Every new month feels like a chance to start over, to start anew any goals unmet from the month before.
New seasons in particular feel like a new start. Fall might not officially start for a few more weeks, but the beginning of September feels like fall.
September 1st is the day Hogwarts students climb aboard the Hogwarts Express to start a new school term. Last Friday was the day little Albus Severus started his first year at Hogwarts–and the day the Sorting Hat placed him in Slytherin.
Labor Day culturally signifies the last day of summer, no matter how the weather actually feels. As a kid, Labor Day meant a family reunion at the lake. As a college student, Labor Day was the day before freshman moved into the dorms and started O-Week. (Then Furman changed our schedule from trimesters to semesters and ruined my senior year. No, I’m not still bitter).
This year, September feels like a month to focus.
While Dan and I have a few events planned for the month, we’re still home every weekend. We both have a lot to do around the house and the yard. I also hope to resume a more consistent blogging schedule.
But before I can jump into my September goals, I need to look at what I did (and didn’t do) in August!
Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you click on them, and buy something, I might earn a small commission at no cost to you. I would never promote something I don’t genuinely like.
August Recap
Long-term:
Normally, I don’t recap my long-term goals, since I tend to break those down into regular monthly goals. However, I’ve hit several of my long-term goals, which I should celebrate! (Especially since my overall monthly goals flopped in August).
- I’ve written 3 blog posts on prayer to promote my mom’s book of prayers!
- I’ve also created some freebies to attract email subscribers.
- Last week I launched an email series on prayer! This is my first-ever automated email series, and I’m very happy with it. Sign up to take the prayer challenge yourself!
For my career:
- Yes, my mom’s book is available for Kindle! I’m working on the paperback version, but for now, you can buy the Kindle book for just $2.99. 30% of the royalties go to the foundation in honor of my mom.
- Market this book:
- I’ve made progress on the Freebies page, but it’s not done yet.
- While I’ve created a few more freebies, none of them are actually in place as lead magnets. With free tech, it’s easier to set up everything on the password-protected page, and then send that out to new email subscribers.
- I did not reach 25 email subscribers, but I did grow from 6 to 12. Although that includes my dad and me, because I need my own email in there to test everything.
- I’ve posted opportunities for guest bloggers in a few places, but I haven’t reached out to the very few who expressed an interest.
- I did not create Muddling Through Writer Guidelines.
- Alas, I only blogged once.
- I grew from 30 to 45 Facebook likes, 5 short of my goal of 50.
- Score! I blew past my goal of 200 Instagram followers, growing from 115 to 740.
- I didn’t totally go through Instagram Decoded step-by-step, but I followed a lot.
- Ugh, I posted inconsistently. Last week I posted 5x, but I didn’t post 5x every single week.
- Honestly, I’m not sure how many bloggers I contacted. Probably not 10, but I definitely reached out to multiple Christian bloggers.
- I really love my new Kappa volunteer position. Except for last week when I didn’t check my email for 5 days, I’ve been proactive with my volunteer work!
- My main Instagram account barely grew at all. I did post more consistently, posting 11 or 12 times in August, with 1 post attracting comments from over 75 people. But at the beginning of the month, I cleaned out who I was following down to under 600 accounts. I slowly resumed the follow/unfollow method, but growth has been slow. I’m currently at 32,400ish followers.
- I barely touched Twitter last month, so I’m not surprised that I lost followers (down to 9,050) instead of gaining any.
- I did not blog 4x on Belle Brita. While I published 3 blog posts, I only wrote 2 of them.
August 2017 Blog Posts:
- August 2017 Goals // July Recap
- 5 Reasons to Take Birth Control (Besides Preventing Pregnancy)
- White Supremacy in America: a History Lesson for White Christians
For my health:
- Ha, I completely forgot about my goal of going 5 days without soda or alcohol.
- I did discuss different dietary options with my gastroenterologist. He is also recommending a dietitian for me so I can safely try a restrictive diet.
- I did not find new medical professions for Dan and me.
- Y’all… Wii Fit isn’t even set up yet. So no, I didn’t use it 2x per week.
- Bonus: Unfortunately, I did need to see my dermatologist. I’m now taking 1 oral prescription and 2 topical prescriptions for skin inflammation. Woohoo.
For my marriage:
- We did get a couple’s massage!
- While we didn’t spent time with our friends, we did put a get-together on the calendar for September.
- Dan and I started to plan our trip to New England a lot later than I wanted because someone didn’t take me seriously when I kept asking to sit down, buy flights, and map out a general route. So now I’m desperately trying to find b&bs for 2 nights that aren’t already booked–and it’s too late for me to pitch a media collaboration to get a free stay.
- I did some preliminary work on our trip to Japan.
For our household:
- I did some decluttering, but not 1 hour weekly.
- I meal-planned most weeks, but not every single week.
- While I didn’t quite meet my gardening goal, I am happy with how much I did in the second half of August.
- For now my cleaning checklist pretty much only gets followed in the kitchen and the bathrooms. Maybe I’ll eventually apply it to the rest of the house…
- I didn’t send out overdue wedding cards/gifts. Yikes.
- I filled out the paperwork to renew my passport, but I still need to send it in with a check.
September Goals
Long-term:
- Self-publish my mom’s book of prayers.
- Market this book:
- Blog posts about prayer
- Opt-in freebies
- An email series on prayer
- NEW! Write and self-publish my own book of prayers.
- Earn affiliate commissions on Breakthru Branding
- Market this course:
- At least two blog posts
- An opt-in freebie
- Teach SEO for lifestyle bloggers
- Create a course?
- Write an ebook?
- Earn affiliate commissions on Blog Boss Babe
- Market this group:
- At least two blog posts
- An opt-in freebie
For my career:
- Order a print proof of my mom’s book.
- Schedule the publication date for the paperback version.
- Market Muddling Through Again:
- Finish my Freebies page for subscribers.
- Update all opt-in forms and my welcome email.
- Reach 25 email subscribers.
- Line up more guest bloggers.
- Create Muddling Through Writer Guidelines.
- Blog at least 2x.
- Reach 75 Facebook likes.
- Create a second email series on prayer.
- Reach 25 Pinterest followers.
- Stay on track with my Kappa volunteer position.
- Reach 33,500 Instagram followers.
- Reach 9,200 Twitter followers.
- Blog at least 6x on Belle Brita.
- Update 2 old blog posts with better photos/graphics.
For my health:
- Finish reading Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet.
- Schedule my new infusion.
- Follow-up with my gastroenterologist.
- Exercise in any way at least 2x per week, for at least 15 minutes.
For my marriage:
- Pray for Dan daily following the prayer prompts I wrote.
- Spend time with our friends (a married couple) who we haven’t seen in a few months.
- Plan trip to New England!
- Start planning trip to Japan!
For our household:
- Spend at least 1 hour per week decluttering/putting stuff away/unpacking boxes.
- Meal-plan every week.
- Spend at least 1 hour per week in the garden.
- Follow my new cleaning checklists to the best of my ability.
- Send out overdue wedding cards/gifts. A list which has now doubled in size.
- Renew my passport.
Yes, a lot of those goals are the same. Some goals aren’t habits yet. Others I haven’t managed to accomplish on a regular basis. But as long as I keep moving forward, I’m doing okay!
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How was your August? What does September look like for you?
