2014 Knowledge Goals: Quiero Hablar en Español de Nuevo.

Boy I hope I didn't butcher that title.  It's been a while.

Last year, my knowledge goals were lengthy and repetitive.  A lot of it required me to get back on my thyroid medication and supplements.  Without them, I run around in a fog of forgetfulness and numb brain.  It's difficult and frustrating, considering my schooling history.  I want to consider myself a fairly well-rounded and knowledgeable person but I just can't when my thyroid is going nuts.

With my thyroid better under control this year, I want to focus on something I've lost over the past few years: my ability to speak Spanish fluently.  Once upon a time, I was certified.  Once upon a time, I could dream in Spanish.  Now, I can pick up key phrases and generally understand most written word if it's at a basic level, but speaking it or holding a conversation is completely out of my league.

Aaron now works for a company called Grupo Antolin, which is based in Spain.  They offered the employees Rosetta Stone so they could begin picking up Spanish.  Not only do I think this is a fantastic idea and a potential way I could get back into fluency, but my primary aimed accent was Latin American, namely Mexican.  I'd love the change up.  It's like an accent coach training you to speak with a British accent.  Exciting!  So my primary goal for this year in Knowledge is to Relearn Basic Spanish.

To be honest, I don't know exactly when Aaron is getting the Rosetta Stone set.  If he doesn't receive it by mid-summer, I'll invest in taking basic Spanish again at our local community college.  I'll have to sort everything out as it comes.

In addition to that goal, I want to keep my goal from last year of Reading 12 Books.  And this year, I have it well sorted out ahead of time!  With help from my friends and a few reading lists, I got a hefty list of books I should at least attempt to read.  In knowing that I may not like every book I pick up, I've selected three books a month that I can choose from.  Should I be unable to get past the first chapter of a book, I can pick up another book and try again!

The first column focuses on mostly what I read last year: pagan and spiritual books.  The second column focuses more on fantasy and sci-fi, but wears down to some books that belong in the third column towards the end.  This is primarily because I didn't want to add sequels or other books in full sets if I didn't like the first one to begin with.  You may see an updated list later that adds in the rest of the Hunger Games or Harry Potter series.  Who knows!  The third column looks towards book lists of "Books You Should Read Before 30" and "Foreign Books Everyone Should Read."

So back to my goal table:

For my monthly goal template, I do want to leave space for my habit goal of daily mental exercises.  Again, this will be listed as "Done" or "Not Done" and will have no affect on my completion percentage.  It's more just there as a reminder.

KNOWLEDGE - 0% Complete

Relearn basic Spanish (Rosetta Stone). – 0% complete.

Read one book. – 0% complete.

Daily mental exercises. – Done | Not Done

Some notes:  None.

Only three more till completion!

Next time on The Progressive Planner:

My 2014 Personal Goals.

Question for my readers:

What are your 2014 knowledge goals?

Looking Forward

My husband has been in Michigan all week for training.  In just two short days, he'll be back home, even if "home" is currently the most temporary thing in our lives.  When I asked him how he likes his job so far, he told me he actually really loves it.  Music to my ears, particularly during this chaotic week.

I'm currently sitting here sweating at my desk.  The AC in the rental house is out again for the third time.  I can't wait to live in a place where I can just call a maintenance guy.  And, honestly, even if maintenance isn't fantastic, I can figure an apartment AC out a lot better than the archaic thing we have in the downstairs boiler room.  I honestly wonder if that thing is even powerful enough to cool the house we live in.  Wait, no, I know it isn't because my roommates live on the top floor and it's always sweltering up there.  I think it breaks down so much because it gets overworked.  Despite that, it's significantly cooler tonight.  Not looking forward to packing the kitchen tomorrow in the heat, but I'll cope.

I'm also coping with packing and working at the same time while Aaron's away.  It's tough.  I feel like I need a spare me to get everything done - particularly my commissions, which no doubt are suffering from goingtobelateosis.  I don't like being late on anything.  It makes me feel unprofessional.  Of course, I always give notice and my commissioners have always been so understanding.  Couldn't ask for a better job.

