Self-Discipline

At the beginning of the year, I set 5 goals that I hoped to achieve. Now that the year is one third completed, it seems a good time to revisit those goals and evaluate how I’m doing. I must admit that I had hoped by this point to be making good progress towards all of them, but instead I find that only two of the five are actually being met and the other three, well, let’s just say that I’m dismally behind from where I thought I'd be.

Here are the goals and where I’m at currently and my plans to get back on track.

• To pay off my credit card and student loans.
  ~ I’ve been making monthly payments, but not putting aside the extra towards these that is needed in order to reach this goal.
  ~ I need to return to frugal living, buying NOTHING that isn’t absolutely necessary.
  ~ The remaining amount to pay off is more than I can do in 7 months. I need to extend this goal until May 1, 2009. I need to commit more each month to debt relief in order to make this happen. Doable, but it will be “snug”.
• To lose 20 or more pounds (I'm setting a small goal here that should be more reachable ~ if I can lose more ~ what a bonus and blessing that will be!)
  ~ I GAINED 5 pounds ~ yikes! Dismal failure! I try to eat well, but when alone, have a tendency not to fix regular meals and binge on stuff I shouldn’t. And I definitely don’t get enough exercise.
  ~ I joined a 10,000 steps program with my sister. I regularly reach about 5,000 steps when working, but I need to do that at a minimum on days I don’t work. I need to start walking to work again. I’m also planning to start shopping at a grocery store that is within walking distance. Should help increase my exercise level and keep me from buying extras I don’t need.
  ~ I need to plan my meals and not buy unhealthy items. I need to stick to the meal plan!
• To visit the family in Colorado.
  ACCOMPLISHED! And it is possible that I’ll be able to make another trip at the end of the summer.
• To visit with my Posie friends.
  Nearly accomplished! Plane ticket has been purchased for the end of June! Can’t wait to see my dear friends!
• To maintain a routine of daily prayer and scripture reading
  ~ Not as good as I would like. At the moment, it’s only happening about once or twice a week. I need to make more effort here. When I do it, I am more at peace in my life and I see the fruits of it in my children and those around me.

Most of these issues have to do with self-discipline, something I often have difficulty with. I’d much rather play with arts and crafts than do the things needed to make life run smoothly on a daily basis. I can see that I need to re-evaluate a little more often, so am planning to do this at the end of June again. I also can see that I need to add a couple of additional goals.

• Purchase a new lap-top computer.
  My current laptop is nearly 9 years old and showing signs of aging and imminent demise. I'm hoping it will hang on until I can replace it!
• Continue with Downsizing efforts.
  I did lots of work getting things sorted and separated, but still haven't actually gotten rid of most of it. I'm also ready for phase two, downsizing what I have in my apartment. The eventual goal is to have NO need for a storage locker. While close, I can't yet do that with what I have at the moment, so I need to keep working towards having less stuff. Mostly I need to get rid of craft stuff and fabric (and a loom), seasonal decorations I no longer use, books and DVDs.
  ~ I purged my closet today of clothes I haven't worn for a while. Next is downsizing my overly large collection of DVDs.
• Return to oil and watercolor painting.
  I've been spending huge amounts of time on crafts for swaps. I've had a lot of fun with it and enjoyed trying some new things. I'd like to continue a few swaps here and there, mostly private ones, and devote more time instead to painting.

Achieving goals takes time. Along the way, I am forging a new way of living for myself. The journey has ups and downs, but overall, I can see that I am making slow but steady progress.