I didn’t  even write out my April goals until the end of the month. Basically, I’m working to get back on track.

Since I’m reading tons (for me) I did up my reading goals

• 10+ books, aim for 6 nonfiction, work on War and Peace in Serial Reader (I need to set aside time to do this once per week, the sticking point is that I need my notebook for notes and to keep track of characters and plot), work on Classics Club (I need to revisit this list and be a bit more conscious about this goal).
• Pay off CC debt and lower CC limit (apparently that is the only way to curb my spending short of going debit-card only which seems rather archaic).
• Work on exercise and diet plans (surely I can hit on SOMETHING I am willing to keep up with).
• Get back on track with habits, goals, spending, etc.
• 2+ knitting projects and block the last two (probably should make sure blocking is included in finishing, but overall, doing well on the knitting category).

I forgot to include how my March habit chart looked.

I need to “course correct” (an excellent concept I picked up in The Slight Edge) for this month, so a lot of items are going to be copy and paste from February.

Wellness

• Get back on track with habits
• Prep meals regularly
• Start facial care routine
• Start a weekly reset habit (Sat/Sun?), get back on track with daily routines
• Double down on the health habits
• Set up tech guards, habits, and sabbaths
• Be aware of needs to be vigilante on my habits (they slip more easily in certain circumstances)
• Work on room

Financial

• Have enough to pay 1st quarter’s obligation, a little in emergency fund
• Pay off credit card bill
• Finish paying loan back
• Make a certain minimum amount
• Have a now spend/lowest spend month
• Get a temporary job

Personal Development

• Read 8-9 books, including: 4 nonfiction, 1-2 Classics Club reads, and catch up and keep up on War and Peace on Serial Reader
• 2 major knitting projects and 1-2 small ones
• 2 major sewing projects
• Begin taking mini-adventures/explorations
• Determine next Spanish steps
• Determine next graphic design steps

Wellness

• Build up health habits, maintain other habits. I was especially excellent on keeping up with reading, Spanish, and school. I did start pre-packing some meals (which were healthier), and I ran out of my not-so-healthy snacks towards the end of the month, although that has nothing to do with self-control.
• Lose 5+ lbs. Ahahaha . . .
• Start a weekly reset habit (Sat/Sun?), maintain daily routines
• Get hair cut
• Buy cosmetic and health items
• Set up tech guards, habits, and sabbaths
• Buy some of my self-help books?

Financial

• Have enough to pay Jan and Feb’s obligation
• Pay March’s credit card bill
• Start paying loan back
• Work on process of living off last month’s income (minimum account balance and max credit usage). Well, I think I raised my minimum a little, but financially, I was out of control this month, which is my usual, so I really need to work on this.
• Get a temporary job
• Pursue other side gig options
• Put at least 1/3 of earnings towards emergency fund
• File taxes and put at least 1/3 of refund towards emergency fund
• Open a 2nd tiny (for now) savings account

Personal Development

• Read 8-9 books, including: 4 nonfiction, 1-2 Classics Club reads, and catch up and keep up on War and Peace on Serial Reader. I read 10 books, 5 fiction, 5 nonfiction.
• 2 major knitting projects and 1-2 small ones. No, but I did knit as I added it to my habit chart.
• 2 major sewing projects
• Buy planner punch and fun stuff for planner
• Determine next Spanish steps
• Determine next graphic design steps

I’m adjusting some of my expectations in light of January and then setting a bit higher standards where I think I can/should.

Wellness

• Build up health habits, maintain other habits
• Lose 5+ lbs
• Start a weekly reset habit (Sat/Sun?), maintain daily routines
• Get hair cut
• Buy cosmetic and health items
• Set up tech guards, habits, and sabbaths
• Buy some of my self-help books?

Financial

• Have enough to pay Jan and Feb’s obligation
• Pay March’s credit card bill
• Start paying loan back
• Work on process of living off last month’s income (minimum account balance and max credit usage)
• Get a temporary job
• Pursue other side gig options
• Put at least 1/3 of earnings towards emergency fund
• File taxes and put at least 1/3 of refund towards emergency fund
• Open a 2nd tiny (for now) savings account

Personal Development

• Read 8-9 books, including: 4 nonfiction, 1-2 Classics Club reads, and catch up and keep up on War and Peace on Serial Reader
• 2 major knitting projects and 1-2 small ones
• 2 major sewing projects
• Buy planner punch and fun stuff for planner
• Determine next Spanish steps
• Determine next graphic design steps

I liked how AmandaRachLee sets up her habit trackers. I’d really only seen and “tried” the more “log” style ones, but these are just more visually appealing. Also, I’ve tried to work every single habit into my daily routines (more on that in another post).

Here is are my spreads. When noting goals and such that I hadn’t done in January, I decide to expand February’s habits.

