Hello! I hope you are having a wonderful week. As promised, I wanted to update you on my progress towards achieving some of my goals that I’ve set this year.  This week has been great and full of amazing surprises.  Let me just tell you that when you start setting goals, so much greatness begins to happen.  It’s like everything starts to fall into place.  Now, please don’t get me wrong, I still have a long way to go.  But, it feels good to be reassured that I’m moving in the right direction.  Well, let me go ahead and bring you up to speed.

1st Goal-Pay off debt and save

I decided that the best way to go about getting this goal accomplished was to break it down into mini goals.  So I created these small goals with shorter time frames that will lead me to my bigger goal of paying off my debts.  My first mini goal is to pay off two of my credit cards and have a certain amount of money saved by April 10th. I’m keeping a daily journal to track and analyze my behavior.  My hope is that this will help me to recognize my triggers and bad habits that have led me to where I am today.  Once I am able to recognize these triggers and bad habits, I can work on correcting them.  To document this, I’m using what is called The Freedom Journal.  Check it out here.

Amazingly, I was able to accomplish part of my mini goal by paying off one of my credit cards this past Friday!  And I was also able to put a small amount into my savings account. It was a wonderful feeling to be able to do both of those things!  

I’ve also continued to read my book, “From Paychecks to Power” and I’m planning to attend a financial literacy seminar titled Brunch ‘N Learn.  So I would say that this week was a success as far as my 1st goal is concerned.

2nd Goal-Spend more time helping others

This week I attended the orientation for Dress for Success.  I really enjoyed learning about the program.  Here are a few of the things that I learned:

• The Atlanta affiliate of Dress for Success will be celebrating 20 years in June.
• Not only do they help underprivileged women get dressed for job interviews, Dress for Success also hosts different workshops that teach women interview skills, job retention skills, and basic life skills.
• The volunteers come from many different walks of life.  There were HR Managers, payroll professionals, stylists, etc.
• Some of Dress For Success’ partners include Bobby Dodd Institute, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, United Medical and Business Institute, and so many more!

I’m excited to be a part of this program! I will keep you posted on my endeavors with Dress for Success.

Also, this Friday I will be attending the Second Annual Unite Wear White Breakfast held by the Freedom Coalition.  January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and the 20th is the day that we will be uniting to spread hope and awareness for victims of sex trafficking.  I’m not very knowledgeable about sex trafficking in Atlanta but I know that it’s very bad.  I hope to gain some new insights into this epidemic at the breakfast.  Maybe I can even do my part to help this organization as well.

3rd Goal-Blog more consistently

I feel like I’m getting back on track with my blogging.  I’ve created my calendar of posts for the rest of the month and I’ve gotten started on a few of those posts.  So look forward to more great content coming your way these next few weeks.  As I’ve stated before, I’m trying to do more than just outfit posts so you will see more variety as well.  I want to increase my following so I’m looking for ways to spread the word about my blog.  I can’t wait to have the world read my thoughts and ideas!

4th Goal-Practice healthier habits toward my body, mind, and spirit

As far as my healthy habits are concerned, I have been doing great!  I’ve been getting up between 5:00 and 5:30 every morning to do my 15 Day Challenge work outs.  It has not been easy getting up this early in the morning but it has definitely been worth it.  I feel so much more confident and accomplished in the morning after I’ve gotten my work outs in.  Also, because I’m working out in the morning, my evenings are now free to handle other things that I have going on.

Also, I am doing very well with increasing my veggie and fruit intake.  I even discovered a new way to eat my kale and spinach; I add them to my strawberry and banana smoothies. Try it! It doesn’t change the sweetness of the smoothie at all.  I’ve been eating about 4-5 servings of fruit and about 5 servings of veggies a day.  I’m trying to drink more water and fewer lattes (very hard) as well.  

Now let’s talk about what I’m not doing great with. Sweets!!! I LOVE sweets and I can’t get enough!  So along with all of my fruits and veggies, this weekend I ate about three packs of Reese’s, two pints of Strawberry ice cream, two slices of pecan pie, and four slices of pizza!  Isn’t that crazy?  I know!  Well the good thing about a new week is that you can start all over again.  So here I am starting all over again.  I’m going to do better this week, I promise!

Also, I still want to spend more time meditating and praying.  I’m really going to make an effort to do more of those two things this week.

5th Goal-Increase consistency and organization

This goal is very important to me.  It affects every part of my life and all of the goals mentioned above.  It’s very hard to be consistent when you’re doing things that you typically don’t enjoy doing, i.e. exercise, eat veggies, and save money.  But I feel my mindset right now is that I have to do these things in order to be a better me.  So with that being said, I think that if you read my comments above, you can see how I’m doing with my consistency goals.  I’m on the right track but I have a long way to go.

One thing that I’m utilizing a lot more this year is my calendar of events and reminders.  Every event that I schedule, I save it on my calendar in my phone.  This helps me to remember all that I have going on.  I’m also creating more to-do lists.  I try to write down things as soon as they come to mind so that I won’t forget later.  All in All, I think I’m doing pretty well!

This week was awesome! The fact that I was able to get up everyday at 5:00 and 5:30 in the morning everyday and I’m eating better and working out and sitting here about to publish another post for this week means that I am really putting in the effort to accomplish my goals.  And to be honest, effort is extremely important when attempting to accomplish your goals.  You have to keep trying!

How are you doing on your goals so far? Let me know in the comments below! 

Speak to you soon!!!

Daneisha