Another month is already upon us, which means it’s time for me to set my intentions and share my goals with you all to hold myself accountable and stay on track. Please share your goals with me too, so we can do this together. The whole point of sharing my monthly goals is to help me live more intentionally and make sure I’m working towards creating the life I want instead of just getting caught up on the hamster wheel of life. So please join me and help keep me going. Last month was such a whirlwind. It just flew by with all the fall activities, parties, Halloween and bucket list adventures. I am glad I made my October goals more manageable — I felt like I got most of it done, which is nice. For my November monthly goals, I’m also going to try to keep the list manageable while also including some things that are harder to check out my list and more personal goals rather than accomplishments of areas I want to grow. I found it a really helpful reminder as I checked back on my list periodically through the month.
November will be another busy month with all the kids’ activities, Thanksgiving, and holiday prep, so I’m making my November monthly goals manageable but I still have quite a bit I want to get done before we head off to Park City for the holidays. Actually, I’m kind of getting stressed thinking about it. Here are my November monthly goals.
Continue working on managing my reactions to the kids. Charlotte has a pretty sweet, silly temperament and rolls with the punches. But now that she’s two, she has tantrums and they can be intense. Generally, she gets upset, throws herself on the ground and then you can distract her and she’ll be over it. But recently, if she’s overly tired and cranky, she will cry and sob over the smallest thing and won’t stop no matter what you do. It is loud and grating and always at a point in the day when things are crazy like in the mornings as we’re rushing to get everyone to school or at the end of the day when I’m trying to wrap up work and get dinner on the table. I find it usually happens when I have the shortest fuse, and then James is asking a million questions (he’s my talker) or also freaking out because his sisters crying and screaming is so hard to handle. I have not been dealing with these moments well. It just overwhelms all of my senses and it’s always when I’m at my least patient. I really want to work on my reactions and figure out how to breathe and calm my way through this. It doesn’t help at all when I yell or freak out, not surprisingly. In general, I have been pretty cranky myself. I just haven’t been sleeping well recently and work has been busy and stressful and there’s been so much juggling with the kids and everything else. I really could use a vacation, but until then, I want to work on regulating myself when I’m at my most depleted.
Plan a vacation. Speaking of vacations. Mama needs a break. I really want to plan a few days away with the hubs, but if we can’t squeeze that in before 2022, I may just take a night to myself in a hotel room. Seriously. I just need some sleep and a break from everything. I feel really guilty doing it, but I finally am realizing I really need it and if I don’t, I’m going to get really burnt out. And I still want to plan a getaway for Andrew and I sans kids this year or early next.
Read one book. Didn’t read a single book last month. It’s pathetic. I’m so over everything streaming, so it’s time for me to get back into reading. What should I read next? I want a fun romance novel.
Order less takeout. We have gotten lazy and been indulging in lots of takeout lately. It’s really not healthy and it adds up. I want to get better about meal planning and making nutritious meals at home. Send me your healthy, family-friendly recipes. I really need dinner ideas.
Put away phone when around kids. I was better about putting it away in mornings and evenings during the week, but I spend a lot of time on my phone on weekends. I think I need to carve out more me time, and I’ve been exhausted recently, but I want to be more present for my family.
Get kids’ winter schedules sorted. I want to get all the kids’ winter activities set up this month, so we’re set to hit the ground running come 2022 and don’t have to worry about it over the holidays.
Plan two dates with the hubs. Day dates or date nights, Andrew and I need to do more just us. We’re good about doing stuff with other couples and the kids, but I feel like that we’ve been so social recently that we haven’t made time for just us to date other than our regular Friday morning tennis game.
Find table for behind couch in living room. It’s the one piece of the puzzle we’re still waiting on and the wall just looks so empty.
Launch new small business venture. I’m working on a small side business (I know, I know…another) and I can’t wait to share, but I really got to get on top of making it happen. Next up: Marketing it!
Finish holiday shopping. With supply chain issues and leaving early for Park City for the holidays, I want to get my holiday done as soon as possible this year, so I’m making this a priority for my November monthly goals. I’ve already got most of my gift guides up for the year.
Launch newsletter. I know, please don’t judge. One of these days I’ll do it. It’s actually so much harder and more complicated than it seems.
Clean out toys and set up playroom. I am actually getting some organizers and shelving, so this may get done today, but I love starting off the month with something I can check off right away. I decided that while our sunroom was pretty, it wasn’t really being used, so we’re going to make it into a full playroom for the kids. I may leave a desk in there, but we’re going to keep it pretty open to let the kids have space to find their toys and play. This also includes painting the playroom and potentially getting a new rug.
Switch out closet and clean out clothes. It’s time to put away the summer clothes and break out all the sweaters and cozy layers. I’m going to do a ruthless closet clean out while I switch over my wardrobes and I’m actually excited to purge.
Outline novel. This too is back on my list and I hope to accomplish this month.
Finish touch-ups around the house. We have some paint touch-ups we need to finish around the house, and then a couple other maintenance things like cleaning out the chimney, WD-40 some squeaky doors, cleaning out the air conditioner filters, etc. I want to get that all done this month.
Organize coat closet. Need to break out the mittens and hats, put away the summer stuff, and organize our coats and boots for winter.
Finish selling or donating old furniture. We have some furniture we’ve been trying to sell or donate for a few months now. I want to finally get rid of it, or donate it so it’s not just sitting around taking up space and being an eye sore.
Set up my work wardrobe. I’m returning to the office this month and commuting again, so I need to get some new outfits that will get me excited about the return to commuter life.
Market blog more. I need to do better about marketing the blog and about being on social media more. I used to be really good about jumping on stories and I have fallen off the wagon as life has gotten busy. I’m going to focus more on engaging with you guys on my platforms and getting more visibility to the work I spend so much time doing.
Launch cooking series on IG. Ok, so I said I’d keep my November monthly goals short and manageable and this is quickly becoming not that, but I have been dying to start learning to cook and I have this idea of bringing you guys along for the ride, because I just can’t be the only person who can’t cook and is a grown ass woman who should be able to at the very least boil water. Plus, I think if I had a community doing it with me, I might be more inspired to actually try. What do you guys think?
Comment