After a false start in 2018, I plan to start My Happiness Project in order to take back control of my life. I want to start living a proactive life. The best way I can think to do that is making sure that each month I focus on something that will help me grow. More than that, I don’t want resolutions, I want lasting, sustainable changes.
January: Eating and Planning
Focusing on my health, both physical and mental, at the beginning of the year seemed like a good place to start. I keep saying I want to start following a morning routine so now seems like the perfect place to do just that. I’ll let you know what that develops into in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I will be eating healthier, which includes tracking everything with Weight Watchers. I also need to make sure that I am using my planners every single day. I have three planners (because I’m a crazy person). One is for meal plans, another is for blog and Instagram posts and the other is for work and home. Finally, I want to make sure I do a little bit of personal development reading every night.
February: Self-Care
There will be an entire post about the specific self-care commitments I am making in February. Basically, I am going to spend some serious time taking care of myself and making sure I am in the right mindset. It is easy to let time get away from you in the winter. It is cold and blustery and I just want to hunker down and not move. The hope is that this month I can keep myself moving.
March: Money
If we are being honest, this should probably be the first thing I do. March will be a no spend month. I will be making sure that I have a budget for the rest of the year that allows me to pay bills, put a little away in savings, and (maybe) have a little bit left to play. Finally, I am going to work on rebuilding my credit.
April: Blog
While I hope to be posting regularly all year, April is all about growing this blog. This will include posting regularly on the blog, growing my Instagram, and creating relationships with others in the blogging world. I want to try to reach out to publishers in order to grow the book side of the blog. I also want to ensure that I have some adventures planned so that I have content for the lifestyle side.
May: Creativity
Sure the blog is a creative outlet for me, but I’m spending May fostering all my other creations. I love art. I want to visit an art museum and set aside sometime each week to paint a bit. I’m going to spend some time working on my hand lettering as well. If I haven’t finished it already, I will be finishing Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. I am setting a goal to write in my journal every single day, even if it is just one line. Maybe I will even get around to writing that book that’s been rolling around in my head for years.
June: Leisure
There are small pleasures in life that are very important to me: music, food, and coffee. My goal is to listen to my record player whenever I am cooking or cleaning. I want to try one new recipe a week. I have got to perfect the iced coffee recipe. It has been a while, but I will get myself to a concert. At the very least, I have to make sure I have plans to go to one. In my youth, I attended an average of two concerts a week. I haven’t gone to a concert in the past year. Young Casie would be so disappointed in Adult Casie. I also intend to spend some time on patios sipping wine with a great book.
July: Friendship
Truthfully, I don’t typically have too hard of a time keeping in touch with friends. However, there is nothing wrong with dedicating a little extra time to strengthening those friendships. I’m going to make sure that I set up times to talk or facetime with friends. Even better, I would like to travel to see a few of them or travel with them. I also intend to send some notes to friends to remind them of some happy times.
August: The Heavens
I don’t mean anything religious by this, I mean space. My fascination with space runs deep and since I am turning thirty this month, I need to spend time with something that makes me so happy. I am hoping to make a weekend trip to Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania. It is one of the best places to see the stars this side of the Mississippi. I am also going to be spending my month reading all kinds of books about space and stars: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, The Big Picture, The Grand Design, Your Soul is a River.
September: Mindfulness
I am going to spend September trying to devote some time to this New Age Mindfulness shenanigans. I intend to spend 10 minutes a day meditating, I intend to journal every day and practicing a little bit of self-care. Personally, self-care means hair masks, long baths, glasses of wine, and cuddling with my pup.
October: Family
I’m a bit of an oddball when it comes to my family. I talk to my Mom and Dad almost every single day. In fact, if my Mom doesn’t hear from me one night, I typically get a text the next morning to check and see if I am alive. Nevertheless, I’m dedicating October to enhancing my familial relationships. This means I intend to spend some time calling family members that I don’t speak to every single day. I’m going to send some thinking of you cards to some other family members. Finally, I want to try to be sure to visit the family, which isn’t always easy. I made sure to choose a month that didn’t have a family holiday because I want to ensure the visit is because I want to do it.
November: Work
This is the topic that is likely a floater because if I do manage to get a job earlier in the year, that month will be dedicated to work and my career. I intend to network, take on a new project, and try a class or a new method. I tend to be a workaholic. It isn’t always the healthiest, but it is, unfortunately, a fact of life for me. So it makes sense to spend some time really making sure my career is on track. I love trying new work methods, and I’m thinking of testing out the Pomodoro method or something similar.
December: Put it all together
December is all about reflecting on the past year and harnessing all of that happiness at once. Some of the things I will test out won’t be winners. December is about finding a way to filter out the stuff that didn’t work and focusing on what did. This year didn’t get off to the greatest of starts, but I intend to make the most of it.
