Lifestyle Goals: Monthly Review

At the start of May I decided to change the way I want to monitor my short and medium term goals, choosing to adopt Bless' approach in my search for a balanced life; this is Bless' explanation:

 .... my monthly balanced life goals are similar to the spokes of a wheel, with the length of each spoke representing my satisfaction in that area of my life, from 1 to 10, with 1 being most dissatisfied and 10 being most satisfied.  Ideally, all the spokes are of equal length and the wheel will roll along smoothly.  If the spokes are of unequal lengths, then, the resulting wheel will be lop-sided and wobbly.  My current ratings for each segment are shown within the parentheses.  

So this is my first update using this new approach, stating my goals and the bullet-pointed task list that I'll tackle in June to help achieve this goal. Last month's ratings and tasks are shown in black and the start of the current month is shown in yellow.

Home (8)(8.5)

Goal: To maintain a clean and tidy home

Tasks for May:

• dispose of the extra furniture - COMPLETED
• place 10 adverts for items I want to sell - COMPLETED, sold 7 items so far
• daily tasks = washing up and tidying living room before going up to bed - 75% SUCCESS RATE, but didn't feel well enough to complete this every day

Tasks for June:

• place advert to sell the doll's house and accessories 
• sort through remaining boxes and donate/dispose/sell contents as appropriate
• participate in Bless' book decluttering challenge
• daily tasks = washing up and tidying living room before going up to bed

Garden (6)(7.5)

Goal: To keep the garden tidy and presentable

Tasks for May:

• clear and tidy all the pots on the patio - COMPLETED
• weed one area, plant bulbs and/or shrubs, and lay membrane/gravel to help with future weed control - COMPLETED for one area but have nearly finished the entire garden
• water garden regularly during sunny spells - COMPLETED

Tasks for June:

• finish laying the membrane and gravel in the back garden
• get the new plants in the ground 
• stay on top of weeding/dead heading as necessary
• water garden regularly during sunny spells

Finance (9)(10)

Goal: To remain completely debt free 

Tasks for May:

• reassess my budget (now that I have additional income from the teaching) - COMPLETED
• reduce my food bill - ACHIEVED, mainly by taking the trouble to shop around and taking advantage of yellow sticker bargains
• increase monthly savings - ACHIEVED, a new savings plan is up and running

Tasks for June:

• continue to monitor spending and reduce expenditure where possible

Community, friends and family (7)(7.5)

Goal: To take an active role in my local community, and actively seek to strengthen bonds with family and friends

Tasks for May:

• continue voluntary work with the youth band - ACHIEVED
• arrange to meet up with Julie and Lauren during the month - ACHIEVED, went to see Rocketman at the cinema
• arrange to spend time with Little Misses C and H - FAILED, my fault entirely as I didn't arrange anything

Tasks for June:

• continue voluntary work with the youth band
• arrange to meet up with Julie and Lauren during the month 
• arrange to spend time with Little Misses C and H 

Emotional Well Being (7)(8)

Goal: To improve my emotional well being and avoid bouts of depression

Tasks for May:

• actively correct any negative thoughts - 60% SUCCESSFUL, but has made a big difference to my mood
• keep a gratitude diary listing three reasons to be grateful every day - ACHIEVED

Tasks for June:

• actively correct any negative thoughts
• list three reasons to be grateful every day

Health and Fitness (6)(7)

Goal: To increase my levels of fitness and become more active, leading to an improvement in my general health

Tasks for May:

• keep all medical appointments in May - ACHIEVED
• aim for 7,000 daily steps by the end of the month - FAILED!
• 8 hours sleep every night, getting up before 7:30 am every day - 90% SUCCESSFUL

Tasks for June:

• keep all medical appointments in June
• aim for a daily physical activity if I feel up to it (subject to the results of the blood tests and doctor's advice)
• 8 hours sleep every night

Healthy Eating (7)(8)

Goal: To eat sensibly and healthily, leading to weight loss and increased energy levels

Tasks for May:

• meal planning - IN PROGRESS, but finding it to be a chore so I need to approach this task differently
• drinking 8 glasses of water a day - FAILED, too much too soon so I need to build up to this 
• restrict the number of takeaways and meals out - ACHIEVED, only went out for planned meals with friends

Tasks for June:

• meal planning, concentrating on SW friendly lunches 
• drinking 4 glasses of water a day
• restrict the number of takeaways and meals out

Live Life to the Full (7)(7.5)

Goal: To live life now, in the moment, and stop putting things off. Decide what I want to achieve and do it!

Tasks for May:

• continue to develop my 5 year plan - IN PROGRESS
• arrange holiday and day trips for the remainder of 2019 - COMPLETED
• daily piano practice - 50% SUCCESSFUL

Tasks for June:

• continue to develop my 5 year plan
• daily piano practice
• arrange two diary dates for every week in June to meet with friends

I'm pleased with the progress I've made and it's easy to see the areas/tasks where I need to make more effort to get things as I'd like them to be. I'm hoping that, health and weather permitting, I can get the remainder of the big tasks in my home and in the garden completed and off the list at long last ... it may be optimistic and the end of July is probably more realistic but completing home and garden marks the next stage of my life so ... bring on June!