Happy September, friends! August was one part whirlwind and one part slow + steady enjoyment of life. We made some new friends at church and from Charles’ program, went on a short hike and enjoyed some nature nearby, read a lot of books (me for fun, Charles for school), rearranged our living room, bought a couple of new plants, and watched our cats play for hours and hours. Ah, this is what dreams are made of. Now on to September goals.
A little slice of nature in Arlington, VA
Fun Things Happening in September
- Charles starts his 3rd semester of grad school
- I turn 30!
- Charles also has a birthday
- We’ll have visitors from Missouri and Texas
- The 1st day of fall is September 23rd
September Theme: Hope
The word ‘hope’ has been standing out to me in my daily Bible reading lately and I feel like I’m supposed to spend some time thinking about it. To be honest, I don’t think of ‘hope’ as being that integral to a Christian’s daily life or walk with God. It seems like a fluffy, feel-good emotion that lacks weight and importance to me, similar to all those cheesy sayings you see on signs at Hobby Lobby. But I suspect I’m probably wrong on this. If God felt it worth mentioning repeatedly in the Bible, it’s probably pretty important. So this month I’m going to think on and keep my eyes open for hope.
August Goals Recap – 6 out of 8 completed
Use my Write the Word journal every day– I only missed a handful of days so I’m counting this as a win. I enjoyed this exercise even more than I anticipated.Cull 2014-2015 iPhone photos– Done!Trade-in our old iPhones– this is technically halfway done as I haven’t gotten our phones in the mail yet, but I should get to that today so I’m going to count it as a win.Order wedding pictures to hang in our home– They arrived a couple of days ago! Now just to hang them 😉- Schedule a dentist appointment for us both – Did not do
Plant some grass in a pot for our cats, because I’m that type of cat mom!– I did, and our cats love it! Technically Charles and I could eat the wheatgrass too, but I think we’ll get our greens in other forms.Gather information to renew our passports– I know what steps I need to take, now I just need to take them! Honestly, renewing passports is much easier than getting a passport for the first time.- Finish my summer reading list – Out of 15, I’ve finished 5 and am currently reading 5 (I know! So many! But you never know what kind of mood you’ll be in)
September 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 September Goals
- Write a list of 100 Dreams in anticipation of my 30th birthday
- Plan reentry into social media – I decided to take a few weeks off of all social media and when I do get back on, would really like to be purposeful with how I use it
- Paint our dresser – Already bought all the supplies and I’m so excited to see how it turns out!
- Stretch every day – Lately my Achilles tendon and plantar fascia have been bothering me due to lots of walking + high heel wearing and not enough stretching
- Cull 2016 – 2017 iPhone photos – Inching my way closer to the present! There are currently 3,424 recently deleted photos on my phone!
- Create my Fall reading list – Hit me up if you have any suggestions
- Brainstorm meaningful birthday traditions Charles and I can implement – Would also love suggestions on this one
I feel like every month I get better at setting realistic goals AND ones that actually have a positive influence on my life. This is why writing down goals each month has been so useful for me. If I didn’t write them down, I would never get better at setting good goals or would never set any goals at all! Having good goals brings so much purpose to my life and helps me avoid the trap of floating through life without any direction.
Do you write down your goals? I’d love to hear what you have planned this month!
