do not like being unemployed. I would also like to be wholeheartedly dedicated to saving money each pay cheque.
Getting a tattoo to commemorate your grandma would be so wonderful!! I agree with Lisa, splitting up the year into quarters is a fun way to do it. Quarter 3 has been really really busy for me because Q 3&4 of every year are my busiest times at work. My life kind of gets taken over by work and I’m in this weird limbo period because on one hand I LOVE the excitement, buzz and frantic pace of this time of year at my workplace but on the other hand I also feel like I lose myself a little bit personally because when I do have downtime I basically want to lay on the couch and binge watch netflix I’m so tired and burnt out. So I don’t really find/make the time to do a lot of the other things I love. I’m hoping to find a better balance of those two things in Q4!!