• Bedtime and rise time. I’ve been going to bed late and getting up around 8 (I need like 9-10 hours, at least recently) which means I don’t have much of a morning.
• Hydration. I’m trying to aim for the optimum amount.
• Exercise. I’ve been using the Leslie Sansone Walk at Home Instant Access app and the Fitify apps Ab & Core and Lower Body on my phone.
• Stretch. I’ve been using the Fitify Stretching app.
• Job search. I’m trying to be more proactive.
• School. I need to make this a regular habit. Also, my school has started tracking everyone’s logons as participation! Anne @ Modern Mrs. Darcy mentioned setting fake deadlines for traveling planning, well I have been using “fake” deadlines for school for quite a while. I’m pursuing my associates in Computer and Information Technologies: Internet Technologies: Web Programming Specialization Sequence. The following two habits are to help me with the idea of becoming a website developer.
• Coding. I’ve been using Treehouse (I have an account checked out via my library, be sure to see if your library has such a program), but I now want to add CodeAcademy as well.
• Graphic design. I read a mention of needing to learn graphic design for website development and found this free sort of course, so I’m slowly working my way through the articles, resources, and the books my library has.
• Spanish. I’m trying to get back into Duolingo. I got my 80 year old grandfather into it, and so he’s been learning Spanish the last week+ and even bought himself a book.
• Reading. I am an erratic reading, so I wanted some discipline and habits.
• Knitting. I am also an erratic knitter, so I wanted some discipline and habits.
• Journaling. I feel like my memory isn’t great lately. And I never was good at keeping a record of memories, so I’m trying to prioritize that. I also wanted to incorporate the motivational kind of journaling from Miracle Morning.

I didn’t get all my goals and planning posts done in time to do a January goals post, so I’m showing my goals and my success on them here. I’m not expecting myself to just breeze through everything, I’m trying to work my motivation and habits up. My January goals were:

• Pay a monthly obligation (or have enough to pay Feb 1st). Technically I have enough, but pragmatically, I’ll try to pay quarterly.
• Pay Feb’s cc bill. Yes.
• Start paying a loan back. No.
• Start seriously funding my emergency fund. No.
• Start raising checking account balance (min=$60) to begin process of living off last month’s income. Yes, but I should’ve also included, start pushing max (self-determined) credit balance down.
• Aim for minimum income this month. Not even close.
• Start weekly reset, morning and evening habits. Yes! I haven’t got weekly reset down, but I’m really working on my daily routines.
• Start daily habits. Yes! I did poorly on the health ones, but I’m going to double-down on those this month.
• Family (niece!) and pet time (and memories). I need to work on this one.
• Read 8-9 books; 4 nonfiction. Crushed this with 15 books, 1 a re-read, 3 nonfiction.
• 2 major knitting projects. No. I added this to my habits chart.
• 2 major sewing projects? (I may need materials). No. I want to add this to a weekly habits chart.

My goal lists are not concrete, and I’m trying to focus on the positive, so for now at least I’m going to focus on what I did accomplish even if not many of the exact goals were reached

• Had a decent job/career month
• Made great strides in the financial category
• Sold shoes on Poshmark (I should have made one of my goals for this year to finish all reselling)
• Finished baby boy cousin’s blanket
• Started baby girl cousin #1’s baby blanket
• Bought buttons and finished red scarf
• Read 6 new-to-me books
• Re-read 5 books
• Got a 6 month full Ancestry.com account
• Made a beautiful and delicious Easter cake

Well, I think I will just focus here on what I did accomplish especially since I’m not in a position and don’t the personality to make everything concrete.

~I finished sweater dresses for the little girls of a family friend and mailed them off (I’ll get pictures up soon).

~I was good with my money/spending, and I’ve got some good plans in place which I will probably discuss more next month (after I implement them).

~One big school accomplishment (not public yet).

~I got a temporary job for a few weeks (the nicest job I’ve ever had and the only one that I don’t dread going to, in fact I would almost say I look forward to going to).

~I read 7 books (5 new to me, 2 re-reads, and one of those was a borrowed book).

~I am (as of 3/4/2018) at 43% on Duolingo (I think I got up to 46% this month which is 4% from my target . . . and then I let it slip down).

~I already did some puzzles and game days when I made my Winter Fun List, but I didn’t do much after, and I think the only thing I really did was watch the Olympics.

I think I got a little too ambitious for February, but we’ll see.

Finances
~Buy TEFL course and work on some other goals

Career
~Start TEFL, work on other skills

Health
~Work on habits chart and lose 5 pounds (try to aim for 50% completion rate on habits chart, at least for most important goals)
~Tech breaks: no tech on Sunday, 5 weekday tech-free days, 5 hour limit for at home days, 2 hour limit for work days, off by 7pm (probably should add tech control to habit chart)

Personal Development
~Reach 50% on Duolingo and equivalent on Tinycards
~Work on math, accounting, EQ, and interpersonal communication library books
~Listen to online library music

Travel and Explore
~Plan, ice skate

Others
~Donate blood
~Finish gifts, plan baby blankets

Homemaking and Holidays
~Digital file conversion and back-up (work through this challenge I mentioned before)

Sewing and Making
~Finish 1-2 Craftsy and Creativebug classes
~Finish gifts, sewing with little girls, unfinished projects, and shadowbox

Reading
~Read 8+ new to me books, 2+ borrowed books, and 2+ unread of my own books
~Read a classic from another country (other than Russia and UK)
~Read from my category list
~Read 1+ Hemingway novel
~Complete most of Brothers of Karamazov
~Read 1+ book toward my U.S. history course
~Read poetry
~Read some essays