April Goals

A photo posted by michaela (@michaelaarghh) on Mar 8, 2016 at 4:02am PST

And just like that, we are more than a quarter of the way through 2016.
Let's review March...

MARCH GOALS

- Host a board game night

Ticked off and it was so much fun! J and I used to have regular games nights, but then we started to go to trivia and they kinda just stopped happening. I'm loving getting back into it, and have already planned one for this month!

- Clear off and out my bedside table

I think I need to write this in my diary as a 'to do' because otherwise it's never going to get done. 

- Cook a new recipe

I cooked a thai chicken lemongrass skewer recipe from Donna Hay! It turned out really well - full of flavour, easy to make, and has now been added to my recipe repertoire! 

- Read 3 books 

Nope, fell slightly behind this month. 

- Go rock-climbing

- Sort already printed photos into photo box

Again, I think this is something that will actually need to be put on a 'to-do' list. 

- Edit NZ photos 

Finally did this! Now to get them printed!! 

- PIF the clothes I've culled from my wardrobe.

APRIL GOALS

- Find a blogging schedule that works for me

- Read 4 books (to catch up from last month) 

- Cook 1 new recipe

- Improve my speed at wall climb-ups in parkour

- Choose a song for pole audition

- Sort printed photos into photo box

- stretch for 5 hours a week.

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March Goals

GUYS IT IS MARCH. WHEN DID IT BECOME MARCH? I'M NOT READY FOR MARCH.

FEBRUARY GOALS

- Finish 3 books

I actually read four books last month, which means I'm way on track for my reading goal for the year. Hoping to keep up the momentum through March. 

- Perform at my pole studio's Open Night showcase

Yes! I'm so happy that I got this one ticked off. It's been so long since I've been on stage, it was so great to be back out there. I was really happy with how my performance went, and already starting to think of the next show. 

- Clear off our bedside table

I just didn't get around to this during February, so will be moving this to March. 

- Edit our NZ photos

Again, didn't get around to this. Moving it to March. 

- Stretch 5x a week

Yes!

- Get back into a regular blogging upload schedule

I'm still struggling a little bit with managing my time with blogging. I'm spending so much of my free time training these days that I'm not having time for much else. I think I need to work out a better schedule because I really miss blogging and want to get back into it. 

- Print photos for my work photo frame

...Nope. 

- Sort already printed photos into photo box. 

Nope. 

MARCH GOALS

- Host a board game night

- Clear off and out my bedside table

- Cook a new recipe

- Read 3 books 

- Go rock-climbing

- Sort already printed photos into photo box

- Edit NZ photos 

- PIF the clothes I've culled from my wardrobe.

Probably a bit ambitious this month, but I need to get my shit together. How are you going with your new years resolutions and goal setting? Any tips for time management? 

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February Goals

As always, let's start with a review of last month's goals: 

JANUARY GOALS

- Finish three books

Yes! I crossed this one off early in the month, and kick-started my reading for February. I think if I keep this up I will be able to do more regular book reviews. 

- Clean out the linen under the bed.

I spent a whole day clearing out all the linen in our house, throwing away anything was well-worn and had holes, washing everything else, folding it and putting it back into under-bed storage boxes that are clearly labelled. This should make life so much easier when people come and stay - I'll know exactly where to find everything! 

- Clear off my bedside table

I didn't quite get around to this, so I'm moving it to next month. 

- Stretch 5 days a week

I have started off the year strong with stretching, and hope to continue this. 

- Pay off my credit card bill by the end of the month. 

Not quite, but I have paid off quite a bit and have a strict budget for paying it off ASAP. 

- Go trapeze-ing! 

I am hoping to get around to this in March, as February is looking really busy. 

- Clear the hallway

Yes! There were space bags filled with random crap and boxes littering our hallway from when we first moved in (6 months ago). I had a quick clear out of it, and now our hallway is unimpeded. 

FEBRUARY GOALS

- Finish 3 books

- Perform at my pole studio's Open Night showcase

- Clear off our bedside table

- Edit our NZ photos

- Stretch 5x a week

- Get back into a regular blogging upload schedule

- Print photos for my work photo frame

- Sort already printed photos into photo box. 

Has the start of the year kick-started your goal-setting?

