Hello, lovelies! We are officially a quarter of the way through the year, so it’s time for a 3-months goals update. (This is also my 200th post on the blog. How exciting!)
I started using the Powersheets Goal Planner last year and it has been a gamechanger. I have never been this productive and focused with my goals in my life. It’s the only workbook that I’ve ever finished from beginning to end. I can’t recommend it enough.
Every three months, the Powersheets has a check-in page, where I am to re-evaluate my goals and make any changes. I didn’t share all my goals in my 2019 goals post, so I’m only sharing the check-ins on the ones I already posted. I love these types of blog posts and they give me a lot of motivation, so I hope you enjoy.
Related – My 2019 Goals + Word For The Year
Last Year’s Check-Ins
- My 2018 Goals + My Word For The Year
- How I’m Doing On My 2018 Goals | 4 Months Check-In
- How I’m Doing On My 2018 Goals | 9 Month Check-In
- 2018 Wrap Up | How I Did On My 2018 Goals
1.//Take 4 Trips + Go To Europe
Progress So Far
- I Took A Spring Break Trip To Harry Potter World
- I’m Planning A Trip To Europe!!!!!
Let’s start with the first thing. I took a Spring Break trip to Harry Potter World, and it was so much fun. I recapped the entire thing in a blog post, so I’ll link it below. It would’ve been easy to cancel this trip because my friend backed out last minute, but I love solo travel and didn’t mind taking the trip on my own. I’m so glad that I did because I’ve been wanting to go back to Harry Potter World for years and enjoy the other attractions at Universal as well.
Related – One Day Solo Trip To Universal Studios Recap
Now, let’s talk about the second exciting this on this list: I’m going to Europe! There are a lot of things still left to do (I’ve learned over the years that I’m a last minute traveler.). I’ve already booked a tour and am planning on going in May. I’ll most likely talk about the trip after the entire trip is over, so stay tuned.
Goal Refresh – Go On 4 Trips
A goal refresh is updating a goal based on things that have changed in the previous quarter. I’m not refreshing this goal, but you’ll see a few that have changed later on in the post. Here are some action steps for the next three months.
By this summer, I will have two of these trips crossed off! (And the Europe Trip could honestly count as multiple trips because I’m going to be there for the month.) I don’t really have any action steps pertaining to future trips after that because I’m focused on the big trip to Europe, but I’ll eventually start planning more. Hopefully one will be another international trip, but we’ll see. I’m going to focus on saving money for a while after getting back, so I probably won’t announce any more trips anytime soon (But I think that one trip is announcement enough).
I’m so excited!!!
2.//Prioritize My Health
Two Main Goals Pertaining To This: Take Vitamins Every Day and Do Physical Therapy
Progress So Far
- Took Vitamins Every Day Regularly
- Worked Out 3-5 Days Per Week (Depending on School)
- My Back Pain Started Going Away
I would consider myself a healthy person. I don’t eat out a lot, work out regularly, and eat my fruits and vegetables. When I set this goal, I was focusing on two health problems I experienced last year.
If you’ve been following along with my blog for some time, you know that I was experiencing chronic back pain for all of 2018. I went to the doctors regularly for the first few months of the year, but none of them could figure out what was wrong. They just kept prescribing me pain pills (that didn’t work) and sending me off. Eventually, I got an MRI and they found out that the disc above my tailbone had moved 5 millimeters and pressed on the nerves in my spine every time I sat down.
I’m a student, so I spend a lot of my day sitting. Every time I sat down for more than 20 minutes, my lower back would hurt and the pain would increase in intensity and spread to my legs the longer I sat down. It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t focus in class.
After getting the MRI, they gave me a back brace that made things more manageable. They said that it could be fixed with physical therapy and that surgery wouldn’t be necessary, but by the end of the year, my back pain had barely subsided.
I decided that if it didn’t go away after this year, I would consider surgery because I am far to young to experience chronic back pain. It was really hindering my quality of life. I continued doing physical therapy every day and my back pain has slowly started going away. I’ve even started driving and occasionally going to class without wearing the brace. The pain still comes back, but it’s slowly going away. I’m super happy about that.
The vitamin thing happened near the end of the year. During my checkup, my doctor tested my blood and saw that my vitamin D and B12 were low. My B12 was so low that they had to give me a shot of it. Before, I would always try to get all my vitamins from my food, but B12 is in meat and I eat a lot of meat (arguably too much of it) and the majority of the meat I consume is halal, so it doesn’t have any of the hormones most American foods have. It really didn’t make any sense. (It’s may be genetic because my grandma has to get B12 shots every month) Anyway, I started taking the vitamins and my energy skyrocketed. I can really feel the difference in my body now that I’ve been taking them every day.
Overall, my health has been good. I’ve been consistent about working out, but I don’t work out as intensely as I used to. Georgia State had free workout classes with trainers, but I transferred this year and you have to pay for the classes at UGA. I’d happily pay for them, but I want to wait for my back to get a bit better before I start working out more intensely.
