Hello, friends! Welcome back to another installment of my monthly goals. In case you’re new here, I set myself three goals each month with the intention to uplift my mind, body, and soul in some way.
I’d like to take a moment (just sit right there) to mention the fact that it already feels like fall in Seattle. The trees are turning red and yellow here, and I feel like I need to dig my boots out of storage. But in all honesty, I ain’t even mad about it because I’m a sucker for fall weather.
August was a pretty relaxed and chilled-out month because I had a much-needed break from my grad school classes, and I took a week off work to spend time with my sister who came to visit from New Hampshire.
Of course, I never truly feel like I’ve had a break because I have an overactive mind, but I’m feeling at least a little more prepared to deal with how busy the next few months will be with new classes and work events.
August Goals Recap
My first goal in August was to stop snoozing my alarm, and let’s just say that I’m about to give up on this goal for good and call it a day. I think in all reality I just need to stop trying to wake up at the crack of dawn and let myself sleep for the amount of time that my body really needs.
My second goal was to spend less time on my phone. I downloaded the Moment app to track how much time I spend on my phone, and HOLY CRAP. Even with the app reminding me to put my phone down, I still managed to average about five hours on my phone every day. FIVE HOURS. What am I doing with my life? Needless to say, this month was more of a wake-up call than actual goal-achieving, but at least I’m fully aware now that this is something I desperately need to work on.
My third goal was to have my blog posts scheduled a week ahead of time. I didn’t necessarily get them written a week before I was planning to publish them, but I started working on my posts a lot earlier than I usually do which meant I published a new post each week this month instead of the sporadic posting that tends to happen. Woot!
My Goals for September
1. Daily affirmation
I’ve come to recognize that I the kind of person who highly values stability and security. Sometimes I feel like a walking paradox because I also LOVE switching things up and avoiding routine, but deep down, I do crave the feeling of being stable (both within myself and with my surroundings). Because I’ve been feeling a little unstable lately, I want to start repeating a daily affirmation in the morning along the lines of ‘I am stable and secure. I have everything I need.’
2. Elevated Movement
My friend Les recently launched a six-week online bootcamp, and I pretty much signed up the instant she posted about it. I have always struggled with consistency when it comes to exercising, and I think having someone to hold me accountable and kick my butt will be super beneficial for me. Check it out if you’re interested – there are still a few spots open!
3. Create a free mindfulness guide
My plan is to put together a free mini-guide all about mindfulness practices and how to start your own. I’m thinking it will be a little workbook that you can download and follow along with if you want to start a practice. If all goes to plan, it will be up at the end of this month! Let me know if that’s something you’re interested in :)
What are your goals for September? Leave a comment below!
23 Responses
First of all I want to say I absolutely love this type of posts, I think it’s really important to set ourselves challenges and goals so that we can improve who we are everyday! I really want to start doing it every month as well and I feel that if I turned it into a blog series, I’d probably actually stick to it so that is something I’ll have to consider :)
I feel the same way you do when it comes to routines and feeling safe and secure. I believe that it is important to not fall on the same routine for too long but I also can’t move things way too much because then I feel completely lost!
Loved this post & I’d love to see the mini-guide, I think it would be so interesting! :) xx
abittersweetdiary.blogspot.pt
P.S: You wrote “August Goals” on the sub-title, love!
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who struggles with routines and stability! I know it’s all about finding balance, but sometimes that’s easier said that done haha
Thanks for the heads up about the sub-title! Clearly I’m not ready for September yet ;)
Catherine!!! When I saw you signed up for EM I got SO SO SO excited – thank you so much for the shoutout, and I can’t wait to workout with you (and I promise I still definitely want to hit up than aerial yoga class when my schedule isn’t so cray).
Also, I relate to your recap of your August goals so much. I have been fighting the same battle with the snooze butten for what feels like forever now. I was also so inspired by you and Afford Anything to start tracking my time and oy…that has been an eye opener for sure.
Lastly, I cannot wait for your mindfulness guide. I don’t necessarily have any specific topics to request at the moment, but I know it will be amazing. You totally have a knack for sharing what I need to hear before I even know I need to hear it. Enjoy the last of your time off from school!
Les! I am so excited for EM. I even wrote the start date in my planner haha! And I know you’re crazy busy but we’ll get to that yoga class eventually!
