Well, I know what you were thinking: Hey, it's the end of September, and I wonder if that random stranger Shannon achieved her incredibly boring September goals?
Fear not! I am here to provide a full goal-by-goal report:
1. Exercise in some form or another 20 times. At least 8 must be swimming. At least 3 must be outdoor bike rides.
Uhh, mixed bag here. I did not succeed on the swimming or the outdoor biking goals. I did each activity once. The swimming ... well, I like to swim, but the pool schedule at my gym is a little bit complicated, and it's a challenge to schedule swimming around exercise activities and other life obligations. I concluded that complicated scheduling issues would make me less likely to work out (I know, astute conclusion there), so I only swam once. As for biking, I rode my bike once at the forest preserve and a I fell off my bike. I was fine, but, you know, once bitten and all that.
BUT, I did log a total of 23 workouts this month: 1 swim, 1 bike, 9 weight-lifting, 5 elliptical, 4 Zumba, 2 Step, 1 Spin. The big surprise this month was that I started liking Zumba, and that I'm back to liking classes in general. So, overall I feel pretty good about my fitness endeavors in September, even if I didn't meet my goals to the letter.
2. Only have 4 Weight Watchers cheat days MAXIMUM.
Unequivocal FAIL. I think I have about 4 WW cheat days per week. This is a really big problem and I don't know how to solve it, except by continuing to live and learn by my mistakes.
3. Finish reading 2 books.
Yes! A quick glance at my Goodreads list reveals that I logged 3 completed books this month, including my favorite of the year so far, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.
4. Get at least one more freelance assignment.
Sigh, no.
5. Have a date night.
Yes! Bill and I went to Glenwood Oaks Rib and Chop House for dinner when my dad and stepmom were here.
6. Take a deep breath.
I mean, yeah, I guess literally I breathed, or otherwise I would be dead right now. As for taking a deep breath in the figurative sense, as in pausing to give myself a break, I think I did okay. If I hate to rate myself on this one, I'd say I would get maybe a 6 out of 10. I did take time to stop and forgive myself, but I still found myself feeling anxious more often than not.
7. Buy these shoes. (This is actually a bribe. I have to apply for at least 35 jobs before I can get the shoes.)
Well, as I said yesterday, I discovered we spent too much money in September, so no shoes for me. Maybe if one of those 35 job applications had resulted in paid employment, I could have bought shoes. Oh well, now I have goals for the future.
8. Finish my murder mystery script.
Why did I use the word "finish"? I'm basically devoting 2 months to this project, and September was Month #1, so I really think finishing half would have been a more reasonable goal. And, although these things are a little bit hard to quantify, I do get the sense that I've finished half of the script. So, success. #changingrulesmidgame
9. Let it go.
Umm, no, never. I have been on this planet for 404 months now, and never once in any of those months did I let anything go, so why would I have thought that September 2011 would be the one month where I would just do a complete 180? Why just today during Zumba class, I found myself fretting about something that happened at work in September 2008. No, I'm not letting things go. I'm not letting anything go. But I think this goal is good to keep in mind, even if it's the kind of area where you sort of gradually improve rather than being instantly perfect. (Also, all things of which you could possibly let go are not created equal. It's much easier to let it go when somebody at the grocery store has 11 items in the express lane, than it is to let go of, say, a person's death.)
10. Give myself a break.
Maybe. Some. Again, this isn't the kind of personality change you can make overnight. But I do think I've made some progress on this front with my "Do One Thing" philosophy.
Hey, thanks for joining me on my journey to minor self-improvement. Join me tomorrow when I introduce a new monthly theme, October of Opportunity!
No comments:
Post a Comment