Goal Refresh: Prioritize My Health
My goals are pretty much the same. I plan to continue working out regularly, doing physical therapy, and taking vitamins every day. I want to start lifting weights again. I got the clear to start lifting them again at the beginning of this year, but I’ve been a little scared to do that. My back is getting a lot better, so I want to get back into it.
I also want to start oil pulling, which is when you swish coconut oil in your mouth every day to help your teeth. I am genetically predisposed to bad teeth and most of my family members are also prone to cavities, so I want to see if this helps. (I already brush my teeth and floss every day, so this can’t hurt.)
Related – A Practical Guide To Working Out Regularly In College
3.//Prepare For Post-Grad Life
Progress So Far
- Started Studying For The GRE
- Updated My Resume
- Applied For And Got An Internship At Marcus Autism Center
I am genuinely amazed by how well I’ve been doing on this goal. I hate standardized tests and procrastinate till the last minute when it comes to studying for them, but I’ve been consistently studying for the GRE every month. I have no plans on taking it anytime soon, but I’ve been researching grad school requirements and future job prospects since I only have a year left of undergrad.
The biggest news pertaining to this goal is that I applied for and got an internship at the Marcus Autism Center. I will be getting trained to work with children with autism who have severe behavioral issues, which was my top choice when applying (There were other options too like occupational therapy and speech-language pathology, but I went for Applied Behavioral Analysis). I’m super excited and know that I will learn a lot. It starts in June and will span for the rest of the summer.
Those two are definitely my biggest accomplishments thus far. I went to a conference at my University by Women in Media and Women in Business about having a seat at the table in the workforce and women climbing the corporate ladder. That’s the only other thing I can think of that pertains to this goal. Overall, I’m proud of what I’ve gotten done.
Goal Refresh: Prepare For Post-Grad Life
I don’t really have many action steps for the next three months. I mostly just want to focus on doing well on the internship. There will be more to update on this goal in the next check-in.
4.//Post 100 Blog Posts
Progress So Far
I posted twice a week consistently until mid-March but stopped during Spring Break. I realized that I didn’t want to post twice a week anymore and was running out of ideas. I don’t want writing to become a chore on my to-do list. When I want to post three times a week, I will, but I just haven’t been feeling it recently. The next few months are going to be really full of fun things and I don’t want to spend all my free time blogging. I’d rather have a backlog of blog posts scheduled early than write twice a week without a buffer for when I’m busy.
Goal Refresh: Post on Blog Once A Week
I’m working on getting ahead on blog posts now so that I won’t have to worry about getting content out there when I’m busy with finals and traveling. Ideally, I will be able to get ahead during my internship as well to the point where I’m able to post twice a week again.
5.//Sell An E-Course On Blog
Progress So Far
I have an idea and an outline. I know where I’m going with it, but I decided not to worry about completing it until summer starts.
Goal Refresh: Sell An E-Course On Blog By September
Once I get my summer routine going, this is going to be a priority. The plan is to launch it by August and I probably won’t start working on it until June (Post finals and Eurotrip).
6.//Read 100 Books In A Year [Read 12 Classics]
Progress So Far
- I’ve finished 30+ books
- I read 4 classics (Robinson Crusoe, A Little Princess, Pinocchio, and The Jungle Book)
- Started tracking my books on Goodreads
This was the goal that scared me the most at the beginning of the year, but it turned out to be the easiest. I planned on being very liberal with what I tracked as books because I love reading Comic books, Graphic Novels, Fanfiction, and Wattpad stories and the whole point of this goal was to read more. Not to pressure myself into reading things I don’t like just because they look better.
So far I’ve read 27 books, 11 comic books (3 comic book volumes), and 4 online books. (I’ve been tracking Fanfictions/Wattpads as one book per month because I read them every night on my Kindle. If I read a book level story, I count that as its own book).
It’s been a really good reading quarter. I’ve added a lot of new favorites to my list. I’ve noticed that I spend significantly less time on Netflix and YouTube now that I’m reading more. I’ve always been a heavy reader (I read almost 80 books last year), but I’m finding much more motivation to read this year than I ever have before. I never used to track my books, but I feel such satisfaction when I write the title of a book down on my 2019 reading list and adding books to Goodreads. It’s been great.
Goal Refresh: Read 100 Books In A Year
At this rate, I may end up reading more than 100 books this year. I’m super happy about that. I tend to read less during the summer, so I want to make up for it while I’m still in school and find ways to read while I’m on break.
Related Posts – How To Start Reading More Books In College
That’s it for now. 2019 is shaping up to be an amazing year. I’ll update you all again this summer. I hope this inspired you to refresh your New Years Resolutions because there’s nothing magical about January 1st. You can start your goals at any time.
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How have you been doing on your 2019 goals? What are your plans for the rest of the year?