So the moon is transitioning into Gemini tomorrow, as it marks its new phase. We have entered the last month of the second quarter of the year. Somehow June is a month that both crawls and speeds by at the same time. Now it’s time to look back on the goals that I set for the Taurus New Moon.

My list of things to try to focus on during the Taurus new moon included the following:

            Making a financial plan. I’ve realized that I’m not getting any younger, and that there are still things that I either want to do (travel more for leisure) or will need to be doing (moving for a new job) that will require having a decent amount of money saved and/or invested.

            Continue working on my transition plan—since I know at least one or two of the cities that I’m willing to relocate to (Boston, and maybe Washington DC, Chicago, or St. Louis) now I need to start looking for say three to four companies within each area that I think I could work for and start trying to network for informational interviews.

            Try and finish the following two books: “Next Gen PhD: A Guide to Career Paths in Science” by Melanie V Sinche and “Reboot Your Life: Energize your career and lie by taking a break” by Catherine Allen, Nancy Bearge, Rita Foley and Jaye Smith.

            Box (or bag) up the t-shirts that no longer fit well for donation (or selling online).

            Get back into a workout routine (go between weight training and cardio).

So how did I do with each goal?

In terms of making a financial plan—I have a decent amount in my savings. I’m leery of putting money (other than what my employer does for my retirement account) into the stock market, due to the current political climate. What I need to do is look into a short-term investment (CD or bonds) and decide how much to invest into something like that. I want to be comfortable whenever I retire (not super rich, but not struggling either), and that means I need to find the time to focus on that in the coming months as well.

In terms of the two books: “Next Gen PhD” and “Reboot Your Life”—I finished both of them (though I do need to go back and finish some of the exercises in each one. But by finishing “Reboot Your Life”, I’ve realized that I’m in dire need of a “reboot break”, and that one will be occurring at some point this year (possibly before my current job contract is up).

Working on my transition plan—this is going to be getting melded in with my “reboot break”. I’ve realized that currently I don’t have the time or the energy to focus on doing the job search/transition correctly. I know I will need to travel (in part to show that I am willing to relocate, and also to network), but I need to be strategic in where and when; currently I have no idea on the companies that I would like to possibly work for. This makes it difficult to strategically network for informational interviews. So I need to get my mental and physical health back on track, and then the job search/transition should fall into place.

The getting back into a workout routine and de-cluttering my clothes (and other possessions) are also going to be getting melded in with my “reboot break”. I’ve let stress and irritation from work overwhelm me to the point that I’m close to hitting either my low or just a point where I don’t really care anymore about certain things.

So the Taurus new moon period wasn’t the greatest in terms of reaching my goals—though I did finish two books and came to the conclusion that a break is needed (how long of a break—that is still undecided). I’m sure that there are people who will be shaking their heads saying that it doesn’t sound like anything has changed—but little baby steps (or even crawling) is better than nothing—it means I haven’t totally given up. Anxiety is a bitch to deal with, and my has been at a record level the past couple of months—so I’m happy with the little progress I’ve made and the fact that I’ve admitted to myself, that stopping to take care of myself for awhile probably isn’t that bad of an idea.

The moon will be in Gemini tomorrow, and that will be time to set some new intentions and goals for the beginning of June. The biggest intention is going to be to continue moving forward, no matter how slow it seems to others.