I just recently posted our 14 in 2014 and our 101 in 1001, which I now need to start breaking down to monthly goals, and of course, weekly and daily. I’ve been listing 10 goals for the past couple months, but this month we are going to take it easy. I know we’ll be exhausted after our cross country trip back from Atlanta and have our hands full with our upcoming trip to the Philippines. We’ll just have to go strong next month. :)
Last month’s highlights on the blog:
- Our 101 goals in 1001 days
- 25 gift ideas for travelers
- 9 things to do at Joshua Tree National Park
- 9 ways to give back during the holidays (gratitude journey week 13)
- Why I’m grateful for 2013 (gratitude journey week 14)
- Our Christmas wish list and confessions of a bad gift receiver
- Should I stay or should I go to the Philippines?
Books I read in December:
- Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
- Lean In – Sheryl Sandberg
- A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
- The Last Lecture – Randy Pausch
How we did on monthly goals for December:
Let’s start with the good. I read four books and met my 2013 reading goal on goodreads and finished Rosetta Stone Level 3 for Italian (Now, I need to find myself an italian friend). I skyped with my family once a week or visited since we were in Atlanta over the holidays. I also completed all the insanity workouts, blogged three times a week, cooked at least two new recipes (blogged one), and sent out all but one christmas card.
Now for the uncompleted goals: Because of all the travel, we slacked off on working out 3 times a week, and we didn’t even go once to the farmer’s market. It might be an unreasonable goal for now, but might make a comeback later this year. I also caved and bought myself one item while holiday shopping (which I won’t mention because I also bought the same thing for a friend and have yet to mail it). To my defense, I had been looking for it for almost two years, and finally stumbled upon it while holiday shopping. What are the chances! I know it goes against my 100 days of less challenge, too (there will be an update coming soon). Boooo. I’m failing as a minimalist, but it’s not going to stop me from trying again.
What’s something new you want to try this month / year? What are you currently reading?
Instead of blogging weekly goals, I decided to do them monthly because it’s been working better for me. Feel free to check out some of my previous weekly wishes and monthly goals clicking the banner below:
Esther, I love making goals (though I’m a little trash on KEEPING goals :) but I always like taking a step back to see what I want to accomplish in the coming year. Ever since I got a tablet, my reading has taken off since it’s so much easier to carry a bunch of books around. I’m reading Year of Wonders: A novel of the plague right now and it’s a nice change of pace from my usual YA dystopic guilty pleasure reads :)
Regardless of whether I get them all done, I just love making the lists. haha Have you read about SMART goals? (http://topachievement.com/smart.html) That’s what usually has been helping me set better goals that work for me.
I love having a kindle. I know people talk about missing the feel of the pages between your fingers, but I just love the portability of it.. especially when you’re out and about! :D I couldn’t stop reading those YA dystopian novels last year. I’m trying to find good mix of other books too. Just put Year of Wonders in my queue.. I also have 200 books in the queue. Might need to start narrowing that down. haha
I am so with you on the portability thing :) Also, I’ll have to check out SMART goals. I need to get some focus in my life!
:) yeah let me know if it helps at all!
Considering how well you’re doing with everything else, you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself about buying 1 (ONE!) item.
Btw, looove that photo you used. And I really, truly wish I was going with you to Tacloban.
Thanks, girl! Next time I might need to give myself some padding and say it’s okay to buy up to X amount of items.. even though with every item I buy, I’m tempted to buy one for myself.. one for me, one for you. hahaha
the bird photo is one from the Galapagos. i believe it was a yellow warbler. I wish you were coming with me too!
I have decided to keep a gratitude jar this year. I’m excited to be able to go through it at the end of the year. :) Good luck with your wishes.
Thank you! I think it’s such a great idea… although I haven’t started putting anything in mine, I imagine that it will fill my life with more gratitude and abundance. :)
AH I love your goals. And you totally killed it in December. Minimalism = challenging. But also worth it, I’m finding.
I’m reading Daring Greatly by Brene Brown right now. So far, such a great book.
Have a great month!
Thank you, Erika! Do you have any guidelines you’re using on your journey to minimalism. It’s so much harder than I thought.. now that I’m documenting the process. Also, thanks for the book recommendation. I just put it in my queue on goodreads. :)
I love that your goals are simple, sweet, & attainable! I hope you achieve everything & more! :)
Thanks, Holly! Thank you for reading & commenting. Wishing you the best on your goals as well!
I love the way you set goals and it’s inspiring me this year as I seek to be more organized, intentional and just better at tracking my progress. I’m going to be doing a combination of monthly/weekly goals (and quarterly ones, too). Anyway, I like that you’re taking into account what’ll be on your plate this upcoming month and adjusting for that. YAY! Also it sounds like last month was pretty good! Way to go or BUENO (trying to speak Italian??)
Thanks, Erika! :) It’s buono in italian, and bueno in spanish.. but i’m trying to learn spanish now so it’s fitting! are you going to blog all three combinations? :)
Oh, hehe :) And yeah, I plan on blogging those goals. I didn’t do monthly ones since I had posted so recently about my goals for 2014, but come February I will be busting those out! :)
I love your January goals! Good luck :)
Thanks, girl! :)
We received a grateful jar as a wedding gift and it’s one of our favorite things! I’m hoping to try out a few (or at least one!) new baking recipe this month too! I did a 15 in 2014 but I like the idea of breaking down my goals further into monthly goals!
:) What a thoughtful gift. It’s always good to have something to remember all the good times by. Do you have any new baking recipes in mind?