November Goals

Good morning and happy first of November!

I normally set a series of small goals each month, but this month I have one really BIG goal that I’m excited to share.  But first, here’s a look at last month’s goals to keep me accountable:

October Goals:

Make Montessori work for James:

Yes!  I did lots of this and it has been so rewarding to watch him play with and love many of the things I made for him.  I shared a few of these here, but will share some more easy ideas soon.

Work on long-term writing projects:

Ehh, sort of?  I started one project that’s been on my mind for a while, but didn’t get very far.  I’d give myself a C – on this one.

Find / make fun recipes for James:

No, I did hardly any of this.  On the plus side, James is eating mostly what we eat now, so it’s becoming less necessary.  He did try and love turkey chili and corn chowder this month!

Choose a half marathon plan:

Yes!  I’ve made a training plan for myself and started following it and so far it’s going great!  It involves a LOT less running than a typical half marathon plan, but that is what I need given my long-term foot injury.  My basic plan is:

• Tuesdays: Easy run of 3-5 miles – My husband sometimes works from home on Tuesdays, so if that’s the case, I’ll do this during naptime.  Otherwise, it will be a stroller run.
• Thursdays: Short two mile speed interval run on the treadmill or tempo outside + short strength or yoga (loving this yoga video)  If my foot starts really bothering me, I’ll ditch the speed work and switch to a longer strength workout.
• Saturdays: Long run.  Right now I’m only at 7 miles, but I have almost three months, so I can build up to twelve or so miles gradually.

I’m hopeful that my daily walking and the added difficulty of stroller runs will make this enough…we shall see.

November Goals

I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo)!

That’s right, only one goal this month.  I’m equally excited and terrified to do this because I honestly don’t know where I will find the time, BUT, I was thinking about it and realized this is probably the least busy I will be for many years (yikes…).

I feel busy many days, but I’m a stay at home mom to one child.  I plan to hopefully have more children and go back to work, so with that in mind, I will only become busier over the coming years and I’m not ready to let go of this life goal of mine.

One caveat – the program is set up to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.  There is of course a lot of variance, but I believe the average novel these days is around 80,000 words.  I already have about 20,000 words, so hopefully I can at least get close to finishing.  I’m going with a goal of writing 50,000 words rather than a goal of finishing.

If I start to feel like the quality is suffering, I will step back from the word count and make some other type of tangible daily writing goal.  For me, this is less about finishing the writing project I’m working on and more about creating a daily habit and carving out time to work toward my big goals.

I’m excited and I would love to connect with anyone who also wants to do this!

Do you have any November goals?  Please share in the comments!

P.S. If you’re looking for something to read, check out this article I wrote on how rewards impact children!