November Goals

This is a first for me. By that, I don't mean that I never set monthly goals for myself, I simply mean that I've never shared my personal goals with anyone. But this month, I've finally begun to feel that I've managed to achieve some semblance of a balance or order in my life. So sharing my goals starting this month is my way of reinforcing that order and making sure that I stick to my plans and achieve those goals.

I can't tell you how many times this week I came across some article or the other that stated the importance of letting people in on your goals as it makes you even more motivated to deliver results once you know that you aren't alone and there are others watching. So instead of turning this into boring one-sided thing, I want to involve you guys in the process. How about you set your own goal or goals for this month and tell at least one other person about it? If you want that one person to be me, here's what you need to do: Send me an e-mail now clearly stating what you wish to achieve this month and send in one more at the end of the month telling me about your progress. As always, I absolutely enjoy being a part of your lives so feel free to include me in your goal setting process. Also, if any of you, like me, don't mind having your goals out there for everyone to see, you can always share them in the comments below.

So here are my goals for this month:

  1. Eat well: I started eating three times a day last month and I've been pretty consistent about it. I know how this sounds but The Husband and I never claimed to be responsible adults in the first place so I'm sure it's kind of believable that we sometimes forget to feed ourselves. We've always been very particular about breakfast but we often skipped lunch. Now, we have proper lunch every single day. Also, we've been taking the time every evening to cook a proper meal together. It's something we truly enjoy doing as a couple and it helps us communicate and bond even on busy days. So this month, I will continue to eat thrice a day and make sure I'm injecting enough nutrients into my body.
    https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/456200637239445401/
    If any of you are interested to see the behind the scenes from our little kitchen, do check out my Instagram stories.

  2. Workout 4 times a week: Because I pretty much have my eating down, I decided to actively take charge of my general physical health. I just want to be fit. I'm not going to train for a marathon or even try to get cool abs. Hell, I don't even need to lose weight! But I want to improve my stamina and get stronger. For this purpose, I joined the gym yesterday and I intend to workout 4 times a week from now on. Which means that this month, I want to clock in 18 days at the gym.
    https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/456200637239445586/

  3. Write every weekday: They say practice makes perfect and whether or not you reach that perfection, at least practice is helping you make progress. And I believe I haven't stopped practicing for over a year now. But I want to consciously make sure that I write at least on every single weekday, whether or not I choose to publish what I write. I will do it for my love of writing, the way I started in the first place. And on the weekends, I will write if I feel like it.
    https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/266064290457768589/

  4. Record every week: We started the podcast with a good repository of episodes so I've noticed over time how we've skipped recording a few weeks in between because it was convenient. However, Meenal and I have decided to get our acts together and start recording every week again, the way we used to before we launched. We're going to be more disciplined in that area this month.

  5. Publish for Desi Outsiders at least once a week: When we launched Desi Outsiders, both Meenal and I had a clear vision of what we wanted our brand to be about. We wanted to build a community and we wanted to share our ideas by not restricting ourselves to any one medium. Which is why both of us decided to blog on the website. From the beginning, Meenal has been blogging once a week and initially my plan was to do the same. However, I got into it three weeks too late but nevertheless, I got into it. I plan to write for Desi Outsiders once a week from now on.

  6. Stop wasting my time on mediocrity: For the past two weeks, I found myself indulging in mediocrity by constantly complaining and listening to others complain. I now feel that I wasted a lot of my time worrying and getting involved in the most mediocre bullshit that I can do nothing about. If someone complains to me about a situation they landed themselves in, then the best I can do is show them a way to get out of it. And if they're in no mood to help themselves, then by sticking around, I'd be wasting my time. Listening to others complain about silly things drew me to the same state of mind and I just learned how shitty that state of mind is. I actually spent a whole lot of time fixating on a little pet-peeve of mine. Someone was doing something that annoyed me from a distance and I would just not shut up about it, especially since I couldn't control this person's actions. So from now on, when I find myself thinking about something I can't really do anything about, I'm going to stop fixating on it and move on with my life because I actually have more important things to do. This month, I am going to stay away from mediocrity and actually try to bring progress into my own life.

  7. Read at least three nights a week: I have four free nights every week including the weekends and I want to read before bed on at least three of those nights. This month, I will read a lot in bed and be happy.

  8. No work on weekends: On the evening of Friday the 21st of October, our internet went down. I had a post to publish and it began to look like that wasn't going to happen. My normal reaction would have been to FREAK OUT. Instead, I surprised myself with my calmness when I walked out of the door and into a bookstore and spent two whole hours sniffing new books. I then marched back home with my stack on newly purchased books, made myself a cup of tea, parked my ass on my couch, turned on a warm light, cozied up under a blanket and read a book. I didn't get up from that spot for a long, long time. I actually enjoyed some time away from everything. That's when I decided that I was going to set aside a portion of my weekends for myself. This month, I'm going to make sure that I don't even by accident, work on a weekend unless it's something that I want to do because it's fun.

And that's it for November. I truly hope you guys also set goals and share them with at least one other person. I'm looking forward to reading your goals, should you decide to share them with me.

May November be an amazing month for all of us :)