{"id":929,"date":"2021-01-28T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T14:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brighteyedsmiles.com\/?p=929"},"modified":"2025-04-21T09:46:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T13:46:07","slug":"how-you-doin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.brighteyedsmiles.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/28\/how-you-doin\/","title":{"rendered":"How you doin’?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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<\/p>\n

As we end January 2021, it seemed fitting to make a late 90’s “Friends” Reference…<\/p>\n

But seriously, let’s check in! How are you doing? Many of us started the year off with so much hopeful anticipation, it is hard to believe we the first full month is almost behind us! The month has had it’s own ups and downs with the current situations in the world.\u00a0 We may address those one day, for now we will go back to thinking on an individual level – how did you do this month? Even if you didn’t write down goals, how are you feeling about your year?<\/p>\n

Did you make progress in all of your focus areas? or decide to switch around any short term actions? What have you learned about your personal will-power, tenacity or inner motivations?\u00a0 Are there any items you took off your list completely? or any you realized are no longer\u00a0 something you truly wanted to work on?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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After doing the mid-month check-in<\/a>, I adjusted some of my goals and daily habits to better fit my schedule and the remainder of the month!\u00a0 \u00a0Unplanned but positive activities came up and\u00a0 filled up time as well, so I wanted to be sure to make note of those.\u00a0\u00a0The important thing is to look back over the month.\u00a0 Recognize where any and all progress was made and make note of the things that made you smile!<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are doing this check-in along with me, here are the steps I took to reflect:<\/p>\n

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General<\/h4>\n
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  1. Reviewed my month to see where I spent the most time.<\/li>\n
  2. Reflected on active decision to meet goals for month.<\/li>\n
  3. Determined general ‘feeling’ overall.<\/li>\n
  4. Pondered over any distractions that may be limiting me.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    Specific<\/h4>\n
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    1. Scored each goal.<\/li>\n
    2. Determined progress within each focus area.<\/li>\n
    3. Gave myself credit for adjustments and unplanned activities.<\/li>\n
    4. Made note of where things felt forced vs fun.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \u00a0<\/div>\n
      I typically write these things down so I can refer back when planning additional months or making large adjustments, it is always helpful to refer back to your notes!\u00a0 Even more interesting is to go back at years old notes to see how far you’ve progressed – sometimes I laugh at my old notes – either way they reflect growth!<\/div>\n
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      Evaluation of progress on 2021 goals: January Edition!<\/span><\/h2>\n

      Here are my original posts related to setting yearly goals<\/a> and setting a purpose<\/a>!\u00a0<\/p>\n

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      \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"January\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      Mindfulness<\/h2>\n

      Starting off the month, I was not feeling overly strong in mindfulness and mid-month felt I needed a strong attitude adjustment.\u00a0 At that point, I shifted how I was approaching my morning quiet time, and gave myself more space between waking up and logging on for the day. This gave me just enough change to feel a difference and allow myself to approach my day versus letting the day carry me through.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      Healthy Body<\/h2>\n

      Looking over the month, I did not workout or get outside as much as I really wanted, this had to due with weather, motivation and not feeling well for a short bit in there. I do however, buy a few things to do an at home workout and wrote up a workout I can follow with minimal equipment!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

      Another shift I made in this area was doing daily, shorter (15-30 minute) yoga practices instead of the hour long 2x per week.\u00a0Purposefully doing a daily practice also helped with my first focus area of mindfulness!<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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      Career & Hustle<\/span><\/p>\n

      To (most likely) no surprise to those that know me, I completed the Career and Hustle Focus Area and made time to mentor two people as they prep for their Year-End Reviews with their managers. (One of my favorite things is seeing others succeed and grow to their full potential.)<\/p>\n

      In addition, I wanted to put more focus on my hobbies to gain a strong work\/life balance and enjoy life a bit more, it is easy for me to work ‘too’ much, which leads us to our last planned focus area…\u00a0<\/p>\n

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      Hobbies<\/h2>\n

      On the sheet of paper above, you will see I wrote ‘complete, sorta’ next to the Hobbies Focus area… I didn’t take a class as planned and I didn’t do the new activity I had in mind, however I did work on my photography skills and also tried out a new kitchen gadget with a friend… hence the ‘SORTA’ part of the comment.<\/p>\n

      Next month I may expand my thoughts on this section, especially as it warms up more and more.\u00a0 There are a handful of things I enjoy doing but feel like chores right now that either require my intense focus or require more screen time (like sewing new pillow covers and taking a virtual class) – because they are not the most appealing I would rather wait until organic motivation comes over me to complete them!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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      Unplanned<\/h2>\n

      This reflection brought me to think about what I did do – since I didn’t meet all of the goals I had outlined in my focus areas, I thought to myself, how did I spent that time instead and was it worthwhile? Thinking this through, I added a 5th section of ‘unplanned’ and happy I did them activities, which include:<\/p>\n