Friday, June 1, 2012

My Happiness Project: May Recap & June Goals and Resolutions

Resolutions vs. Goals (relating to my Happiness Project):  Resolutions are changes that I make in my life that I intend to make a habit.  Goals are milestones I hope to achieve.  Resolutions go on indefinitely.  Goals have an endpoint.  A resolution would be to develop healthier eating habits.  A goal would be to lose five pounds by June 1st.  To achieve a feeling of accomplishment, I need to have a mix of both.

The Happiness Project book was all about making resolutions to become a happier, more fully developed person.  Each month's resolutions would be carried forward into the next month as a new habit, while new monthly resolutions were added.  At the end of the year, there were 11 months of resolutions carried forward.  Small changes made in a month led to huge changes in overall life satisfaction.

I make this distinction because last month I decided on five goals and resolutions.  My goals were completed in May.  My resolutions will be carried forward through June (and beyond).  Hopefully they are becoming new habits that are making a happier and healthier Erin (but I won't be listing the resolutions I am carrying through from month to month. It is a given).  Here is a recap of what I set forth to do and what was accomplished.

Random Fact: It takes something around 21 days to become a habit.  That means doing it every day for three weeks.

1)  Drink...more water:  This resolution turned out to be easy when I was in the office.  I had a water bottle in front of me all of the time, and getting up from my desk to refill it made for a much needed break.  The upside here is that I even lost a few pounds.  The downside is I have to pee all of the time.  Like at 3 in the morning and during rush hour traffic.

2)  Coffee does not a breakfast make:  This resolution also turned out to be an easy one.  I loved hearing (and using) your ideas for quick and portable meals.  Plus, with recipes like Green Chile and Cheese Egg "Muffins" and Leon Granola, I found myself looking forward to breakfast.

3)  Finish the front yard:  This goal is officially complete.  These pictures were taken when everything was newly planted.  Give it a while, and things will settle and spread out.  Hopefully, I will remember to take pictures when this happens.


4)  Go to bed earlier:  OK, this was definitely my hardest resolution, but for the most part I was able to do it.  This means that for the most part I actually got a good nights sleep, and was able to get up with relatively little pain in the morning.  I will probably never magically morph into a morning person, but this is a habit I intend to keep.  The occasional coffee (with breakfast, not for breakfast) also helped.

5) Get Meatball through his recovery:  His scar is fading and his spirit has been restored.  This will be a goal I continue into next month.  We are counting down to the 8 week mark.




June Goals and Resolutions:

1) Become more active in the blogging community:  I have been a terrible blog reader/commenter in the past few months.  I really like to engage with my readers both on my blog and on their respective blogs.  I was really good at this for a long time.  Then I wasn't anymore.  Life got busy.  Work got crazy.  I had to make choices about what I had time for in a day.  I got tagged in posts.  I was lucky enough to receive some blogging awards.  I totally failed at passing them on to anyone.  I want to get back to the basics.  This is going to be my only new resolution for the month, because I think it is going to take some dedication to get myself back on track.  I know I have said this before, but I really do appreciate my readers.

2)  Tweak thine blog:  I am still very much in love with the blog redesign that Jenn over at Munchkin Land Designs did for me last year, but as my blog grows and changes, I am finding myself wanting to tweak a few things.  I actually started this process a while ago, and then life got busy, and I never finished (notice a pattern).  Look for a few changes to come this month.

3) Continue With Meatball's Recovery:  We are now 3 weeks into his recovery, and he is doing a little better every day.  This is the rough part, because the better he feels, the harder it is to keep him from running around.  He needs a full 8 weeks to recover before he can be active again.  Wish us luck and strong sedatives.  

So what about you?  What is weighing you down right now?  What is it that you would like to change in your life this month?  

7 comments:

Carly said...

Great goals! I've also been drinking a lot more water and I find that I always have to pee too! I think that's the only downside though, because my skin seems a little better lately.
xxx

Magdalena said...

Beautiful post!! I love your happiness project! Drinking more water was one of my resolutions too and I did exactly like you did and it really worked!!


Have a great weekend, honey! xoxoxo

rooth said...

This has really gotten me thinking. For June, I think I would like to be less self absorbed and more compassionate. Pretty lofty resolutions right?

Stephanie said...

Such good goals and resolutions (and congrats for accomplishing May's).

My two big goals (resolutions?) for June are to start waking up a little bit earlier (which inevitably means going to bed earlier) and to incorporate more fruits and veggies into my daily meals. I've been keeping a food journal the last two weeks and I realized I'm severely lacking in that area!

Katie said...

I'm super impressed Erin! And how in the world have you kept Meatball calm thus far?! You are a greater woman than I :) Getting back into a workout routine has got me down...that's my biggest goal right now!

lil desiqua said...

Love this! I actually just started reading The Happiness Project myself, so I've been making some similar goals, specifically drinking more water and going to bed earlier. Liking the changes I'm seeing already!

I hope Meatball's recovery continues to go well!

Bad Joan said...

These are good goals! I have to cute back on sweets, I have the worst sweet tooth and zero self control!

GTBB,
Bad Joan
http://badjoan.blogspot.com

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Hi, I'm Erin. I am living back on the east coast after 15 years out west. Currently readjusting to humidity and mosquitos. I love to take pictures and read fashion magazines.... and to talk about nothing in particular (ok, and my dogs).

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