Because the planning phase was so extensive, I was unable to relate how the first seven days of my 365 Day Journey went. And here we are, a day from the end of Week 2 and my Mid-January Check-In. At this point, I think it would be safer to combine posts instead of bore you guys by cramming more posts down your throats.
So, how has it gone? Well, let me give you a run-down section by section. To compare, January is 42% complete. For future months, my mid-month check in will be at the closest to 50% complete as I can get.
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CAREER - 72% Complete for the Month - So far, so good!
The Good: I am well over where I need to be to hit my target monthly income for January, and I've finished the drawing I need to do for myself. Overall, I'm ahead in this section! I'm also exceedingly proud of the work I've been doing and how well I've been staying on schedule.
The Struggles: I've been commissioned for the right amount of illustrations so far, and I'm definitely adhering to a strict schedule on finishing them. Unfortunately, I'm about to fall a little behind. I confirmed a few more illustrations for this week, all of which should be finished by Friday if I can stay on schedule. That's the catch though. I'm concerned that I won't be able to finish them all by Friday directly. Last week, I had a head start by working over the weekend to finish half of the sketches. This week, I'm being very headstrong: No. Work. On. The. Weekends. The catch will be seeing if I can finish all the illustrations this week and stay on top of my other goals.
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FINANCIAL - 57% Complete for the Month - Ahead and feeling great!
The Good: If I can stay on schedule as I mentioned above, I might be able to exceed my target income for the month. Of course, I may have just jinxed that by saying it publicly, but I'm super stoked. On top of it, I have a bit of padding by having a caricature gig on Monday, January 28th. That gives me a last-minute three-digit padding for the month. Even if I fall behind, there's a really good chance I'll hit my goal anyway. Bonus!
The Struggles: Aaron, my husband, has a flat on his car from one of the tires he needs to replace. This is budgeted for, but not for a few months. I guess I thought the tires would last longer. We're going to have to replace it early - tomorrow in fact. I'm not sure what kind of effect this will have on our finances at this point and will need to sit down with him soon to sort it out. On the bright side, we can pull it from our monthly spending money for Aaron until we can work it out.
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HEALTH - 44% Complete for the Month - On target.
The Good: Stepping on the scale and seeing a pound and a half down was fantastic. In fact, I've lost more weight than I needed to at this point in the game. Hopefully it's not just water weight. I've also started taking my hypothyroid medication again. Haven't skipped a beat there.
The Bad: We've eaten out not once, not twice, but three times in the past three days. Usually it's small, like a single doughnut from QT or a hash brown from McD's, but I'm guilty of two chicken quesadillas from Taco Bell tonight. Groceries, which prevent us from doing such horrible things, are my financial responsibility. Because it's the beginning of the year, I haven't been able to cut myself a paycheck from work until just a couple days ago. On the bright side, it should process on Monday and it's a pretty awesome paycheck. I don't mind dipping into savings knowing that paycheck is coming. So tomorrow, after Aaron fixes his car, we're heading to the store.
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HOME - 0% Complete for the Month - You had one thing to do, Marietta. One thing!
The Bad: I haven't even started. Not even a tiny bit. I need to organize my computer and I'm slacking this month.
The Good: After I post this blog entry, I'm going to get on top of that. Expect that number to change on my January 2013 Goals post by morning.
Edit: 100% complete now! Booyah! It pays to do mid-month check-ins!
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KNOWLEDGE - 27% Complete for the Month - Behind but kickin'.
The Good: By staying on top of my thyroid meds, I've also stayed on top of my supplements. I've definitely been feeling less groggy and dense, so that's a load of help.
The Bad: I haven't started my book for the month. It's something I plan to jump on tomorrow. I also have only been doing mental exercises on days I have to take my mom to physical therapy. I want to do daily mental exercises. Fortunately, my husband found a pretty neat app for the phone that should help me fix this. As soon as I've had sufficient experience with it, I'll do a review!
PERSONAL - 46% Complete for the Month - Right on schedule.
The Good: A lot of the goals in this section come from other sections. Also, most of the goals in this section I've already gotten a head start on, such as completing one illustration for myself or losing 1.5 pounds already. The main goal that's separate is staying on the schedule I created for myself in my planner - and I've been doing pretty well at that.
The Bad: What's actually pulling this number down is spiritual. I'll hit that section in just a moment anyway.
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RELATIONSHIP - 100% Complete for the Month - Spontaneous date night success?
The Good: Aaron and I had our date night tonight, albeit a bit spontaneously. He and I chose to do a movie night in for January. We had been planning it for the last week of January but I was so amazingly bored this evening. Hey, I'm a freelancer. I haven't had a weekend off since 2010, but my new schedule gives me weekends off. I seriously don't know what to do with my new found time!
The Bad: There's really no bad to this goal as long as we complete it. I think we're still going to hold out for the last week of January though and do it again as planned. Double the date nights, double the fun!
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SPIRITUAL - 15% Complete for the Month - Oops.
The Good: I have started meditating more often.
The Bad: It's been... twice. And once while I had a migraine so I could "escape" the pain. I don't know if that really counts. But I did head downstairs tonight and do a small session. If I can get more on top of this, expect to see this number go up fast.
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OVER ALL FOR JANUARY: 45% Complete
Biggest success so far? Making nearly 3/4ths of my desired income for the month in the first two weeks. That made me really excited.
What I need to work on the most? Organization. I'm so lazy about organizing things because I know how OCD I get once I start. It always turns into a larger chore than I anticipated. This month's goal isn't even a physical organization but getting my computer cleaned up. Yeah, gonna go do that soon.
What I'm the most worried about? Getting my commissions done on time having taken the weekend off. Also, losing the full three pounds this month now that we've eaten out so much. Might have to throw in some extra exercise nights to burn the calories.
What am I the least worried about? Despite having not touched it yet, I'm the least worried about reading my book. The book I chose was short (250 pages) and instructional, which means I'll blaze through it once I pick it up. I just have to get there.
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