So while I'm in the middle of a bit of chaos, albeit optimistic chaos, I'd like to take a moment to look forward to the future.  Since Aaron's job seems to be working out well, we have some things on a list that we're in desperate need of replacing.  One of them is a part of one of my major goals this year - we need a new mattress, box spring and set of pillows.  Aaron and I have spent the last few years duct taping springs back into his decade old, or maybe even older, mattress.  A couple months ago, I got jabbed to the point of blood.  Never mind that some of the pillows I have came from my grandmother who passed away when I was 12.  You can feel the cotton in them clumped.  I spend many a night sleeping on our futon or my roommate's couch than I do my own bed because it's not comfortable, nor does it feel sanitary given its age.  However, because our previous finances, a mattress just never seemed possible.

Not getting a new mattress was one of the many financial "sacrifices" Aaron and I made every year.  We'd take a look at our budget every year, try to work it in, and then something would explode and we'd scrap the idea.  Not this year.  Instead of moving our old, worn out and broken mattress to the new apartment, we're trashing it and getting a new mattress the first week.  I'm super excited to sleep on a fresh, clean, comfortable mattress!

In addition, my digital camera failed me last December.  This was something I'd had on our list of things to buy this year but scrapped it to pay for car repairs for Aaron.  I'd like to get something decent but still point-and-shoot.  Something that would work great for photographing sabbat celebrations for Witchy Words.

After getting the new mattress and camera, we'll probably batten down the hatches and hold out for late November.  During that time, we'll be able to save up more than I've ever thought possible - in fact, I anticipate having our target savings for the year completed by the time Aaron rounds out his 90 days.  In addition, I really want to make sure this job is a good fit and that his company views Aaron as an asset.  We'll know that by the end of November.  And what better way to celebrate it than participating in our first Black Friday ever!

A few years ago, I invested in a cheap laptop.  The lemon of a thing maybe lasted me 6 months before I was mailing it off for repairs.  When I got it back, it was in even worse shape.  I've taken with me on long trips and dealt with its issues, but it's to the point now where it's not even feasible for me to work on it.  As it is right now, it works to watch workout videos but pretty much nothing else, and that's when you can get the stupid thing to turn on. I desperately need a new laptop.  Being able to work away from home or, hell, even in a different room of the apartment, would be fantastic.  It's something I'm regretting I don't have right now while I sit here in the heat.  I could be downstairs if that damn thing worked.  So there's something I'd like to invest in this year.  This will be my Christmas gift to myself.

Something's wrong with our TV's RCA connection.  Has been for about two years.  We haven't been able to hook up anything that requires it, like a DVD player or some of our game systems, because you don't get sound when you do.  It'd been a problem we've dealt with by simply avoiding it.  This year, I'd like to get a simple, cheap flat screen that actually has working hook-ups!  That will be my Christmas gift to Aaron.

The final thing I'm wanting this year is something I wanted ever since Aaron picked up our first cat, Nyx: a cat tree.  A nice one.  Something tall that Hermes can climb up and hide near the ceiling.  Something that has a stern base so Zeus can take his claws to it.  Something that I can hang toys off of, or drench in catnip.  Artie, my dog, has all the toys in the world and more sweaters than I can even count.  It's time I do something for the cats more than bell balls, feather toys and the occasional catnip dump in the entry way.  That will be my Christmas gift to my fuzzy babies.

And of course there's a few small things sprinkled into all of that.  The pets have their yearly vetting coming up this September/October.  I'd like to find out what I can do for Zeus's asthma and get Hermes a blood test - he hasn't had one since we first got him.  I'd like to go to the Six-Week Slim Down course for the fall session.  I didn't last year and my weight suffered.  I'd also like to invest in some wall shelves for my spiritual room at the apartment.

So quickly and for future reference, here's some items I'd like to have purchased before the year is over:

• Mattress Done!
• Box spring Done!
• Four pillows Done!
• A new sheet and comforter set Done!
• A digital camera
• Laptop Done!
• TV
• Cat tree

The last month of the year will be light.  All the Christmas gifts will be bought and we'll be back to saving again.  Heck, even buying everything I want to buy, we'll still have some spare to save.  At the beginning of the year, I'd like to reassess our finances and our savings.  If we have spare money, I want to throw it at the higher interest student loans Aaron has.

Previously, I made a list of things I want to do next year.  Some ideal goals to achieve for 2014.  I'd like to bring that back and add some things to the list.

Become an active participant in the KC Pagan Community (spiritual).

Attempt to attend all sabbat rituals led by Lushede Grove.

Attend at least four Coffee Covens.