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New Years Resolutions and January Goals.

Happy New Year and welcome to 2016!

I still can't believe how fast 2015 flew by. Nuts.

I love the idea of fresh starts and having goals to work towards, and I love spending the start of each year reflecting on the year just gone, and the new one about to begin.

Let's look back at last year's Resolutions...

2015 GOALS

- Read 30 books. 

Failed pretty hard at this one.

- Get my splits

Still nope. 

- Continue learning

Definitely. I'm learning so much every day at work, and generally about myself. 

- Get a job

Definitely the biggest goal - I cannot believe that not only did I achieve this in my first year as a graduate, but that I did it so soon after graduating. I've now been a lawyer for almost a year, and learned so much in that time (one such lesson being that actually being a lawyer is nothing like law school). 

2016 GOALS

- Read 30 books

I'm going to actually hold myself accountable to this goal this year. 30 books in a year is only 2.5 books a month, which is totally do-able if I actually finish the books I start. I have about four books on the go at the moment, so I should get a good head-start to this one. 

- Get the Splits

Another year, another flexy goal. I really believe I can achieve this if I actually kick myself in the butt and train stretching regularly. Flexibility is really difficult for me (compared to strength training), so I need to get over that "too hard" mentality and just train. This is the year where the excuses end.

- Journal regularly

I love journalling, and want to get back into doing it regularly. I don't think I can commit to every single night, but I definitely want to be doing it more than I currently do (which is whenever I remember). 

- Get better at saving

It's not that I'm bad at saving, it's just that I'm better at spending. Although we have some big expenses coming up this year, I want to make a conscious effort to put some money aside each pay, just to be more of a responsible adult. 

JANUARY GOALS

- Finish three books

- Clean out the linen under the bed.

- Clear off my bedside table

- Stretch 5 days a week

- Pay off my credit card bill by the end of the month. 

- Go trapeze-ing! 

- Clear the hallway

I'm so excited to get started with this year, and am read to dive head-first into it. I have quite a lot of time off work these holidays, so want to get a good mix of productivity and relaxation in. 

Are you setting New Years Resolutions? 

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November Goals

I'm slowly getting used to being back in the real world. We were only in New Zealand two weeks, but we packed so much in it felt like a lot longer. 

OCTOBER GOALS

- Order my sister's 21st birthday present

I ended up having to deviate from my original gift idea, due to the people having no stock, but I hope she will like this present just as much. Hopefully she also won't mind that it's almost a month late. 

- Eat more salads / vegetables

I'm not sure whether to cross this one off - we didn't eat that many veggies while away, but we ate lots when we got back. 

- Start planning Christmas present ideas

Not yet. Maybe this week. 

- Get back into cooking

My friend gave me a recipe book for my birthday, filled with gluten-free recipes. I've gone back to cooking one dinner a week, and started preparing meals to bring to work for lunch too. I'm finding cooking really satisfying, but I hate the mess it leaves. 

- Enjoy New Zealand! 

As if that was ever going to be a challenge. 

- Try to keep up with stretching while overseas

This however was a real challenge. There was a little stretching, but nowhere near as much as there should have been. 

NOVEMBER GOALS

- Have Christmas shopping finished by the end of the Month (or, in the very least, a gift list sorted)

- Practice handstands 5x a week. 

- Stretch 5x a week

- finish editing NZ photos

- Print photos for my desk at work

- Attend two parkour classes each week

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October Goals

As I'm writing this, I'm sipping on an orange/carrot/ginger/mint smoothie, and just thoroughly enjoying the 33C weather we're having this weekend.
Sad that West Coast lost the AFL, as I had a bet (for the first time ever, only $10 but still...) on who would win all three big games this weekend.

So let's review September's goals, before we set some new ones for October...

SEPTEMBER GOALS

 - Train handstands 5x a week

- Stretch 5x a week

- Buy J's birthday present

- Get Dad a Father's Day gift (this should have been an August goal, really)

- Finish two books

- Organise my filing cabinet

- Organise the basket of stuff in the bathroom

- Find a storage solution for my sock drawer

- Review our New Zealand itinerary, and make sure everything is ready to go!

- Go to the gym once a week

So I'm pretty impressed with how many things I managed to cross off my list! I couldn't justify spending money to organise the bathroom or my sock drawer, with our New Zealand trip approaching, so that will have to wait until we get back, maybe November. 

