march goals

in 2018 i decided i was going to start keeping monthly goals. feburary was a great success, so now i’ve moved onto march. march was challenging in its own way. i gave myself a few more demanding goals since i wanted to keep myself growing. the whole point of this challenge was to motivate myself and become a better person as a result, so i knew that i couldn’t be stagnant with my progress.

since march is finished it’s time to talk about the progress i made (or didn’t make.)

finish a book

last month, a very good friend of mine recommended the self-love experiment to me, so i bought it without a second thought and decided it would be my march book. unfortunately for me, the book and i didn’t quite connect, so i ended up returning it. i honestly gave my best effort but after three chapters i realized that the message was not for me, and i would spend time reading a book that would frustrate me instead of inspire me. luckily, i gave up on the book only a week into the month so i still had time to pick up another book. at my boyfriend’s recommendation, i borrowed animal farm by george orwell from my mom and set out to finish it. i mainly picked it because it was a short book so i wouldn’t feel as stressed with the time constraint. unexpectedly, i was hooked on the book and finished it in two days. it was very captivating and the characters were all very well written. after reading 1984 last month, i don’t know why i had hoped for a happy ending. i won’t spoil the book for you, but i will say that it was just as gloomy as 1984. i did enjoy it a lot, and i’m very glad i read it. i would definitely recommend it!

touch my toes

almost every day this month i took the time before i went to bed to stretch. i was so stiff, that i could only reach so far in the beginning, as you can see in the before picture. now i’m excited to say i can touch my toes! I want to keep stretching daily and be more flexible, but at least I’ve come this far.

edit and post a video to youtube

this month i kept dragging my feet and dragging my feet on this. i couldn’t think of anything i wanted to make a video about, and then as i kept saying “you have the rest of the month” it suddenly became “april is tomorrow.” part of my resistance stems from the fact that i don’t really have the equipment to film a good looking video. I don’t have a real camera, a tripod, nor any editing software. i don’t have the funds right now to get these things, so i feel discouraged and lazy. filming at my desk the way i did for my book review made me feel very unpolished, and i don’t like doing things half-assed. i realized that for now i will have to wait on this until i get the things i need to start this goal properly.

felt something new

several years ago, i started needle felting as a hobby. since then i’ve felted a lot of different things, and even started an etsy shop. my etsy shop was going really well, until one day i sent out an item and the buyer complained that it wasn’t like the pictures at all. as you might imagine, i was very sad that someone wasn’t happy with the product. after that, i was very discouraged about my needle felting. i started promoting my shop less and less, and eventually i put my shop on vacation mode. this continued for two years. i decided a few months back to re-open my etsy shop, but i still didn’t feel motivated to felt. i was nervous that maybe i wasn’t as talented as i had thought, and maybe my hobby wasn’t fun anymore. i wanted to push myself to felt again this month, and i’m so happy i did. i made this cute little cactus. it ended up a lot better than i thought it would and i was so happy. i remembered how much fun i have needle felting! i decided my shop can be more leisurely, and i should have fun with it. i was really hard on myself for the past few years, but now i feel like i can go back to this hobby with a different perspective. felting is  fun, and i should strive to keep it that way.

 

organize fortune cookie fortunes

i have been collecting fortune cookie fortunes for almost a decade now. at first my collection was small, and anytime i’d get a new one, i would tape it into this notebook. before long, most of my friends knew of my collection and would save up the fortunes for me and give me their stash every time i’d see them. before i knew it, i amassed a huge pile of fortunes, and since i didn’t have time to sit down and tape all of them to the notebook, i put them in a ziploc bag and let them slowly accumulate. this became a huge weight for me, and as the bags got fuller the stress only got heavier. eventually i had resigned myself to the thought that there were too many and i would never be able to put them all in my notebook. this month, i changed my attitude and attacked them full force. now my notebook has 679 fortunes neatly taped inside.

get car safety inspection

okay, so this was a little more like a required responsibility than a goal, but i’m proud to say i went by myself and did it on my own. the volkswagen dealership that i go to is so nice, and all the people who work there are very kind. they have very interesting memorabilia around the lounge area, and so i had to snap a picture. they even have a classic old beetle that you can sit inside. i spent my half hour there reading a book, and so the time passed pretty quickly.

april goals

although i fell short on one goal again this month, i’m really glad i was able to accomplish the rest of them. hopefully next month i won’t fall short and i can become and even better person. i picked some new goals for april, i spent a lot of time brainstorming and here’s what i decided on. obviously i’ll update you all in may on how everything went. here’s to a new month of growth and fun ❤