When I stopped (voluntarily) working in July, I had a plan.
- Keep the alarm clock set for 6 a.m.
- Walk every morning.
- Make Mass one weekday in addition to Sunday.
- Cook fresh food for dinner every night (not Friday or Saturday, I'm not that crazy!)
- Start a daily blog.
- Set up and give art classes for September.
- Babysit two days a week for my daughter and be available for my other two grandchildren if needed.
- Restart a weekly food basket for the poor through my church.
- Arrange for a Christmas 'giving tree' for a needy parish also through my church.
- Reconnect with my friends for breakfast every once in a while.
- Get necessary preventative doctor appointments made and kept.
- Wean myself off diet coke.
- Organize the family photos.
- Clean the basement, garage and attic so that they're usable.
Well, here are the results and I disappointed myself. Of the fourteen items listed I really only completed about half.
- I did set the clock for 6 a.m. but somehow I seem to be sleeping later and later.
- The daily walk...ha!
- Weekday Mass? I finally got there this week but it was rewarding and made me feel good so hopefully it'll become a more routine practice.
- Cooking fresh? I did do that using my vegetables from my small garden supplemented of course from the supermarket.
- The daily blog? Very good at completing that but I need to figure out how to get more readers!
- I set up art classes...got 6-7 calls but no one actually signed up. I keep reminding myself that Rome wasn't built in a day.
- Babysitting goal has been met...but the twins got a set of stitches each on my watch...ouch! But I do walk when I watch them so there's that at least!
- I finally asked and got permission for the food basket in church. I need to make a flyer and get that started officially. But I just did that this week.
- Ditto for the Christmas giving tree.
- Breakfast with friends? Of course I did that!
- Doctor's appointments were made and kept...just a few more TK.
- Still trying to kick the diet coke habit. Some days are better than others but I'm not there yet.
- The family photo project has barely begun.
- Lastly, basement, garage and attic cleaning got started...and is far from completed. It was a hot summer!
One thing I noticed was how often I made a to-do list and either left it home or just didn't refer to it at all during the day. I think better list keeping is the key to successful goal reaching and I intend to do better at that. Making my lists for the next day in the evening and tucking it into my pocketbook right after might be a good idea.
Accomplishing goals is important to me and I guess I look back on this summer as a learning experience. Will update from time to time mosyly to kep a check on myself but also to hopefully inspire you to do the same. In the meantime, here are some inspirational quotes about keeping busy and setting goals:
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”— Henry David Thoreau
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” —Dale Carnegie
“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”—Confucius
“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans” —John Lennon
“The busy man is troubled with but one devil; the idle man by a thousand” —Spanish Proverb
“When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.”—Theodore Roosevelt
Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road.—Dag Hammarskjold
You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures.
—Charles C. Noble
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.
—Sydney Smith
My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we win out
—Ronald Reagan
Over the weekend: I try Plum Gallette
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