I didn't manage to get to the gym every week - mostly because there were a couple of weeks where I was at the pole studio 6-7 times a week, so I haven't been slacking off, I've just been busy. 

OCTOBER GOALS

- Order my sister's 21st birthday present

- Eat more salads / vegetables

- Start planning Christmas present ideas

- Get back into cooking

- Enjoy New Zealand! 

- Try to keep up with stretching while overseas

A relatively short list this month, given we will be spending two weeks overseas. 

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September Goals

 

I sent my phone in to get repaired during August. The inner earpiece was broken, so I couldn't hear a damn thing when making phone calls. Which I actually do kinda often, so it was a bit of a nuisance. I was told it would take 5 days, but it's now been longer than 2 weeks. I've been using my friend's old iphone, but it's still got all her things on it, and no real battery life, so I only really use it for using calls and texting. Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying I have no photos from the past month. Which is why my "week in pictures" posts have disappeared, and why you get the delightful photo above of me in the bathtub for this goals post. 

Let's review August's goals.

AUGUST GOALS

- Complete the August splits challenge

I got really sick in August (still recovering, almost a week of work sick), and totally lost momentum. I'm starting my own September splits challenge to try and make up for it. 

- Train handstands 5x a week

Nope again. Same excuse as above. 

- Buy Meg and Dad a birthday present

- Finish at least one book

I almost didn't think I would cross this one off, despite really focussing on reading this past month. The book I spent most of August reading is like, 700 pages long, so I'm still a few hundred off finishing. But I did buy one book, and finished it in a couple of days - it was that good. (And yeah, I'm one of those people who usually has a few books going at once). I plan to review it properly during September.

- Take clothes to charity bin and photograph clothes to sell

Half completed. I gave two garbage bags worth of clothes to the charity bin. Still have not photographed those clothes I want to sell. I think part of the reason I've been delaying on this is because I don't even know what I'll do with them once I take photos of them. Do things still sell on ebay? 

- Get back into a regular gym schedule

Nope. Sickness, etc. 

- Organise Alex drawers

I did organise my Alex drawers! (mostly). 

SEPTEMBER GOALS

 - Train handstands 5x a week

- Stretch 5x a week

- Buy J's birthday present

- Get Dad a Father's Day gift (this should have been an August goal, really)

- Finish two books

- Organise my filing cabinet

- Organise the basket of stuff in the bathroom

- Find a storage solution for my sock drawer

- Review our New Zealand itinerary, and make sure everything is ready to go!

- Go to the gym once a week

There's quite a few things on that list, but I think I can get it all done. 30 days, that's plenty of time, right? 

How's your goal-setting and goal completing going? I love hearing what other people are focussing on for the month!

 

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August Goals

With our last minute move in June, July was a hectic month. No goals were set during July, as I focussed my energy on settling in to our new house.

Let's review June's goals..

JUNE GOALS

- Take photos of clothes from wardrobe clean-out

Still haven't crossed this one off. In fact, I have put aside even more clothes to clear out since moving. With the change of season almost upon us, I really need to get on this. 

- Stretch 5x a week.

Nope. 

- Revise my Chinese to send a letter to my pen-pal in Chinese

I think I'm contender for worst pen-pal of the year? 

- Submit my audition tape for Pole Evolution 2015

Yes! I crossed this one off! I worked so hard on this routine, so was thrilled to get this in. I wasn't happy with my final piece, but I submitted it anyway. 

-Buy a dress (and nude heels) for the two weddings I'm attending in June.

So, I ended up wearing my Law Ball dress to the first wedding I had, and when I got there found out I was wearing the same dress as the bridesmaids! This was a total fluke, because they had bought dressed online that arrived the day before the wedding, didn't like them and went out and bought the same dress as me! I got a skirt and top for the second wedding - I had my eye on the skirt for months and it finally went on sale. 

- Train pull-ups five times a week.

Our pull up bar has not been up since we moved. 

- Keep better track of my goals throughout the month; check in at least once a week. 

Nope. 

-  Keep to my blogging schedule!

Mostly.

