Happy October, friends! September was a FULL month, but so so good. We celebrated our birthdays, took a day trip to the Shenandoah National Park, had a few visitors in town, and I went to Oklahoma for another work trip. I don’t think we could have packed much more into September. I’m definitely looking forward to slowing down a little with the shorter days and cooler weather this month. Now let’s chat about October goals and happenings.
Fun Things Happening in October
- Meet with friends who will be in town
- A visit to a local winery with friends
- Lots of quiet evenings at home while Charles studies and writes papers 🙂
October Theme: Just do it
There are some things that I’ve been either dreading or putting off that I would love to tackle this month. One of the things that learning about my enneagram type has helped me with the most is that I’ve realized just how much I overthink things instead of taking action on things. There’s no point in planning out the best way to do something if you’re never going to do it. So I’m borrowing from Nike for my motto for this month (and this year really) to ‘just do it.’
September Goals Recap – 4 out of 6 completed
Finishing two-thirds of my September goals felt great, especially since I prioritized my top 3!
Write a list of 100 Dreams in anticipation of my 30th birthday. This is a much harder exercise than I anticipated but so revealing! I would definitely recommend!Plan reentry into social media.I’m trying out media-free mornings. My goal is to wait until after lunch to check social media or email.Paint our dresser. This was a lot work but SO satisfying when complete!- Cull 2016 – 2017 iPhone photos – Didn’t get to this at all.
Create my Fall reading list. In progress but mostly done- Brainstorm meaningful birthday traditions Charles and I can implement – *womp womp* I didn’t do this one at all
A before and after of the dresser I painted. I *just* noticed that I put the middle drawers in on the wrong side! Overall, I’m pleased with how it turned out. I opted out of waxing but I may decide to do another coat of chalk paint and wax in the future.
October Goals
I use eight life categories to give me focus and help me realize if I’m neglecting a particular area of my life. The eight life categories are my environment, career, health, relationships, money, personal/spiritual development, fun, and service. Some of my goals hit more than one category, so I won’t always come up with eight different goals for each category. The great thing about using the categories as a guideline is that it gives me some structure to work with and helps me see if I have any blind spots.
My 7 October Goals
- Write for my blog every day. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount, but I would love to get in the habit of writing a little bit every day.
- Run 15x. It was hard for me to decide how to set a running goal, but I realized that the hardest part for me is just getting out there and doing it. Once I’m out there, I usually do a good job pushing myself to keep working.
- Read my daily Bible reading plan without my phone. I find having my phone within arm’s reach in the morning is just way too big of a temptation/distraction. I’ll have to write down the next day’s reading the night before so I don’t have to check the app!
- Buy and install new window screens. The ones we currently have our super old, screwed into the actual window sill, and have tons of holes in them. Now that the weather’s starting to cool down, I’d love to actually open our windows without worrying about cats getting out and bugs coming in. Not to mention the giant collection of spider webs outside our windows that I can’t get to thanks to non-removable screens.
- Make Friendsgiving plans. Since all our family is a (very expensive) plane ride away, Charles and I are staying in DC for Thanksgiving this year. Any fun non-Turkey-dinner suggestions?
- Get new passport pictures. While Charles and I don’t have any big international trips planned in the near future, it would be nice for us both to get our passports renewed just in case.Â
- Open a new Roth IRA. After reading this book (affiliate link), I’ve looked into our current various investing accounts and have realized that there are some easy changes we can make to lower fees and save a whole lot more money in the long run. I’ll write a post on this soon!
What are your October goals? Any fun things happening in October?
