First, a recap of my June 2012 goals:
- Visit 3 castles. Kind of done? I took a day trip with a demanding hike out to Burg Eltz, then Krystal and I scaled the ruins of castle steps in Esslingen, and more often than not I wandered into a building or two in every city that I wasn’t sure if it was a church or a castle. So now I have to go back to Germany in the future to see more castles.
- Don’t run out of Euros. Done! 500 EU ended up being enough cash for food & getting around in Europe. Shopping I charged to my credit cards.
- Make a 5-year plan. Done! I was feeling pretty good about the amount of awesome I had crammed into the next five years, but then I ran into München and realized there are so many things in life you cannot control. I don’t know how much of my list needs an adjustment.. if anything, I just need to scale it down and relax a little bit so I don’t burn out.
July 2012 Goals
- Go to yoga at least 4 times. My body needs this so bad after lugging a suitcase around Europe for 3 weeks and spending so many hours cramped in tiny plane seats! I want to get into the habit of going to yoga every 3 or 4 days, because otherwise my shoulders cramp up pretty badly. I only have time for once-a-week-ish this month, but hopefully I can increase it in August.
- Make a plan to buy some much needed household items. I smashed my full-length mirror a month or two ago, my bedsheets have holes in them, I need a summer comforter, a new shoe rack, and some wine glasses… well, the list is long. I generally get distracted from buying home stuff and go get shoes instead, but there’s so many moments when I’m frustrated I don’t have another cookie sheet or need a food processor, that I do think it’s time to start making my house into a home. My sister and I are going to IKEA on Thursday and I have some gift cards for Bed, Bath and Beyond, so even though my cash flow is limited I think I might be able to pick up some items.
- Claim my mornings. At the suggestion of Bruce Bucks’ recent post, I went ahead a downloaded the eBook about using your mornings for productivity instead of half-awake stumbling to the kitchen to get the coffee on. Thanks to jet-lag, I’ve been up early since I got home, so this is an ideal time to make it a habit. I’ll be using my mornings to clean my apartment (something I “never have time for” at the end of the work day), make delicious breakfasts and prepare lunch for work, catch up on reading books & blogs over coffee, and generally take some time to get a head start on my day with planning & goal-setting before anything else has a chance to grab my attention. 6am & I = friends for life.
- Add 500+ new words in German to my vocabulary. I took a 10 week German class April through June which helped considerably before I left for my trip. While abroad, my German approached a level of adequacy to the point that I’m comfortable with simple formal interactions but my overall language skills are still lacking. I’m continually comparing it to French, which I know isn’t fair — I began learning French when I was four years old! — but I am making the effort to achieve some fluency in German. I have gone ahead and hired a private tutor to meet with me weekly, and I think I will go ahead and drop in on my Oma & Opa every weekend so I can spend another few hours practicing German conversation. This article about how to learn a language in 90 days is excellent, and I’m implementing the suggestion to learn ~30 new words every day.
- Earn an extra $1,000 this month. I know, this is a huge amount. I’m setting such a figure for two reasons: 1) I desperately, desperately need it for reasons I will explain in a post later this week and 2) I’ve already brought in an extra $400 for July and am expecting at least another $300-$400, so really I’m just bridging a gap of a few hundred dollars. Ideally, I would like to see my side income to always be $1,000+/mo and this month is as good of a time to begin as any!
What are your goals this month?
Need to know what happened in Munchen! Big lesson learned re: control. Living in the moment is key.
Other than to not blow my budget? AGAIN? :)
Not much, really… but I feel as though I need to be more SOMETHING. Organized, less cluttered… I want to devote some time to re-packing my bags and assessing how much I can really carry and how much I can get rid of so that moving becomes easier and easier, especially since I don’t really wear all my dresses (truthfully)…
Your packing & travel tips are a godsend. It made it so much easier to go to Europe this time around.. though I have to implement more. My carry on bag sucked.
I get up 15 minutes earlier than I need to (5:45am) and find that I get a lot more done by doing this. I make my lunch, feed my cat, water my flowers and I’ve been feeling so much better for doing this. And it’s me time! My fiance sleeps until he absoulutly has to get up so I get these 15 minutes to myself. I’m trying to move it to 5:30 so I can start getting a quick workout in as well but we’ll see!
WOOOHOO on completing your goals! I’ve never been to yoga. How sad is my life?
lol that IS pretty sad! I LOVE yoga!
The goal was to work out more but after I bruised my ribs on Saturday I think it will have to wait for a week or so. Going to have to kick it in high gear once I’m healed. Good luck earning the extra money and learning more of the German Language.
I hope you got as much out of the book as I did. Although its such a short book, its a good motivational tool to be productive and intentional about our mornings. Good Luck with your July 2012 Goals.
I worked on a 5 year and 10 year plan in June as well. You inspired me!
My goals for this month are: 1) actually go out on dates, 2) get my elusive Admiral Shares index fund, 3) pay down the mortgage a bunch (~$15,000 – yay bonus month), and 4) start and stick to a new fitness routine now that I’m done with moving.
$15K is ballin!
Admiral Shares are awesome! I did a little happy dance when I hit that level. Not only because it was awesome to save some money but because it was awesome how much I had saved to get to that point!
I’m reducing how much money I set aside for non-tax-advantaged investing, but I really wanted to hit the Admiral shares level, so I did that first. It’s even harder because you have to reach $10,000 in a non-401(k) account!!
I have been to one yoga class with my wife (it was prenatal) and I was the only guy there. At the end when they did the “relaxation and meditation” thing I passed out hard (what can I say, I’m really good at relaxing) and started snoring. I was so mortified I have never been back. Other than that it was enjoyable.
No goals for July, I know I am terrible, but I have just been so busy with the new baby and family in town to see the new baby I haven’t gotten around to it.
Don’t be embarrassed! That is NOT uncommon. Pretty sure yoga teachers are very used to waking people up at the end of class because many people fall asleep!
I am not very productive in the morning. Usually I do stumble into the kitchen and try waking up with some coffee. I would be interested to see how your morning productivity goes when the jet lag is over. :)
I’m totally swiping your first 3 goals. I’ve been itching to get back to yoga, but shift work is doing a good job of getting in the way. I’m tired of waiting for my renos to be finished before starting to style my home. It takes too bloody long! I need a couple mirrors/desks/chairs to make my home more functional. Tomorrow “morning” I’m going to continue decluttering my basement. May as well make the best of the oppressive heat and do something useful.
Definitely need to do (iced) coffee though!
To go to pilates like crazy (re: often) and eat better.
I’ve been wanting to try hot yoga for aaaaages, maybe I finally will… though it’s so hot out lately they won’t need to add any hot. lol. Curious about the next post this week and glad to see you made it home in one piece.
How did you find your tutor and are they reasonably priced? I want to find a tutor myself! Great goals, best of luck!
Good luck on your goals!
I only have one goal this month… Finish my essay due tomorrow… which I am uhh… procrastinating with right now. O_O;;