Personal Goals

Like most people at the beginning of this year, I had set up to accomplish some goals. But unlike past years, I wanted to aim for more tangible feats that have been on my to do list forever now but were always pushed to the back burner due to having misaligned priorities and bad time management. Because I've grown to be more self aware of my patterns and behaviors, I've decided that this year I was going to reattempt some of my past goals and create habits to help keep my short term actions aligned with my long term values and beliefs.

First thing I did in the beginning of 2019 was restart my blog. Writing for me has always been way I could express my thoughts and emotions through words. Back in 2016, I created a personal bullet journal to document and track my progress and experience in my new role as a cosmetic counter manager for the Downtown Seattle Nordstrom. My bullet journal became my baby during that period - I couldn't go a day without updating the daily trackers and chronicling my daily adventures. After I finished that particular bullet journal, I allowed the stress from work life distract me from my hobbies; journaling became a thing of the pass. In 2018 I attempted to blog again - the platform I used was by Squarespace. That was fun while it lasted but when I decided to simplify my life - and that included my monthly bills - my lifestyle blog was one of the accounts I cut out of my budget and routine. To be honest, because I was paying a monthly fee, I felt obligated to post on there even when I wasn't inspired and that created a small amount of guilt and stress - guilt from feeling like I wasn't blogging enough to justify the monthly fee and stressed from trying to push out content that didn't feel complete. Still, I had been bitten by the writing bug; hence, I decided to reboot my old blog to continue my desire and goal to journal and document my thoughts and actions.

Another short term goal is to read and finish a new book every month. I enrolled back into school to finish and earn a Bachelor's of Science degree in Dietary Nutrition; because I'm passionate about the subject of food and healthy eating/living, I find myself constantly gravitating towards nutrition and food based books whenever I'm in a book store or at the local library. Last month I finished "Clean Green and Lean" by Dr. Walter Crinnion and this month I started on "The Omnivorous Mind" by John S. Allen. Last year, I completed a total of 4 books and while that was more then what I was habitually consuming, I decided to up my reading game by proactively challenging myself with a goal of a book a month.

My last short term goal that I'm excited about is continuing my education and finishing this year with a 3.5 GPA or higher. My only stipulation towards my education is that I don't procure any student debt or any kind of debt while I'm pushing though my studies. My husband and I recently became debt free with the exception of our mortgage and for the first time in over a decade neither of us feel the emotional and financial burden of a debt ridden lifestyle. School is definitely a passion project for me at this time. I plan on staying on track with my education goals even if it takes me a little longer to finish - progression over perfection. That basically equates to me working while attending school and cash flowing everything that I can.

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." 

- Lao Tzu