AUGUST GOALS

- Complete the August splits challenge

- Train handstands 5x a week

- Buy Meg and Dad a birthday present

- Finish at least one book

- Take clothes to charity bin and photograph clothes to sell

- Get back into a regular gym schedule

- Organise Alex drawers

How are you going with your monthly goals?

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June Goals

 

My dear readers, I am hesitant to put up this post because I have pretty much failed at my May goals. But I'll post it anyway, because part of my NY Resolution and keeping track of this all in such a public space holds me accountable. I feel rubbish about this post, so I will have to try harder during June. 

Let's review May's goals...

MAY GOALS

- Sell clothes from wardrobe clean-out

I am starting to think I will never achieve this. So I have decided to break this one down.

- Set a meal plan

I didn't quite achieve this, but for the past two weeks I have been planning out all my lunches for work. 

- Return to regular stretching

Absolute fail in the flexibility department, and my hips really feel it (especially since starting full-time work). 

- Revise my Chinese to send a letter to my penpal in Chinese

- Submit my audition tape for Pole Evolution 2015

We got a further two weeks to submit our auditions. I have been working super hard on my routine, and will cross this one off next week!

- Keep track of all spending transactions

Mostly.

- Save up to buy dress for weddings I'm attending in June

I bought two new skirts for work instead. Whoops. 

JUNE GOALS

- Take photos of clothes from wardrobe clean-out

- Stretch 5x a week.

- Revise my Chinese to send a letter to my pen-pal in Chinese

- Submit my audition tape for Pole Evolution 2015

-Buy a dress (and nude heels) for the two weddings I'm attending in June.

- Train pull-ups five times a week.

- Keep better track of my goals throughout the month; check in at least once a week. 

-  Keep to my blogging schedule!

Perhaps I'm being a bit ambitious with next month's goals. I've broken them up a little bit, so hopefully they'll be a little easier to achieve, with a bit of planning.

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May Goals

I am still in denial that it's already May... We're more than a quarter of the way through 2015!! 

I spent most of April sitting in front of Netflix, and not much time was focussed on goal-achieving. I'll have to strike more of a balance for that this month... 

APRIL GOALS

- Set a budget.

I have not set a strict budget, per se, but I have been a lot better with accounting for where my money is going, and accounting for upcoming expenses. My last two pay slips have had their dollars allocated, and I feel a lot calmer when I know how that next bill is going to be paid. 

- Sell clothes from wardrobe clean-out

- Do 5 pull-ups

This fell a little to the way-side, and I practically stopped training pull-ups, in favour for handstands. I need to get more consistent with this during May.

- Stretch 5x a week

I totally failed my splits challenge. I had one week off, and then lost all motivation to continue. I'm going to make a more conscious effort with my fitness, including stretching, during May. 

- Set a regular cleaning schedule

- Pay for C's hen's night

Now that this has been paid off, I'm so looking forward to it! 

- Revise my Chinese to send a letter to my penpal in Chinese

- Get my practising certificate and High Court certificate framed

I now have all my certificates framed! I'm so excited to move into my new office at work and have them adorn the walls. 

MAY GOALS

- Sell clothes from wardrobe clean-out

- Set a meal plan

- Return to regular stretching

- Revise my Chinese to send a letter to my penpal in Chinese

- Submit my audition tape for Pole Evolution 2015

- Keep track of all spending transactions

- Save up to buy dress for weddings I'm attending in June

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April Goals

I was busy almost every weekend in March, so the month passed me by quickly. Can you believe we're already in April!?

How are you going with goal-setting and your New Years Resolutions? 

MARCH GOALS

- Do 3 pull-ups

HOORAH! I am finally feeling like I am getting my strength back since breaking my wrist, and being able to do 3 pull ups is the greatest feeling ever. 

- Set a budget

- Sell clothes from wardrobe clean-out

- Get back into regular plasma donation

I am happy to say I can tick this one off this week. I have been regularly donating, every 3 weeks. If you are eligible to donate blood, book in now for your next donation. The Red Cross relies on reliable donations, and you are literally saving lives! 

- Establish a routine; sleep on time so I'm not waking up tired every morning

I feel like I am finally adjusting to full-time work and the crazy long days that come with being a lawyer. There are still some days where I'm waking up tired, but for the most part I'm in bed before 12 - which is massive for me. 