Attend at least two Mystic Treasures classes.

Get my own health insurance, either through Aaron or myself. (health/financial).

Begin looking into investing money and retirement options as a freelancing illustrator (financial/career).

Buy a dining room table (home/financial).

Begin thrift shopping again and update Thrifty Difty (personal).

Make an effort for a weekly post.

Begin a balcony/indoor garden growing the following (health/spiritual).

Herbs: Basil, bay, mint, sage.

Vegetables: Cucumber, carrots, leaf lettuce, tomato, spinach.

Fruit: Blueberries, lemon tree.

Other: Aloe, garlic.

Buy our first tent so we can camp more often (relationship/financial).

Swap all of our storage items and memory boxes from cardboard to tupperware and reorganize (home).

Be able to speak basic Spanish again by taking two courses at the local community college (knowledge).

Spring: Elementary Spanish 1

Fall: Elementary Spanish 2, Latin American Humanities.

Continue in 2015 by taking Intermediate Spanish 1 & 2, and interpreting courses.

Learn how to swim (health).

Attend one convention related to my career (career).

Get a set of armchairs (home/financial).

Maintain savings and add an additional 20% (financial).

Complete a Wreck This Journal (personal).

Pay off 1/3rd of Aaron's student loans, starting with the highest interest (financial).

Climbing the Ladder

This week is all about what it takes to make it to the next rung of my goal ladder.  It's eerily like sprinting towards the finish line after jogging a long marathon.  There's a lot to be done and I plan on seeing it through.

The primary areas that I haven't succeeded in this month are mental exercises, reading and meditating.  I've found these easy to push aside for things like work and dieting.  This week, I've scheduled in extra time specifically to those areas.  I should be able to finish my book by Saturday if I stick to it.  I'll be meditating every other day to make up for not having touched it the past few weeks.  I'll also be increasing memorization and memory games this week.  If I can stick to the schedule, I'll have no problems marking those items at 100% on my final check-in.

As I mentioned in my last journal, I've been unable to weigh myself this past week.  I'm looking forward to Wednesday when I can find out where I am on my diet and adjust accordingly.  This may mean adding in extra exercise hours or cutting down my calories a bit to make sure I hit my goal.  I ate out only once on a night where my husband worked until 10 PM.  As he's the chef of the house, that put us in a tight spot for food.  When I ordered, I cut back so significantly on what I would typically get that I still stayed within my diet.  I'm pretty proud of that.  Otherwise, I've been staying on top of my salads and have been tracking my meals with MyFitnessPal.com.  I wasn't supposed to be tracking my meals until around March, but I decided to start it early in hopes of hitting my goal weight for this month right on time.

Tomorrow I need to call to my doctor's office to find out how much my thyroid lab work is without insurance and how long it takes to process.  Depending on his answer, I could be getting it as soon as the last week of January.  I'm hoping I can push it as close to the 18th of February as I can.  That day marks the last of my levothyroxine.  I'll also need to ask how often I'll need my lab work done.  I know the last time I was there, they were thinking of every three to six months.  That'll tell me how many times I'll have to go to fulfill my goal of keeping up with my blood work.

More or less, here's a quick list summary of the above.  Think of it as a to do list for this week.

1. Meditate every other day.
2. Finish my current book.
3. Use my memory phone application every day.
4. Weigh myself on Wednesday. Weighed early and under weekly goal!
5. Adjust my diet and exercise accordingly. No need.
6. Call my doctor's office about my thyroid tests. Around $40.  Results in the next day.

Also, as we see the first day of February next week, I'm starting to look forward to goals I have specifically for that month.  Here's a list of things I need to do sometime before January 31st to prepare for February's goals:

1. Decide on a theme for my personal illustrations.
2. Sketch out thumbnails for my personal illustrations.
3. Sit down with my husband and our bank accounts to analyze our budget.
4. Divide February's home organization goal of the office into four smaller chores for each week.
5. Get two clear water bottles so I can mark the hours of the day on them to ensure 8 glasses of water a day in February.
6. Get a jar to put money in for each pound lost.
7. Get some loose ones to put in the jar for each pound lost.
8. Select a new book to read.
9. Plan out February date night.

Busy busy.  With that, I think I'm going to bed and getting some rest.  I'm going to need to energy if I'm going to make this sprint towards the finish line of my January goals!

