This year, inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s book, I’ve been doing a Happiness Project, focusing on one important aspect of my life every month. Last month’s goals were all about blogging, while October’s focus is mindfulness. The idea is that the months should build on one another and the habits formed in one month should continue into the next and so on. Each month I share my wins from the previous month, as well as goals that fit the theme of the current month.
Also to welcome the month I’m joining Anne for her monthly Currently linkup to share what I’m up to at the start of this fresh new month and season.
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| Photo by Kenrick Mills on Unsplash |
{september wins}
I dedicated September to blog-related tasks, and I have to say I feel pretty good about what I accomplished! Here are my blog wins for the month.
– Joined Amazon’s affiliate program. I doubt this will be a huge money-maker for me, but it made sense because I already link to Amazon in my book posts.
– Updated my blog and social media bio picture. It was time for a refresh!
– Updated my About page.
– Updated my Instagram bio and created highlight covers for my Instagram stories. (I used Canva to do that and it was so easy! I just googled a tutorial.)
– Created a blog game plan. Right now I’ve decided that posting twice a week is the most manageable schedule for me. My goal is to make one of those posts a style post, and the other a more “lifestyle” type of post (e.g. book reviews, goals, etc.). I really enjoy doing style posts so I’m trying to get back to the root of what I enjoy most about blogging.
– Created a long-term blog goal. Since I’m only posting twice a week, I would eventually like to create a newsletter to share content that I don’t have time to fit in on the blog: things like favorite recipes I tried, beauty/hair products I like, parenting hacks, etc. I like to read newsletters that are super short and contain practical takeaways, so that is the kind of thing I’m imagining.
{non-blog wins}
– Read 6 books. I’ll share more about them in my book recap post next week.
– Jona played in his first tee ball game of the season. Due to rain or other issues he missed the first couple of games, but he made it to almost all of the others and he loves it! I’m not too sad the last game is this weekend though.
– Had a date night with Aaron. We went to BRGR for a casual dinner (and a spiked milkshake for me!) and then to a chilly Royals game. We didn’t stay for the whole game but after we left the Indians ended up beating us 14-6. We are terrible right now.
{october goals}
This month I’m working on mindfulness, which is a bit challenging to quantify.
– Meditate for at least 5 minutes daily. I started this habit a couple of months ago, but it’s one I hope to continue, especially this month.
– Create mantras. I like the idea of repeating a short phrase to myself to encourage positive thoughts and redirect negative ones.
– Spend more time in the present moment. (Or, in the most recent hilarious words of Violet, “Put your phone down, mama.” Yes, she really said that. Actually it was “dada” but no doubt I’ll get it from her soon too.)
– Stimulate the mind in new ways. I’ve really been wanting to take Jess Lively’s Flow With Intention Online course, and this would be the month to do it! It’s just a matter of coughing up the dough.
– Read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I’ve never read anything by him before, he’s always seemed a bit “out there” for me. But when I think of mindfulness and being present, he definitely comes to mind. Any other books relating to mindfulness that you’d recommend?
{currently: october}
I meant to include this in my style post on Monday, but I completely forgot! So (a day late), here’s what I’m currently up to.
{wearing} ankle boots. Is it already that time? Sure we’ve had plenty of days where flats + bare ankles were in order (and honestly, sandals), but thrown into the mix have been downright chilly days as well. I unearthed my ankle boots from the back of the closet and they’re now back into the regular rotation. For some reason I eagerly pull those out but try to put off tall boots (and tights!!) for as long as I can.
{collecting} fall decor, slowly. I’ve never been much of a seasonal decorator, other than Christmas, but I’m slowly getting on the fall bandwagon. I bought some fall soaps for our bathrooms, and found a fall wreath for my door at HomeGoods. Jona helped me pick out some small pumpkins to decorate our mantel as well. A fall catalog my house is not, but it’s more festive than it was before!
{making} all the Crock Pot dishes. Something about fall makes me want to put everything in the slow cooker. Since school has started, our schedules have been a lot busier, so having something ready to go is so nice. Plus, doesn’t it feel so cozy to be greeted at the door by the smell of something good cooking? A recent slow-cooker favorite was Crock Pot Thai Yellow Curry from Everyday Reading. It had SUCH good flavor and I swear the leftovers tasted even better.
{taking} shortcuts. In my first couple of years as a mom, like many other moms I’m sure, I had that “I can do it all!” mentality. I can cook dinner every night; I can always give my child healthy snacks; I can come up with creative Halloween costumes every year; I can plan Pinterest-inspired birthday parties. Now I laugh at my naïveté. I’ve embraced a new concept: play to my strengths. You know what is NOT my strength? Birthday parties. Or Halloween costumes. With the help of Amazon, Violet will still have a cute superhero second birthday party, but it will likely be a very simply decorated one. And when Jona said he wanted to be Black Panther for Halloween, I snagged that costume on sale at Marshalls and feel very good about that decision.
{planning} Violet’s second birthday. Since birthday party planning is NOT my love language, I’m not doing any strenuous planning for this one. However, I did find some cute superhero-themed decorations and goodies (like little masks!) on Amazon. And since playing with Jona’s superhero action figures is her favorite thing, I’m also planning to get her a little Wonder Woman action figure as well. We need some female superhero representation at my hosue!
What are your goals and plans for October?
