New Year's Resolution Check-In #2

I recently realized that I never submitted this... whoops! I wrote this for the time period of March 24th to June 30th.

Back in January, I started a different take on having a resolution. I choose one word to work towards. My word was "Success."

Success looks a lot different for different people, so I broke it down into S.M.A.R.T. goals or a set of goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant, and Time-bound. You can read my original article here.

One of the things about making SMART goals is that you have to go back and evaluate them. Are they completed? If not, why not? Do they need extended? Do they need broken down into a smaller goal? Was there a barrier to accomplishing it that needs to be addressed? If they are completed, what is your next goal?

So my first updated goal of the year was: "In the next 3 months, I want to write and publish an article on Vocal at least once per week in order to increase my visibility, to practice consistency, and to work towards feeling successful. Original baseline on 1/1/24 was: last article was 6 months ago. Current baseline on 3/24/24 is: an average of 3-4 articles per month."

From 3/24/24 to 6/30/24 I wrote much less than once a week, but did publish the following articles: A Slow Sunday, What strength is..., Writer's Block, In Memoriam, Bad Decisions, and I am the PROBLEM! That comes out to an average of publishing one article every 2 weeks. Why was it so much less? Well, I have been dealing with some, let's say, interpersonal communication roadblocks in my personal life that required more focus than I could give while still meeting my goals for "Success."

As these interpersonal communication roadblocks in my personal life seem to be scheduled to continue indefinitely at this point in time, I am updating my goal to reflect my new time and energy constraints brought about by prioritizing my family as has always been my main focus.

My new goal is: In the next 3 months, I want to write and publish 1 article on Vocal at least once per month in order to increase my visibility, to practice consistency, and to work towards feeling successful. Original baseline on 1/1/24 was: last article was 6 months ago. Updated baseline on 3/24/24 is: an average of 3-4 articles per month. Current baseline on 6/30/24 is: an average of 2 articles per month.

My second goal of the year was organizing files more effectively, which was accomplished and updated to: "In the next 3 months, I want to pick 1 shelf, drawer, or box of items and either find it a neat home or get rid of it in order to make my home more comfortable, less cluttered, and easier to maintain. Baseline is: Christmas clutter, kid's clutter, project clutter, and very few empty flat spaces in my home that end up cluttering my mind as well."

This goal has been going fairly well, but I did change it to be more specific and a bit more challenging as I continue struggling with the clutter: "In the next 3 months, I want to pick 1 shelf, drawer, or box of items each week and either find it a neat home or get rid of it in order to make my home more comfortable, less cluttered, and easier to maintain while also prioritizing cleaning the dining room table completely off once every other day. Original baseline is: Christmas clutter, kid's clutter, project clutter, and very few empty flat spaces in my home that end up cluttering my mind as well. Updated baseline 6/30/24: kid's clutter, project clutter, and starting to find some empty flat spaces in my home - only they keep disappearing! *giggles* Like the dining room table..."

My third goal was: " In the next 3 months, have a schedule in my planner that has ZERO double-booking spots per month, has time blocked off more consistently for an hour of writing in the early morning, 3 hours for homeschooling (both of my kids are still in preschool), a reasonable set bedtime to strive for to get adequate rest, and has at least 10 minutes between each thing that I have to plan for - whether for myself or for my children - to help ensure that I am utilizing proper coping skills that don't involve thoughts of fleeing the country. Original baseline on 1/1/24 was: 3 double-booking spots last month and 0% consistency for writing, as well as taking a slightly extended vacation from homeschooling (book release, sicknesses, etc.). Current baseline on 3/24/24 is: 1 double-booking spot per month in the last 3 months, 70% consistency for writing, and getting back into the groove for homeschooling despite the set backs in February and my surgery in March. Reasonable set bedtime is... I'll get back to you on that one! *my eyes may be bugging out*"

This goal got completely sidetracked due to the aforementioned interpersonal communication issues that I have been dealing with in my personal life. However, I am immensely proud of myself for continuing to work on homeschooling and writing - even at a lower percentage - throughout the intensity of the stress I have been under since the end of March with only a slight increase in double-booking spots.