- Bring lunch to work

I am definitely getting better with this, which is saving me money. I love knowing what I'm having for lunch - it's something small to look forward to during the day. 

APRIL GOALS

- Set a budget.

- Sell clothes from wardrobe clean-out

- Do 5 pull-ups

- Stretch 5x a week

- Set a regular cleaning schedule

- Pay for C's hen's night

- Revise my Chinese to send a letter to my penpal in Chinese

- Get my practising certificate and High Court certificate framed

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March Goals

2015 GOALS - CHECK IN

- Read 30 books

I am falling way behind in this, and have only completed one book so far. To be fair, I'm making my way through the fourth installment of the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, and that is an impressive book at over 800 pages long. So I am aiming to complete that this month so I can get back on track for this goal. 

- Get my splits

I am getting very close with this. I have signed up for an April stretch every-day challenge, so will hopefully accomplish this within the next few months. 

- Continue learning

I really feel I am making head-way with this - I am teaching myself to do cryptic crosswords, and am learning lots in my new job. 

- Get a job

I am kind of amazed that I was able to accomplish this so early in the year - I am now working as a full-time lawyer!! I am loving every minute of it so far...I am loving having my own office, and talking to clients, and doing actual work on real cases. It's all very exciting. I'm not really loving the early start or the long hours, but I am slowly getting used to this. 

FEBRUARY GOALS

- Sell clothes from wardrobe clean-out

I didn't get around to this, so it will be moved to my March list. 

- Make a regular gym schedule (and stick to it)

I really tried so hard to complete this one in February; my schedule was so all-over-the place that I really found it difficult to have regular gym-time. I still went most of the times that I listed it in my diary, so I'm counting this as completed even though I didn't go as often as I would have liked. 

- Postpone New Zealand flights

We are now going to New Zealand in October! 

- Catch up on journalling

Finally caught up on what I missed out on capturing when I broke my wrist. 

- Set a budget

This did not happen. 

- Send Valentine's Day cards

I wanted to send some V-Day cards to my friends this year, and I achieved that! It was so nice getting their messages of surprise and thanks when they received them. I think this is something I will endeavour to do every year! 

- Get back into regular plasma donating. 

I unfortunately came down with a pretty bad chest infection throughout February, so this will be postponed for March. 

MARCH GOALS

- Do 3 pull-ups

- Set a budget

- Sell clothes from wardrobe clean-out

- Get back into regular plasma donation

- Establish a routine; sleep on time so I'm not waking up tired every morning

- Bring lunch to work

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February Goals

It is time to reflect on how I went with my goals for January, and set some new ones for February! I am (humbly) impressed with my January efforts. Most got ticked off from my list, which is a satisfying feeling. I have some great new goals set for February, which I have already started chipping away at.

JANUARY GOALS

- Cook one meal each week 

This was mostly achieved, and is something I want to continue doing for the rest of the year.

- Clean out my wardrobe

Hoorah! I gave my wardrobe a big cull and donated three big bags of stuff! I was then able to re-organise my drawers, and sort of my cupboard. I'm feeling a lot less weighed down. 

- Stretch 5 days a week

This was a bit hit-and miss. There was one week where I was super busy every single night, so almost no stretching happened. Then other weeks, I was amazing and stretched every day. I need more consistency in my life.

- Sort out our New Zealand itinerary

Our itinerary for NZ is more-or-less sorted now. We have unfortunately had to push our flights back a few months, but that's okay because it gives us more time to save, and plan! 

- Catch up on the journalling missed because of my broken arm

There are still one or two events that I need to journal about. I have no doubt that this would have been completed, however writing for long periods still fatigues my wrist.

- Sort out all paperwork to be sent off to the Supreme Court for my admission!

All necessary paperwork got lodged with the Legal Profession Admission Board, and I will find out in mid-February if I will be attending the February admission ceremony (fingers crossed). I got the nasty surprise of the admission fee being a whopping $500...I'm still recovering from that shock. 

FEBRUARY GOALS

- Sell clothes from wardrobe clean-out

- Make a regular gym schedule (and stick to it)

- Postpone New Zealand flights

- Catch up on journalling

- Set a budget

- Send Valentine's Day cards

- Get back into regular plasma donating. 

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