Goals for the month of January 2013

Today, I'm dividing up my goals into achievable steps for this month.  Fairly short and sweet!  Making it a single post will make it easier to access and, come the end of the month, I can tally up my successes as well as not-so-successes.  Expect this post to be updated regularly as I work on these goals.  They will now be updated on weekly check-ins!

JANUARY 2013 GOALS

Month is currently 42% over.

CAREER

Hit target number of monthly illustrations. - 43% complete.

Make target income for the month. - 72% complete.

Draw one illustration for myself. - 100% complete.

FINANCIAL

Make target income for the month. - 72% complete.

Keep budget. - 48% complete.

HEALTH

Begin taking thyroid meds - continue for entire month. - 48% complete.

Lose 3 pounds by eating a salad every day and avoiding take-out. - 47% complete.

HOME

Organize my computer. - 100% complete.

KNOWLEDGE

Begin taking thyroid meds - continue for entire month. - 48% complete.

Begin taking supplements - continue for entire month. - 48% complete.

Begin daily mental exercises. - 25% complete.

Read one book. - 35% complete.

PERSONAL

Begin taking thyroid meds - continue for entire month. - 28% complete.

Begin meditating. - 15% complete.

Draw one illustration for myself. - 100% complete.

Lose 3 pounds by eating a salad every day and avoiding take-out. - 47% complete.

Adhere to my planner schedule. - 48% complete.

RELATIONSHIP

Do one date night: Watch movies in. - 100% complete.

SPIRITUAL

Begin meditating. - 15% complete.

Next time: What happens at Girls' Night most certainly doesn't stay at Girls' Night.

What is one goal you have to be completed in January?

2013 Knowledge Goals: Memory and Clarity

I saved the Knowledge and Personal sections for last as I knew they would have the most overlapping goals. Overlapping goals are perfectly fine, even encouraged.  They keep us sane by bettering ourselves with less stress yet ensuring we still feel accomplished.

As I mentioned in my Health Goals post, I am hypothyroid.  Among the many symptoms I struggle with, lack of memory and fogginess top the list.  The worst part is that forgetting makes me very frustrated with myself.  It's one of the reasons I put organization on my Home list; I get tired of being mad at myself for losing things simply because I'm in a fog and can't remember where I put them.  Heck, it's probably the most basic starting point for how The Progressive Planner got started.  I have to be so organized and write down all my to-do's if I want to have any kind of hope in remembering them.

This is one of the reasons why I chose Knowledge as one of my eight areas.  I remember a time where I could whip out 100% on advanced tests.  I have the IB diploma from high school.  When I was in college, I was never a B student, graduating with a 4.25 GPA summa cum laude with additional honors.  That's not a bragging right; it's just a fact - one that my inner voice shoves in my face every time I forget to turn the oven off or leave the dog's food bowl empty all day even though I've seen it multiple times.  Forgetting seems so harmless until you chance starving your beloved pet or burning down the house.

Strengthening my memory is of utmost importance to me in 2013.  But just how was I going to accomplish that?

Some goals to achieve better memory come from other sections of my Wheel of Life.  First and foremost is getting back on levothyroxine for my hypothyroidism, which will do me a world of good in a multitude of areas.  In addition to that, I need to start taking my supplements and vitamins again.  Whenever I go on extended trips, I feel like a crazy pill-popper with my bag of meds and supplements, but you can't diss what works.  Just my Omega-3's alone could make me feel more alert and ready to take on the world.

Of course, exercise has been proven to improve mental clarity, but you also have to work your brain like a muscle.  Daily mental exercises can improve even my wretched memory.  This is something I've already been working on - when I take my mom to physical therapy, I sit down with a Sudoku puzzle book.  Using pen, I don't make any marks on the page except for when I know a number goes in the box.

And I'm getting pretty fast, too!

But all of my goals above have been about improving my memory.  What about building on my knowledge base?  Reading is essential.  If there's one thing the International Baccalaureate program in high school broke me of, it was my love of books.  After having to read as much as we did in a single day, you'd hate reading too.  This year, I'd like to rediscover my love of reading by selecting twelve books I'd like to complete.  They can be on any topic - in fact, the one I've picked out for this month is spiritual.

Only one section left!  Look for tomorrow's post on my personal goals for 2013!

Do you have any knowledge or memory improvement goals?  Share them below!