I am going to continue this goal with the adaptation of summer schedule: " In the next 3 months, have a schedule in my planner that has ZERO double-booking spots per month, has time blocked off more consistently for an hour of writing in the early morning, adapting to a new schedule with the kid's father while figuring out school for next year, a reasonable set bedtime for myself to strive for to get adequate rest, and has at least 10 minutes between each thing that I have to plan for - whether for myself or for my children - to help ensure that I am utilizing proper coping skills that don't involve thoughts of fleeing the country. Original baseline on 1/1/24 was: 3 double-booking spots last month and 0% consistency for writing, as well as taking a slightly extended vacation from homeschooling (book release, sicknesses, etc.). Updated baseline on 3/24/24 is: 1 double-booking spot per month in the last 3 months, 70% consistency for writing, and getting back into the groove for homeschooling despite the set backs in February and my surgery in March. Current baseline on 6/30/24 is: 2 double-booking spots per month in the last 3 months, 20% consistency for writing, and managing to complete most of the homeschool curriculum for preschool - despite the challenges April, May, and June sent our way. Oh and... let's just not talk about the reasonable set bedtime for myself..."

My fourth goal was: "On 4 out of 7 days, in the next 3 months, I will do at least 1 of each of the following tasks: share someone else's content, follow another account of which I like the content, comment on someone else's post, like a post, and post something original on each of my social media accounts to improve my consistency and follow-through, to increase my visibility, and to work towards feeling successful. My social media's are: Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook." I have still not done very well at this goal with the problems in real life that I have been facing.

I will update this goal to better suit my challenges: "On 1 out of 7 days, in the next 3 months, I will do at least 1 of each of the following tasks: share someone else's content, follow another account of which I like the content, comment on someone else's post, like a post, and post something original on each of my social media accounts to improve my consistency and follow-through, to increase my visibility, and to work towards feeling successful. My social media's are: Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Original baseline on 1/1/24 was: 1 out of 7 days doing a business task in networking/marketing. Updated baseline on 3/24/24 is: 2 out of 7 days doing a business task in networking/marketing. Current baseline on 6/30/24 is: Less than 1 out of 7 days doing a business task in networking/marketing."

My fifth goal was: "In the next 3 months, I will write in my journal 4 out of 7 days to attempt to stay (mostly) caught up to help with my consistency, to help my memories get onto paper so they aren't swirling into a vortex in my mind, and to help with my stress level." Due to the extreme stress I have been under, this goal has gone down the drain so-to-speak with 100+ partial notes for my journal entries.

I am updating this goal to be aligned with some of the newly found challenges in my life: "In the next 3 months, I will write in my journal for 2 hours 1 out of 14 days to attempt to catch back up and to help with my consistency, to help my memories get onto paper so they are not swirling into a vortex in my mind, and to help with my stress level. Original baseline on 1/1/24 was: 60 days of simple notes. Current baseline on 3/24/24 is: 34 days of simple notes with only writing in my journal (a completed entry) an average of 3 out of 7 days. Current baseline on 6/30/24 is: 100+ days of simple notes with only writing in my journal (a completed entry) an average of less than 1 out of 7 days as my emotions have been too hard for me to handle."

My sixth goal was: "In the next 3 months, I will complete the final edits of a long awaited sequel to the first book I ever published: Time In Space. This goal is meant to drive me forward towards continuing to schedule editing time without another major goal. In other words, this is my easy goal. To accomplish this goal, I will edit at least two chapters per week. Original baseline on 1/1/24: haven't touched it in years. Baseline on 3/24/24 is: still haven't touched it..."

This one I am so proud of myself for completing! I completed it despite waiting until the last 2 weeks in June to work on it, despite the aforementioned interpersonal communication issues that have been sky-rocketing my stress level, and despite computer difficulties! *grin* I am proud to announce that Return to Space is available on Amazon as a paperback and as an e-book!

My new goal is: "In the next 3 months, I will compile my journal into the rough draft of TBA: A Schizophrenics Daily Journey Through the Third Year of Motherhood. This goal is meant to drive me forward towards continuing to schedule editing time without another major goal. In other words, this is my easy goal. To accomplish this goal, I will compile 4 months worth of journal notes (in each of the next 3 months) and re-label them while taking out obvious details like names/places/actual dates, into the appropriate Chapter formatting for in depth editing to be completed in October or November. Original baseline on 6/30/24: haven't started the rough draft edits."

These are the 6 goals that I have with the knowledge that working to be successful is only possible if you knew where you are going and a basic outline to get there with S.M.A.R.T. goals... I will be updating these again in 3 months and as of right now, despite struggling with getting used to a brand new routine while dealing with deeply personal interpersonal communication issues, I am alright with the results. I have faced challenges that I never expected to face in these last 3 months and have adapted my version of "success" to better fit in with my current life path and, of course, keeping my kiddos as the priority in my life. *smile*

Feel free to share a SMART goal of your own with me! :-) I really like learning about what goals you might have in your lives. I also hope that following my journey might just inspire you to make SMART-er goals for yourself in the future - as well as be patient with yourself if your SMART goals may not have turned out the way you pictured them turning out!