I feel like I always complain that there aren’t enough hours in the day, but then I actually track what I’m doing and realize I spend half my day on my phone and youtube! Argh haha. I know it’s impossible/not healthy to do work every waking hour of the day, but I also see that I really can’t complain about not having enough time.
Love your comments about the alarm clock/waking up early/hitting snooze. The pressure we put on ourselves to work against our body to get that early morning time that the blogs tell us to get is insane! Of course we should be waking up in time so we’re not stressed and sprinting out the door (90% of my life) but if your body needs sleep, let it sleep, I say! Plus, I struggle with it since I live with someone else, and that always affects my schedule in one way or another.
I might need to check out that phone tracker…but I’m a little afraid of what I’d discover!
I agree! I know it’s important to spend the morning being mindful and reflective instead of rushing all over the place, but I do feel the pressure (mainly from blogs and books) to wake up early and squeeze in a million activities. I’m still trying to figure out whether I’m actually a morning person or not haha. Sometimes I think I’m a morning person and night owl, but not a day time person LOL.
I can relate to the need to sleep as much as and when you need AND the busy mind AND the being a walking paradox! I’m probably 20 years older than you and think it’s very good that you are aware of it at such a young age. Stability doesn’t need to be like a boring cage. For me, spending largish chuncks of time being outside and active (walk to work or on errands, riding my bicyle, veggie garden and hula hoop) works very well to fight the ruminating. Added benefit is that I don’t need to work out #yay :-)
My goals are
– installing the moments app and finally limiting my ipad screen time (thanks for that one!)
– keep cooking healthy meals and no food waste
– reading (on old fashioned paper!) every day
I love what you said about stability not needing to be a boring cage, Anne! Sometimes I think I’m so put off by the idea of routine that I won’t even let myself try one, but maybe it’s actually what I really need in life. Love your goals for the month, especially no food waste!
I love how real your goal posts are!
I’m scared to download the Moments app lol.
I love the idea the workbook! I would love to see that come to fruition!
Thanks so much, Jenny! <3
Just downloaded the Moment app and I’m curious (slightly scared) to know how much time I waste on my phone.
I recently bought the Find Your Happy book and if you have never heard about it, it has 365 daily mantras so you can practice affirmations. I’ve been reading it every morning or night and I find it so inspiring and eye opening, definitely recommend if you’re looking for something similar!
Looking forward to that mindfulness guide :) x
I actually have a sample on my kindle of Find Your Happy and I love it! I need to just buy the actual book already haha. Apparently the average user spends about two hours on their phone according to Moment…uhhh that makes me so embarrassed haha. Five hours is way too long.
Please re-edit the part of your article sub-heading that says “MY GOALS FOR AUGUST” to “..SEPTEMBER”……….A very inspiring article i must confess…pls keep the good work…..I look forward to October’s MIND BODY SOUL GOALS.
Thanks for the heads up, Kennedy! Just fixed it :)
Yes to a mindful guide!
Glad to hear you’re interested, Joanna! Stay tuned :)
I’m intrigued by the moment app – I may have to give it a go in the future to see how much time I’m actually spending on my phone! I also tried to plan my blog posts ahead of time and so far it’s going well. My next goal is to actually write them ahead of time.
Martha | Martha Dahhling
Moment is definitely an eye-opening app haha. I’m glad to hear that planning posts ahead of time is going well! I’ve always tried to do that and then changed my mind on what I wanted to post, but lately I’ve found that planning is the only way I can actually get things done.
Good luck with writing them ahead of time! Small chunks at a time is what’s been working for me :)
I would download the guide. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, I’m really intrested in the mini mindfulness guide..:) Could you please write a post about how you do that? :)
P.S. Amazing post♥
Not long found your blog and loving every post! A mini mindfulness guide sounds amazing! xx
I would love a little mindfulness guide! Maybe something we could print out as well if we wanted? It’s nice to have something physical to carry around. A daily affirmation is a wonderful goal. I need to find the right one for me. Happy September!
Danielle @ afloat on a full sea
Hi there! So glad I discovered your blog! :)
And the mindfulness guide sounds really interesting! That’s something that I usually don’t think about as a way to start the day so I would love to see what you come up with.
Minimalist Gal