May 2016 Progress Report

Looking back, I think May 2016 was an excellent month. I went away, lost a bit of weight, and took some professional development. But tax time is coming to Australia, and it’s time for me to start sorting out my business affairs. I always used to laugh about people who kept their receipts in shoe boxes, and now I am one.

beauty: body
weigh ≤61kg by 11 July

🙂
64.3 kg

😐
64.3 kg

I dropped a bit of weight after some long walks on my dog holiday( 🙂 ) and lost a little more to 63.1 kg. Discovered the weirdness of clothes that are too loose for comfort but not loose enough to down-size. Though as you can see I put it back on again (see below).

 

I had to send my Vivosmart activity tracker away for a service and borrowed Toseland’s Fitbit for a week or so. It quickly became apparent that I absolutely do need the vibrating reminders to get up and move as I am more than capable of sitting quite still for 8 1/2 hours. This and uncomfortable clothes could be key reasons why I hover around the same weight.

And I got the all clear after my breast cancer screening.

beauty: presence
build a practical and workable wardrobe that reflects who I am

😐

😐I have been trying to find a women’s cotton towelling bathrobe and am becoming discouraged. Towelling seems only to come in white unisex sizing, and women’s sizing appears to be pastel polyester velour. At least I was able to get nice warm wool slippers. While I haven’t thought much about the clothes I need for winter, I did offer suggestions on an outfit for cleaning house.
beauty: home
sparse yet comfortable happy home that reflects our authentic selves

🙂

🙂I’m managing to keep more or less on top of tidiness, and I finally took my donations to the charity shop, so I feel as though the house is more open (and airy).
beauty: garden
lush and abundant garden providing habitats, weather protection and a mystical threshold

🙂

🙁The garden may have survived summer, but it hasn’t done too well during the spring storms. We’ve lost some of this year’s key plantings, and it’s going to need a re-think.
friendship: creatures

 

  • get the dogs well and healthy
  • develop habitats to support native species

😐

🙂Currenly mouse-free, but who knows how long for? I read that peppermint is a mouse deterrent so I have cotton buds soaked with peppermint oil around the house, and it is certainly deterring me!
friendship: friends

 

  • maintain and improve relationships with international and e- friends
  • make new friends (especially local)

🙁

😐I managed to catch up with Katy this month. She’s dealing with her own life changes at the moment, and we had a more frank and open discussion than I think either of us were expecting.

 

Which was interesting, because while I was reading up on other matters, I found (and then lost) some research suggesting that while e-friends were better than no friends, people you regularly see face-to-face provide the greatest mental health benefits.

Perhaps I should have held that Towel Day dinner party rather than just planning it!

friendship: contribution
give something back to the community and the planet

😐

🙂As well as my charity drop-off, I offered advice on learning to dress like who you are, entreated you to look forward with anticipation, and offered 5 Brave Steps for making a change. Not to mention suggestions for breaking your mobile phone addiction.
pleasure: adventure
taking risks, international vacations and just doing stuff

🙂

🙂The power has gone off a couple of times this month, and it’s been difficult to know what to do without it. It’s not really, but it’s quite surprising how many of your “I’ll just do…” things we do rely on electricity.

 

I published the results of my shaving soap shampoo experiments.

pleasure: recharge
rest, relax, recharge

 

  • turn off the computer by 9 pm
  • read two books per month

🙂

🙂I am finishing “work” at 6 pm and turning my computer off much more regularly now. It makes those odd days when I have to work late because things don’t go quite right so much more annoying.

 

Reading books for pleasure is still difficult; perhaps because I exhaust myself reading for work. I have a plan to deal with that, and I’ll be telling you about that in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I discovered the joy of Houdini and Doyle, which isn’t helping my current Houdini obsession at all.

wisdom: choice
having the capacity to make choices

😐

😐This has been another month of mainly choosing not to do things. Though sometimes I still choose to do things, which explains why my inbox is not getting any smaller.

 

 

wisdom: growth

 

  • become a more complex person by challenging my beliefs
  • developing my mind and having the courage of my convictions
  • choosing me for me

😐

🙂The Work by Design Summit was on this month, and I’ve learned some interesting things about purpose, productivity and profits. The downside is that “attending” the sessions takes up a bit of time, but I managed to get at least one thing worth putting into action from most of the ones I saw.

 

And I learned that you shouldn’t tinker too much with your website because when you fix one issue, two more spring up and back-ups don’t restore exactly to when you make them. So, you might still have to rebuild the look and feel of your site, though this is satisfying when you think you have got it right! (And incredibly annoying when you can’t seem to get it back the way it was).

And I thought a little about whether individual or collective interests should be paramount.

wealth: income
$29,163 income

🙂

🙂Another royalties payment, 0.04% of target – now 2.5% in total (including a little freelancing). I finished correcting the Stress Free Dinner Parties paperback and am waiting for the uncorrected proofs to arrive – hopefully, next week. Another small income generator on the way.
wealth: expenditure
reduce expenditure

😐

🙂Aside from our mini-vacation, we had to replace some electrical appliances that burnt out with the fluctuating power. Other than that, a cheap month.

Looking back through the pages of my journal, I’ve certainly been busy, even if I haven’t always achieved all the things I wanted to. I used to put stars in when I was happy with my achievements, and I think I need to start doing that again because I can’t always read my handwriting.

Click here for other Project Worthwhile Life progress reports.

If you like, let me know how your May went in the comments below.

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