The second quarter of 2017 was good to me, I must say. I traveled to Puerto Rico with my mom where we sipped piña coladas on the beach, toured an ancient fort, hiked to a waterfall, and rode horses through a rainforest. I finally got the book tattoo that I’ve been craving for years. I joined a gym and I’ve become a crazy gym rat (and I love it). I participated in Sportsfest with a bunch of coworkers. And I started taking anti-anxiety meds, which have been life-changing, to say the least.
Of course, with the good comes the bad, like getting majorly sick in April, dealing with some not-so-fun adulting things, having lots of bouts of loneliness, and Dutch’s nighttime restlessness and overall senility.
But the good vastly outweighs the bad in this case, and I can assuredly say that this last quarter was a fantastic one for me. I am so pleased with 2017 so far. It’s been good to me.
At the beginning of every quarter, I like to review my yearly goals and make sure I’m on pace to achieve them (and if not, to revise them or make a plan for getting on track), as well as set a handful of goals to work toward over the next three months. It’s a check-in of sorts.
So, here is my yearly goals update:
1) Quit fast food and soda – not complete. I have been somewhat successful at cutting out fast food from my diet, but it’s still something I’m having on a semi-regular basis. Soda is always a work in progress, but I’m down to having one a day.
2) Read four “classic” novels – in progress. I’ve read The Handmaid’s Tale and A Separate Peace. I have a friend’s copy of Jane Eyre and I think I’m going to give that a try very soon. Fingers crossed I can get through it!
3) Save $1,000 in an emergency fund – not complete. Ugh, I don’t want to talk about it. Quarter two was a spendy, spendy quarter with a trip to Puerto Rico, booking a flight, and not bringing in extra money from freelancing.
4) Start seeing a therapist – not complete. I need to make this a priority in quarter three.
5) Write my novel – in progress. I’m about 40,000 words into my novel, so I’m nearly at the halfway mark. I’m really having struggles with the novel right now and resistance toward finishing it, but I’m trying to tell myself just to write and I can try to make sense of it all later.
6) Get a tattoo – complete! Yay, I got it done. Finally!
***
Here’s what I hope to accomplish in quarter three:
1) Give up fast food completely.
2) Have two soda-free days every week.
3) Put $50 in my savings account every month.
4) Make an appointment with a therapist.
5) Write 3,000 words every week.
6) Get some form of activity every day and hit 6,000 steps on my Fitbit daily.
7) Pay off my credit card and freeze all unnecessary spending (i.e., buying clothes or going to Starbucks for breakfast or eating out if it doesn’t involve socializing) until I do.
8) Put together my mom’s wedding album.
9) Go on some dates.
10) Run a 5k.
Image credit: Pineapple Supply Co.
Whoa, you have a long list of goals for the 3rd quarter! Good luck, lady! That’s great that the 2nd quarter was so awesome for you (aside from some not so great things). 2017 has been amazing for me as well, especially Q2 since there was so much fun and celebration between my wedding showers, bach party, wedding, and honeymoon! I’m appreciating that things will be quieter in the 2nd half of the year, though!
Love this! Hope you get to Jane Eyre! Have you seen a movie version of it? If not, I suggest doing that!
Love your goals… especially the dating and credit card ones! I am working on the credit cards too. I feel like once that debt is gone, I will have so much extra money to save or spend as I please! I never had credit card debt really, until recently when I’ve gone overboard with shopping. Oops.
These check-ins are such a great way to measure progress throughout the year (and make sure your goals don’t get forgotten – haha)! I’m glad the 2nd quarter was so good to you!
I’ve been putting off finding a therapist to deal with my anxiety for a while now (ugh). I did recently get a gym membership though, so that’s something!
Long time reader, first time commenter 🙂
I was wondering if your employer allows you to have multiple direct deposits? Mine allows you to direct deposit in up to three separate accounts. I have a certain amount that I direct deposit to my savings and the balance to my checking. It is so nice to set it and forget it. It also helps that my savings account is in a separate bank entirely so I can’t electronically transfer to withdrawal, I have to physically leave work and drive across town during business hours if I want my savings. I read that you should always increase saving when you get a raise at work so you don’t “feel it”–it really works!
I’ll run a 5k with you if you pick which one you want!
Quarterly check ins are such a good idea 🙂
That is a great list – all the best for achieving your goals.