This month is a goal month. I’ve been in a season of rest and recovery for the past three months, and I’m ready for a season of work. More like, I’m ready to get back to work and I wanted to explore today what that will look like.

I read 10/31/22 entry of https://feelthebyrn.blog yesterday, and it inspired me to set some goals for the month of November and see where they lead. Here’s a link to the blog post: https://feelthebyrn.blog/2022/10/31/creating-a-self-directed-life-with-meaning/

Yes, I need a three year goal, but I also just need to set some goals and see where I land. After doing the bare minimum to get by for the last three months so that I could spend the time I needed resting and rebuilding my life, I’m ready for a change.

The first day of any new month seems like a natural place to set new goals. I would say the same rule applies for a new week, new year, birthday, etc. There are natural breaking points within time, usually the first day or anniversary of an event, that leads to a natural break and time to restart and reset. It’s a natural time to assess where you’re going and where you want to go in the future.

I wanted to be open and transparent about my goals to help hold me accountable. Usually, if I write it down or post about my goal, I stay accountable to the goal. It’s like the world holds me accountable even though, at this point, I don’t even know if anyone reads these posts or not.

So, here are my November goals, remembering a few things: 1. I needed to restart somewhere. 2. These are likely going to last, in some form, longer than 30 days and are likely part of the bigger plan. 3. I’ve been off for three months doing the bare minimum to get by so that I could rest, therefore all of these goals might seem like a lot in one month. Guess I’m making up for lost time.

A striver making up for lost time? Never!

1. Find a trail 5k locally to run and sign up for the race.
2. Buy trail running shoes.
3. Find a free trail running plan for a 5k trail race.
4. Integrate the goal race and training plan into my current weight training plan so I can do both at once.
5. Clean out my closet in my room.
6. Have a truly happy Thanksgiving and figure out what that really means to me.
7. Art journal everyday with watercolor journal or a digital art app like Procreate. Post the art online somewhere, like Facebook, blog, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, anywhere and be consistent with posting everyday. 
8. Write a blog post 4 times a week.
9. Meditate for one minute or do a meditate activity where I breathe deeply for one minute the first day and add a minute to each day so I meditate for thirty minutes at the end of the month. Compounding breaths should equal a calmer me by December 1st!
10. Practice Italian every day on DuoLingo.
11. Monetize my life and see how it goes.
12. Do Gordo Byrn’s version of journaling in the morning and evening from 10/31/22 post so that I write less and check in with myself more often.
13. Clean out my car.
14. Film and post 4 YouTube videos.
15. Do the Authority Accelerator course and finish the first step of the course: Hero’s Journey and the Niche Down to Blow Up spreadsheet. Speak to 20 ideal clients to see what they have to say, OR jump into building the course since I am around my ideal client and I already am my ideal client and see how it goes.
16. Purchase Apple Watch Ultra and live only on the Apple Watch for 30 days.
17. Set goals with real numbers for The Rare Plant Haus.
18. Bake and sell baked goods on Facebook in the Chesterton Happenings Facebook page.
19. Sell stuff on Facebook Marketplace: plants, old stuff I want to get rid of as I declutter and try to make money out of my old junk I no longer want and money out of plants I can’t sell in my store because they are too big to ship or I just don’t want to carry that plant in my future lineups anymore.
20. Get rid of the stuff that is hard to get rid of by playing the Minimalism game.
21. Clean out all of the hiding places stuff builds up in the house like in the closets, pantry, basement, drawers and dressers and do it daily, i.e. a little every day.
22. Simplify the plant room and what I sell and pitch or sell off the rest on Facebook marketplace or somewhere, doesn’t matter where.
23. Eliminate personal plant collection and sell those plants off that I no longer want to keep in my personal plant collection. Sell it off as part of the store and keep only the plants that hold meaning to me.
24. Buy LECA for the plant shop to propagate with going forwards.
25. Figure out how to fertilize with roots growing in LECA.
26. Sell five plants on www.therareplanthaus.com and get off of Etsy and slowly transition back to my Shopify store that is currently on pause. Stop giving money to Etsy and put it back in my plant shop’s pockets.
27. Align multiple businesses under one large brand with one greater message.
28. Do one cleaning activity every day so I don’t have to do big pushes anymore in the house. Clean as I go so the house is always clean.
29. Read a few pages of a book every day or a chapter of a book once a day so that I get into the habit of reading.
30. Be outside everyday somehow, even if it’s just opening the window.
31. Leave the house everyday.
32. Go the library and sit and read the newspaper and magazines at least once this month. This will help me with getting out of the house everyday.
33. Go on some artists dates, once a week, to start building new interests and hobbies that I can start to nurture over the next decade.
34. No mindless Facebook scrolling. If I find myself scrolling, then stop scrolling and switch to something else.
35. Check emails, orders and messages only once a day.
36. Live life on my watch as much as possible and stop carrying my phone around unless absolutely necessary.
37. Wear my contacts 15 days out of 30 days this month. Wear glasses less often.
38. Shower less often to help build up body microbiome.
39. Stop online scrolling mindlessly on costco.com
40. Only go to recovery center activities that I want to attend, and stop shaming myself and feeling guilty for not wanting to attend all of the activities they offer.
41. Do one cycling workout a week, indoors or outdoors, to keep my butt in shape so I don’t lose the progress I’ve made. Keep my butt used to the saddle so I’m ready for spring riding in 2023!

Ok, so will I accomplish all of these? Is 41 goals too much for 30 days? Aren’t you supposed to pull back and rest during the holidays? I don’t know what the right answers are to any of those questions. But I trust that I’m where I need to be and that life is happening for me and not to me, and that I am on the right track. We will see where I land in 30 days.

Yes, there is crossover in my personal goals and business goals. You can see that I want to make business and personal cross in my goal that is monetize my life. I want to integrate business with personal so I can live more and work less. So that work is my passion and my passion is my work. 

This gives me something to shoot for and keeps me accountable. It gives me something to write about on this blog and what to post about on social media. 

Remember, these are my own goals and they may only make sense to me. Your goals will naturally be different than mine because we are two different people. 

Sarathlete