Mind, Body, & Soul Goals for April 2016

Hello, lovely people! Welcome back to another installment of my monthly goals. In case you’re new here, I set myself three goals for each month with the intention to uplift my mind, body, and soul in some way.

First of all, let me just apologize for being so MIA these past few months. Grad school has been kicking my butt, but I’m determined to make The Blissful Mind one of my top priorities from now on because I have so many post ideas and collaborations that I want to make happen. Most of all, I miss talking to all of you lovely people!

I swear March lasted about a day or maybe I slept through the whole thing because I honestly can’t believe it’s April already. That’s absolute madness. Did March actually happen? I kinda don’t think it did. But anywayyy…I’m excited to head into April with some new goals and the mindset of making the most of every little moment. Before we get to that, let’s start with a recap of my March goals:

MARCH GOALS RECAP

1. Keep my phone turned off until 12pm on weekdays
This was a lofty goal for sure, and I think it was a little too lofty. I think the main reason it was too ambitious is because I wanted to use my phone in the morning for listening to music and podcasts, which meant I needed to have it turned on. Instead, what I realized worked the best for minimizing distractions in the morning was to just keep my phone on do not disturb mode and put it out of sight in my bag while I was at my desk.

2. Go for a walk every day without my phone
Again, this was tricky because sometimes I really want to listen to music or snap a picture while I was out walking so I found myself bringing my phone sometimes, but I did go for a walk almost every single day which felt amazing. When I didn’t bring my phone, I really enjoyed just being able to pay attention to all of the sights and sounds going on around me. I highly recommend it!

3. Create & stick to a school schedule
I definitely got into the groove of things with school this month, even if it was still a manic scramble of trying to get everything done. It’s a lot of work, yo. But I’ve found that going to a coffee shop on a Sunday and reviewing everything that’s due for the week and prioritizing what needs to be done first has been super helpful for me.

MY GOALS FOR APRIL

1. Read every night before bed
One of my goals for the year is to read 15 books, and so far I’ve read about 1. My usual night routine lately has been to stay up on my laptop and then just go to bed without giving myself enough time to wind down. I want to start reading every single night, even if it’s just a few pages, so that I can work towards my larger goal and also to calm down before bed in the best way possible.

2. Run 40 miles by April 30
I’ve been on a running kick lately since the weather has been so pleasant in Seattle lately, so I thought I’d challenge myself to run a certain amount of miles before the end of the month. I’m a really slow runner (and I actually kind of hate it), but I’m pretty confident that I can clock that many miles by April 30!

3. Listen more actively
I’ve always considered myself to be a good listener, but recently I’ve learned more about active listening and I’ve basically realized that I’m constantly thinking of what I’m going to say next whenever someone else is talking. I’m never fully in the moment or I’m just thinking about how what they’re saying relates to or affects me. Instead, I want to focus on being genuinely interested in what other people are saying and avoid listening on just a surface level.

What are your goals for April? Leave a comment below!