Mid Year Review

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This year is just like any other....it is fling by!  Almost at the end of July and 5 months to Christmas.  All the best intentions of the New Year's resolutions may be a distant memory!  The mid year mark is a great opportunity to pause and to take a look at where you have been, where you are and what to do before the Christmas shopping appears on your list of things to do.


So how is my year progressing against the 2014 goals? 

 

Business & Career Goals: - the main area of concern here was the significant amount of stress that my job was providing.  Despite my joy for the company, team and role it took 60+ hours per week just to survive.  Along came a redundancy and the business and career goals needed a quick revision for 2014.  Utilising the existing network, trawling through recruiters, writing applications and going through interviews.  I was fortunate to move quickly into the world of contracting with great hours and pay.  Now still looking at enhancing the challenge component, but picking up another client to consult too and finally selecting a university course to use of the training allowance has certainly assisted in filling up my day.

 

Personal Wealth & Finance Goals: - I am continuing to navigate the third phase of finance, but it often feels boring.  The superannuation spreadsheet shows I am ahead of schedule, the mortgage is also in the same boat, and I continue to build my share portfolio and undertake house projects with the surplus funds.  No change required here, all on track for the year.

 

Family Goals: - I am really pleased with the transition to the new school for the youngster.  Grades are up and the report card is good.  A few areas for us to continue to work on, but excellent progress.  We blitzed through the Naplan testing without any issues, struggled with the violin lessons, volunteered for speech and drama lessons, and chess lessons have started.  Full plate of academia and representing on the athletics team.  We have also finally learned that bike riding concept, and our kid sessions are slightly ahead of schedule on the progress front.  Our family meals are working out well and we are on budget for our $100 per week budget that kicked off several years ago.  Weekend trips away are on track and our December family holiday to NZ is starting to enter the planning phase.  Things are also well on track with the partner and we continue to navigate the future path ahead.  Bonding with the new children, well that is still a work in progress.

 

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Health & Fitness Goals: - As with most past years, this area struggles the most.  Certainly the reduction is stress and the revision to the working hours has left me with an improvement in the health condition.  Despite having more good days than bad, I appear not to have taken advantage of this and my active sessions are still way behind for the year.

 

New change of plans, instead of trying to mentally prepare myself for a 30 minute session, instead I am working on a continuous month of burning 200 calories in a session.  At the moment that is a leisurely 20 minutes on the spin bike.  Day 4 down, and I did not feel like getting on the bike tonight.  But somehow 200 calories doesn't seem like much effort.  Of course in 30 days I hope to up the calorie count, or revert back to my normal 30 minute session.

 

I have passed my annual inspections with the specialists, so all good on that count thankfully.  I must be up to around year four now, so hopefully only one more year and then I can breathe a sigh of relief.  I continue to work with a Japanese acupuncturist to assist with managing my AS.  I sometimes wonder if I am really getting benefit from the process, but overall I certainly do take less medication, so I figure that is a good thing.  My monthly massage goal?  Well that bombed.  I did have one, and then worked out she wasn't going to work.  My backup plan was flatly rejected by the partner, and I haven't really gone off to try another new one.  My comfort levels around some random person touching me haven't been overcome....maybe I should make that a goal for next year.  Something like a random hug me sign that I wear around :-).

 

Lifestyle & Personal Enjoyment Goals: - I maintain a wish list, well really it is an spreadsheet, but you get the idea.  Each year I take five items and they make it into the purchasing program, guilt free.  As I age though I tend to want or need, less and less.  So each year it gets harder to fill this goal.  I did buy a flash road bike, sigh...it has been on the road only a handful of times as I need to find room in my life to do it.  I have replaced the last two rooms of the house with new carpet, and the last piece of retaining and fencing is underway down the back of the property.  I did also hire a handyman to help around the property, even though he doesn't come often!

 

My social interactions are being ticked off, the annual visioning collage is laminated on the bathroom wall and I have watched a stack of new DVD series.  We have season tickets to the AFL and tickets for several international rugby games.  The cultural goals needs one more and I did manage to score tickets to the Lion King for later in the year.  I also managed to see Michael Buble in concert which was great, but the second concert for the year may not happen.  It has been a quiet year for visiting artists of interest.

 

Contributing to Others Goals: - My daily gratitude journal is way behind, although it hasn't dampened my feelings of thankfulness and appreciation for my wonderful life.  Also having a random instance of kindness goal I am often reminded how lucky and fortunate I am.  My constant quest for minimisation continues and the "Get Rid of 100 Things" project is bang on target.  Environmental goals include installation of a second water tank, once un-wedged from the side of the house (see earlier blog post for hilarity), a worm farm, chickens and fruit trees.  I do need to work on planting some more veggies, but our seeded avocado trees are ready for transplanting down in the yard. 

 

Personal Growth and Development Goals: - My reading program is way behind.  Perhaps this is a technological issue?  I do regularly read finance articles, blogs and websites of interest, but the actual hard copy book....blah need to do something with this one.  I am working on increasing my general knowledge, and I also maintain some limited practice with writing with my natural left hand, it is meant to open up both sides of your brain or encourage creativity or something!

 

Adventure and Holiday Goals: - 73 items are ticked off my bucket list of 100 things to do.  Of course with progression comes revision and there are now 125 things to do!  The cycling program will wait for the warmer weather, and hopefully the routine of the spin bike my hold me in some stead when it comes to my cycling partner.  It is hard to see her from the 2 km gap that I am lurking behind in!!  I am also waiting for the warmer weather to assist in catching the elusive barramundi.

 

All in all, not too bad for the mid year progress review.