June Goals: It’s Never Too Late to Start Fresh

Hello, June! When did you get here? How many of you looked at your calendar today and thought:

Oh crap…June is already halfway over!

I certainly did. As you can see from my lack of posts lately, May got the best of me. Between moving my husband in, getting through the end of the semester and finals, and preparing to venture out-of-the-country for a major conference, I got lost. But as Lara says:

There’s nothing magical about January 1st!

So I decided to practice grace, not perfection, and chalk May up to a recovery period. So today, I’ll reflect a bit on the progress I made on my April goals, talk about some new things coming my way, and explain why my June goals aren’t perfect. But I did do something that I didn’t add to my June list and I’m super proud! Even if I don’t think they’re getting enough sun (and I may need to replace them soon).

Monthly Goals Met

Actually, the only monthly goals I met from April was to put some money into savings and mail out cards. I fell behind on my blog posts. Researching the JITP took a back seat in favor of new publication opportunities. My grant application is still in-progress. And home repairs will have to wait until Kyle has more time to help. [Or I can try to bribe some friends!]

Weekly Goals Met

Here, I was slightly more successful. I did attend writing group as I could. I took a couple of social-media free weekends. And I did get back into yoga (although not quite 3x a week). But I didn’t live up to my goal of calling people often. The French lessons also took a back seat (but are a major part of my June goals!).

Daily Goals Met

Although I didn’t do very well with the water goal, I managed to meet every other daily goal almost every. single. day. And it made me feel much better about not making progress elsewhere. Little-by-little. It adds up.

Positive Reflections: April and May

• Kyle and I celebrated 6 years of marriage (and we got to celebrate it together for only like the 2nd or 3rd time)! We toured the monuments of D.C. one weekend. We had a wonderful dinner. And he got me my long awaited Coach bag!

• Many cool field trips with my Public History students!

• I met my academic idol, Marcus Rediker!

• Lily turned 11!

• I got to go to Tobago for the first time for a conference. I made some great new friends there and won a travel award. And I might be getting a publication out of it!

• I got to see Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness in Philly!

June

For the PowerSheets that I use, June is a 3-month refresh month. This gives me a chance to reflect upon my yearly goals to see the progress I’ve made. It also gives me a chance to set new goals or re-define my current goals.

I want the next three months to be filled with joy and exploration. This summer is going to be about learning, living purposefully, loving, and thriving.

My goals from the year are still relatively the same. I have made a few adjustments to accomodate the progress and changes over the last 3 months. Kyle and I joined a gym. I’ve made conscious food decisions for a healthier lifestyle. And all of my goals seem to be progressing, little-by-little. June is going to be a big month of planning and achieving!

I am most excited about planning a vacation for July! It will be my first, proper vacation!

Preparing for June

June is all about mindfulness. The month may be halfway over, but it’s not too late for me to be more mindful. I’ve removed the Facebook app from my phone to limit my time on the application. I wasn’t nearly as mindful in setting my goals for June, but I have the opportunity to work on that for July & August!

June Goals: Letting Go

The “Let it Go” page of my PowerSheets is always one of my favorite things. I had a lot of issues with my Bipolar II depression this month. Reading through Cheyenne’s post reflecting on her 10 years of marriage really resonated with me. Not because my marriage is in trouble (thankfully), but because I worry about reaching that point. Her vulnerability and honesty is endearing. With my Bipolar II depression, I think I put a lot of unnecessary pressure on myself and, inadvertently, on Kyle. I always worry about everything. Most of it is not only out of my control, but nothing I should be worrying about. Recently, I’ve struggled a lot with imposter syndrome, feeling insecure about my appearance, and feeling like a failure.

June Goals: 2017

These goals aren’t perfect. Not all of them move me closer to the larger goals I’ve set. Some of them are too vague. But it’s a starting point. And each day I can make new choices.

Monthly Goals

• Submit proposal to LSU Press: I was approached last month by an acquisitions editor interested in seeing my dissertation transformed into a monograph. I’m mostly done with this goal, actually, aside from revising 2 sample chapters to include with the full proposal.
• Read one book for fun: Currently, I’m working through Laura Vanderkam’s I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time
• Read Mark Hanna’s Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570-1740 and Kevin P. McDonalds Pirates, Merchants, Settlers, and Slaves: Colonial America and the Indo-Atlantic World: I’ve skimmed through much of both of these books, but I want to sit down and read through them more thoroughly.
• Practice Lettering: I bought Creative Lettering & Beyond with a Barnes & Noble giftcard.
• Blog Posts: For both my site and BNH.
• Date Night with Kyle: Already achieved! We went to the Prime Rib in Baltimore. Amazing!

Weekly Goals

• French Lessons
• Exercise (3x a week)
• Call someone I care about 
• Write 500+ words
• Social Media Free weekends

Daily Goals

• Meditate
• 64 oz Water
• Walk through Neighborhood (this on is actually unfeasible given construction and such)
• Research for 30 minutes
• Eat healthy

Final Thoughts

You can. I can. We can.

Happy Summer, y’all!