July 2016 Goals

Can someone please tell me how on earth it is July 5 already? Really, I would like to know. Last month I shared three of my personal goals with you all here on the blog, and I wanted to check in to let you know how they went and what my focus areas were for this month. 

Here were my goals for the month of June:

1. Meditate three times per week: Not to sound cocky, but I killed it on this one. I am a huge creature of habit, so once I set meditation into my morning routine it became automatic. I meditated about five times per week throughout the month, and I could tell a huge difference in how I felt on the days I did not meditate. When I did meditate, I felt much more calm and positive. I dealt with some challenging stuff last month, and felt like I was able to handle it in stride on the days I did meditate. On the days that I did not, I definitely had a harder time keeping myself calm. I noticed I am really good about meditating during the week, but definitely need to get better about incorporating meditation into my weekends. This is because I don’t stick to a set routine on the weekends. While I like my relaxed weekends and don’t want to get stuck into a firm routine on these days, I definitely want to incorporate meditation into my weekends. I caught myself acting like a real Negative Nancy a couple of times on these days, so meditation definitely shouldn’t be just a weekday activity for me. Living and learning!

2. Publish an ebook: I’m going to take my cockiness from the meditation goal back because this one was a big fat fail. Not only did I not publish an ebook. I really didn’t even start. I could list out a ton of excuses as to why this didn’t happen, but it boils down to a few simple things. 1) I didn’t break down the steps to accomplish this goal, and didn’t incorporate these steps into my to-do list and 2) I’m really not that excited about the topic I originally had in mind. I was going to write an ebook about a topic I get questions and comments about all the time (photography) but my heart just wasn’t in it. I felt like there are so many resources already out there (many of which I used to develop my own style) and I felt like I didn’t have anything to say that hasn’t already been said. I would love to publish an ebook at some point, but I just don’t think a photography ebook is what I want to do right now. 

3. Write every day: If I had to give myself a letter grade on this goal, I would give myself a B+. I wrote most days, usually in the mornings while writing down what I was grateful for. A few times each week I did write a few pieces that could be used for future blog posts, and several times throughout the month I just wrote about thoughts that I had that won’t be published or shared. I definitely wrote more than usual and felt like I got into a good writing groove. I didn’t write every single day, but I would say I achieved what I was hoping to achieve from this goal. 

Feeling-Based Goal Setting

So before we dive into my July goals, I want to talk a little more about goal setting and want to share a personal update. If you follow me on snapchat you may have seen that I recently started working as a part-time educator at lululemon! I have only been working this job for a few weeks, but so far I love it. I have great co-workers, and have generally had a blast every time I have gone to work. So far my favorite thing about working at lululemon has been the emphasis on goal-setting for everyone who works there. During my new employee on-boarding, I was introduced to a whole new way of setting goals that I am really excited to put into action. 

As long as I could remember, I have always set achievement-based goals. I set goals based off of arbitrary things I wanted to do, or (full transparency) set goals to achieve things hoping that others would see me a certain way if I accomplished them. I’m learning that isn’t the most effective way to set a goal. Lululemon has challenged me to set goals based off of how I want to feel when I achieve it. Hashtag, duh. Brilliant right? If a goal is set as an arbitrary task (i.e.: the photography ebook) then yes, it is really easy to blow it off because I don’t really care to achieve it. But if I can connect a goal to a positive feeling I want to have (like the calm, positive vibes I get from meditation), you bet your bottom dollar I’m going to try my best to achieve that goal so I can have that feeling. Doesn’t that make you want to set some feeling-based goals right now?Yes yes yes. Let’s get into it!

July 2016 Goals

Goal 1: No electronics an hour before bed.
How I want to feel: Rested, alert and able to complete my daily tasks.

You guys, when it comes to being on my phone or computer before bed I am kind of the worst. Like, over the past few months it has gotten BAD. I’m doing everything from browsing social media (not in a productive way), to working on blog posts, to writing random thoughts, to finding new blogs and influencers to follow and everything in between. Basically I’m getting myself all worked up right before “bedtime” and am finding myself staying up later and later each night. This is causing me to hit the snooze button a ton, wake up later than I would like and skip more morning workouts than I would like to admit.  If I can stop using my phone and laptop at least an hour before bed, I will (hopefully) have an easier time falling to sleep each night, and will be able to wake up early enough to get in my morning workout. I will also feel rested enough to have lasting energy throughout the day instead of crashing every day by the time the afternoon rolls around. 

Goal 2: Connect with at least one blogger outside the food/recipe space.
How I want to feel: Like I am building genuine relationships without comparison.

Ok you guys, I’m about to spit some trill talk that may not be popular, but it is coming from a truly honest place. Reading food blogs just aren’t doing it for me right now. Over the past two years of blogging, I have connected with some incredible people. Some from brands, some fellow bloggers. I have made friends, and come across some incredible business people whom I can learn a ton from. Up until recently most of these folks have been in the food space. I have alluded to it before, but I am craving the creation and consumption of different types of content than I liked in the past. I have a really hard time reading other food blogs, or looking at all-food Instagram accounts without comparing their success to mine. At this point, I know how to cook and feed myself, and that type of content just doesn’t fill me up the way it used to. Plus, I just plain feel bad about myself and my content when it feels like everyone else is so much more successful at sharing that type of stuff than I was when that was my focus. I’m tired of feeling that way, so it is time to focus on other things.

Lately I have found myself drawn more to bloggers who focus on overall wellness (including topics like mindfulness and mental well-being instead of just food and traditional fitness), mind-body fitness, style and green beauty. Those are all areas I am incredibly interested in and am exploring more and more in my personal life. I increasingly have been loving blogs, websites and social media accounts that challenge me to think differently and foster overall positive feelings. I would love to genuinely connect with the creators behind some of the blogs and websites that have been inspiring me. My goal is to reach out to them and let them know how much I enjoy their content. I tend to get really shy about stuff like this, so this goal is definitely a stretch for me!

Goal 3: Workout in the morning before work three days per week.
How I want to feel: Strong, focused and ready for the day.

So this goal is really tough for me to admit I need help with. Yes, I am a personal trainer and fitness lover. Yes, I have been preaching the benefits of morning exercise for years. And yes, for the past month I have been slacking big time and haven’t been engaging in fitness the way I usually do. While I no longer have it in me to wake up at 4 a.m. every morning to get in a crazy balls to the wall morning workout five or six days per week (ugh, I did this for too many years and it was so unnecessary), I can absolutely wake up three days per week to get a good sweat session in before starting the rest of my day. If I can stick to my no screen-time before bed goal, I can absolutely do this. Although I have still been going to barre once per week, and the occasional yoga class I have lost some of my strength and would like to get back to my strength-training roots. By achieving this goal, I will feel physically strong again, and I know that I will feel even stronger mentally, too. 

And there you have it – my goals for July, along with how I would like to feel once I achieve them. I would love to hear what some of your goals are, along with how you would like to feel. 

Featured photo by Jenna Kutcher.