I didn’t get much into resolutions for 2018, being that I am V.FOCUSED on grad school. Though as the first few months of the year have unfolded and I find myself into new rhythms of my personal and professional life, I needed to be more intentional about a few things.

I set a book goal at the beginning of the year, challenging myself to read two books per month, and I’m actually one book ahead right now! I started a daily meditation practice a few weeks ago, too, and I am already recognizing the benefit of it – but also seeing the difficulty of attempting to do something every.single.day. Especially for 10 minutes! That sounds so silly that I cannot sit still for ten whole minutes, but there are some days where it is exceptionally painful (not physically).

I am a work in progress!

That said, the nightly sleep meditations put my ass RIGHT down that I can barely countdown to 997 before I realize that I’m awakening and it’s morning.

Here’s what I got for March:

1. I haven’t done this yet, but I plan to find one day every other week – at least 2 hours – where I am working outside of my home. I miss Coffee Shop Life, and I have yet to explore some of the awesome local establishments since moving to Des Moines. This also fulfills two areas of interest for me. Note to self: remember to bring your charge cords next time?

2. Connect with a friend – old or new – each and every week. Real conversations on the phone and in-person have done beautiful things for my happiness. I am answering the phone (GASP!). I am returning calls. I am being intentional about meeting up with friends – and connecting with people I’ve met here locally and haven’t been good about regularly keeping in touch.

3. Do 3 things out of my comfort zone this month. This is a good number that is realistic but challenging, and also considers my energy levels and weeks where my school workload ebb-and-flows.

4. Visit one new local establishment, restaurant, shop, museum. Again, this kind of piggy-backs on my first goal, but I have a list of places that I want to visit and it’s time to start exploring.

5. Start a reflection journal for school. This was a goal that I set for myself at the beginning of the quarter in January, and I STILL haven’t started it. Geesh.

I guess if I would have to pick a word for the year, it would be “intentional.” Maybe I should add that to my One Word Project! I’d also like to get another one of those posts up this month. So I guess that I have 6 goals this month!

TOOT TOOT!

This month celebrates women, with this past Thursday celebrating International Women’s Day. Come over to Hello & High Five to read an interview with me – one of their featured “She-roes” – where I share my own motivations and goals, how I made friends after moving to Des Moines, who my own women heroes are, and how I “do it all” (spoiler alert: I can’t!).