Month in Review | | New Goals

Hi Friends!

Welp, February is here, the month of love. I saw a meme the other day that said something to the effect of "It's seven months into 2019 and it is still January" and that is an accurate representation of how I feel. This month has gone by like a snail. I feel like it has been January for a century. Maybe it is because it started with a week off of work, or because I'm looking forward to Spring Break. Usually it is the opposite for me, and I feel like time passes before I even have a chance to enjoy it. Not this month! Perhaps it has taken so long to get to the end of January because all the excitement is over, and we're all just so ready for summer time (or at the very least, warmer temps). Not matter how I feel about it, February is here!

Since January is over and 2019 is my year of being purposeful, I thought it fitting that I should let you know what kind of success I've had with the five goals I set. I will just preface with this: I'm disappointed in myself, but I am not being hard on myself. I didn't want to write this post at all, but I am holding myself accountable to you.

I set a goal for the month in five different areas of my life (read all the details here). The goals are feasible, things I know I can get done if I set my mind to it, but still challenging enough to well, challenge me (eloquent, I know). I find it much easier than setting a big long term goal over twelve months. I have a hard time remembering goals for the month, much less twelve months! So here they are:

Personal: Clean Out My Storage Room

Didn't do this, not one bit. Every time I thought about it, I just didn't want to (so terrible, I know, but in my defense, it is always freezing in there).

Financial: Pay Off My Student Loan

I am so close to paying it off! I really wanted to but the timing of when I got paid just didn't work out to make this happen. It should definitely be happening by March if I plan correctly (yay adult things).

Spiritual: Prayer Journal Daily

Finally, success. I didn't prayer journal on the weekends, but I did prayer journal every day of the week! It was so nice and I LOVE IT. 10/10 recommend to anyone. It is a great way to stay focused when you are in the middle of praying, and you can see how your prayers change and what has been answered, and how God works in your heart.

Fitness + Nutrition: Running Program/No Sweet Drinks

This was successful too! Though the running ended early (before I did every day of the program) I still got it done in January! Running aggravates my knee so much so I'm not going to continue it. I also only had a sweet drink twice! I definitely kicked the soda cravings and when I did have soda again, it did not taste as good. If you have a habit of soda cravings, I recommend one month off and it should definitely help kick it!

Blog + Instagram: Plan Photos for Both

I did this too, and I am happy I did! However I did stopped posting on Instagram half way through the month because I was just tired of it (post on this coming soon!). The creative challenge was really enjoyable.

It was a fairly successful, goal-achieving month. I know I could have done better and I will do better in February. The two goals that I didn't complete (financial + home) I will add to February as a consequence to myself for not getting it done. I WILL go clean my storage room up this weekend. I WILL!

So what are my NEW goals for the month? I have five new ones I am excited to attempt, and hopefully achieve (hopefully way more successfully than January. COME ON, KAYDEE, GET IT TOGETHER!).

I will live more purposefully, and try harder this month. I think I will set specific dates for certain things and set reminders on my phone to help keep the goals at the forefront of my mind. That way I can come back in March and write this post again with more success and confidence. Honestly, seeing how unsuccessful I felt I was made me not want to write this and keep going. But we all mess up and there is always a new day to try again! So let's get it!

Spiritual Goal: Tithe Faithfully

Giving to the church and missions is a challenge for any Christian. Greed and worry suck the desire to give right out of us as soon as we see that paycheck deposited. However, I know that my church NEEDS my giving, and missionaries NEED my giving. Therefore I have committed February to giving faithfully. Obviously I will continue this with the Lord's help and reminding all year. I am instilling the habit in February, one I pray I continue throughout the year and the rest of my life. After all, it isn't through my own doing that I have the wonderful job I do have, it's all because of God's grace.

Personal Goal: Clean Out My Storage Room/Cook More Often

Because I failed the first part of this goal in January, I am trying again in February *facepalm* but ya girl WILL GET IT DONE! MY STORAGE ROOM WILL BE ORGANIZED. Also, I enjoy cooking but I need more practice. My husband really enjoys cooking and therefore does 95% of the cooking for us, but I want to make an effort to learn more and do more! I did cook a meal last week and baked cookies (but baking is super easy for me). This isn't really for any specific purpose other than having fun.

Fitness + Nutrition Goal: Get a Pull-Up + Track Food Regularly

I used to be able to do a pull-up, so I want to get back to it and master it. It is hard, but on March 1st I will get a pull-up! It like, the basic strong person move. If you can't do a pull-up, do you even lift? For tracking food, I don't really count macros, but I think it is really important to know what you are eating. Especially if I want to gain strength, I need to make sure that I hit my calories and my protein intake. So I will be tracking my food through the LifeSum app! There are ton of different apps that I have used, but this one is cute and fun. It helps you track water, exercise, meals, snacks, and weight. It even has special programs you can buy with recipes for different goals.

Financial Goal: Save More + Pay Off Loan

My husband and I want to be able to buy a house in the summer of 2020, so we need to save more. We have quite a bit saved already, but we want to save enough for a down-payment on a home and not completely drain our savings account. The way I plan on doing this is faithfully putting 10% of every paycheck into savings. I learned the rule in a personal finance class in college that 10% savings, 10% giving (tithe) and 80% to live off of, we'll see how that goes! Secondly, I have to reattempt a January goal again and pay off my student loan, that way my payments for that can help us pay off other things and help us improve our overall finances! I'm SO CLOSE and I can't wait to see it paid off.

Blog/Instagram Goal: Post Everything on the Blog and Nothing on Instagram

As I said earlier in this post, I am OVER Instagram. My goal is to post anything I would post on Instagram, here on Coffee with Kaydee instead through daily posts. Instagram has become a really negative space for me and I have decided to dedicate all my creative efforts to this blog instead! I think I will eventually go back to Instagram, but for now I need a break and need to stop scrolling SO MUCH. I don't post anymore (other than to share that I've written a new post here), but I do scroll a lot. It is not the best habit, so I am trying to cut it down.

These are my goals for the month of February and I am ready to accomplish them! Goals are important to productivity and living a purposeful and enjoyable life, but keeping yourself accountable is half the battle when it comes to actually reaching those goals. What are your goals for this month? Were you successful in last months goals? Let me know, we're in it together!