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Focused Living, One Month at a Time

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Challenge #30(!) - Wrapping Up


So long, sun (and this project)
“You are capable of more than you know. Choose a goal that seems right for you and strive to be the best, however hard the path.  Aim high.  Behave honorably.  Prepare to be alone at times, and to endure failure.  Persist!  The world needs all you can give.”

-E.O. Wilson






So this was going to be THEEE month, the “third time’s the charm” (I’ve tried this challenge a few times before), the final challenge in this project to get the new website up and running with a fancy new logo and content-rich and photos and functioning technically optimally and growing the number of pages and site visits and time spent on the site, and steadily expanding an email list and sharing and posting and commenting and responding and promoting it all across all those social media channels, etc, etc, etc and you guessed – didn’t happen.  I did start off the month with some enthusiasm and worked on it a bit, but work and the holidays and other assorted life events (like spending a few weeks on a beautiful tropical island) interfered and basically sucked up my priority management and focus ability, sigh.

Bright Side:  Now that this project is ending, for 2014, the new entire focus will be on the new site – different aspects each month so I will take my time and not feel so rushed to perfection (like each time I have tried during this very varied monthly project).  So there you have it. 
 

Meanwhile, here’s a brief list of things I learned overall while doing this project, a summary of sorts.

1.     Workouts, of any kind, are easiest in the AM - no question.  And I always feel better all day afterward.

2.     The months that consisted of small habits every day like watching the sunset or running at least a mile were (generally) easier to complete.

3.     The months that had one big overarching goal such as writing 10,000 words, were a lot more challenging.

4.     Corollary:  I still have a tendency to procrastinate the big unfamiliar, unpaced stuff, usually by cranking out the little easy stuff that isn’t nearly as important - I will always be working on this.

5.     Meditation and yoga do work, I need to make them a regular part of my life, and green smoothies are awesome, for so many reasons.

6.     Getting in the ocean every single day was a joyous privilege, and I need to stay connected to it this way.

7.     Life gets interrupted regularly, every single day – making lists of (at least) the top 5 priorities every single day helps me stay generally on target and efficient.

8.     The number 30 now means a lot more to me: I use it to count in workouts (30 sit ups, push ups, etc) and count backwards from it when I can’t fall asleep, among other things.  Yes I’m adopting it as my lucky number.

9.     Outwardly focused challenges, like talking to strangers and especially giving thanks were a few of my favorites because they helped me step outside of my default introvert self – another thing I will always be working on.

10.   And finally:  intention is good, action is better, but completion is definitely best.



Thank YOU sincerely for reading whatever posts you may have explored over this 2 ½ year journey, I deeply appreciate every single page view, each comment, and all the encouragement along the way. May 2014  bring you much joy (and some good challenges) too!  :)

1 comment:

  1. I'm impressed. This was quite the challenge. And the variety of each monthly challenge was impressive, too. Thanks for sharing what you've learned. We could all learn from you;-) Bravo on the diligence. I look forward to seeing the "other" website develop each month. Keep it up!

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