So, the year is officially halfway over–there are only 184 days left in 2021. It seems like yesterday it was December 2020 and March 2021 all wrapped up in one. While there are vaccines rolling out to deal with the SARS-CoV2 virus, the virus is also mutating at a good rate–so I will probably still be self-isolating through the summer and into the fall (especially until I hear how the J&J vaccine does against the delta variant). There is yet another variant of the virus that is starting to become the more dominant one (delta), and we’re finding out that even if you have had the vaccine–you could still contract the virus (and still possibly die from it as well). It will be interesting to see what type of numbers/spike in cases we’re going to have moving towards fall.

I’m truthfully trying to stay away from the news right now for the most part (I’m getting really tired of all the irritating/disturbing news in the world), and I’m fully aware that by doing so, I’m exercising my ‘white privilege’. Since we’ve managed to vaccine a decent percentage of the US population, we’re not seeing an overwhelming number of new cases each month. We’re still seeing new cases, but the numbers are on the low side. When I published ‘May in Review’, I noted that the US was at a little over 34.1 million cases, and now the US is at a little over 34.5 million cases (an increase of less than half a million new cases). I’m worried though that the numbers are going to start going up again, since it is summer, there is a new variant becoming dominant, and those who are un-vaccinated may still refuse to get their shots. Also, I’m going to be listening to the World Health Organization–they’re telling people that even if you’re fully vaccinated you should still be wearing a mask, especially with the delta variant gaining ground.

So before looking ahead to July (the start of the third quarter, and the second half of the year; plus a new set of goals and plans), I should also look at the goals I set for June and see how I did with each of them.

The goals for June included:

At least 130-150,000 steps

Continue with LIIFT4

Read at least one non-fiction book and post the review

Read at least two fiction books and hopefully post the reviews

Start (and hopefully finish) the Intellectual Property Pack course, and work on the writing/editing assignments for the MWO

No spend days/No spend weeks/limited spending month–honor the limited spending challenge

Time outdoors and meditation/sitting quietly

Start (and hopefully finish) at least one other e-course

Craft time

So how did I do with each of them?

130-150,000 steps: I managed to meet the minimum step goal (130,000 steps), and was just under the 150,000 goal for the month. My final number of steps for June were 149,009. Since we’re in summer–the temperatures hit the 90s with high humidity (which put the heat index in the low 100s), so I only managed a single full walk, plus a partial walk up at Boomer Lake this month. I’m going to have to figure out ways of getting the steps in around the house since the weather doesn’t look to be cooperating with me this summer.

Continue LIIFT4: I have been continuing with LIIFT4, though I decided to follow the lifting schedule on my own. Instead of trying to stream the workouts each morning, I simply put on some upbeat music and lift weights. I may not be doing the exercises in the ‘correct’ order–but it’s my order and the workout gets done.

Read at least one non-fiction book and post the review: I have managed to actually finish three books this month, and reviews have been posted on the blog for the first two (I’m currently working on the third book review). The three books that I’ve read were:

‘The Financial Diet’ by Chelsea Fagan

’25 Ways to Work from Home’ by Jen Ruiz

‘Write to Speak’ by Mike Acker

Read at least two fiction books and post reviews: I’ve managed to read three fiction books, but have only gotten a review written over the first one (the other two are on my to-do list). The books that I read were:

‘My Rebound’ (On My Own #2) by Carrie Ann Ryan

‘How Much I Love’ (Miami Nights #3) by Marie Force

‘As We Are’ (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #5) by Claudia Burgoa

Start (and hopefully finish) the Intellectual Property Pack course, and work on the writing/editing assignments for the Medical Writers Organization:

I managed to start and finish the Intellectual Property Pack program offered by the Cheeky Scientist Association. While I found the course interesting (and didn’t realize that there are people who deal with trademarks and copyrights daily), I’m not sure if it is a path I’m going to be pursuing. While I will be talking more about this in another post, the basic reason for me being leery of the field–is the standardized test you have to take to become an accredited patent agent.

I’m slowly working through the writing/editing assignments for the Medical Writers Organization. I decided to start with the editing assignments first, and I’m currently ~two-thirds of the way done with that assignment. I may go back and rework one of my answers though. I’m hoping to finish the assignments (and course) during the third quarter of the year.

No spend days/no spend weeks/limited spending month–honor the limited spending challenge

I was able to basically honor the limited spending challenge this month. I did a single large purchase from amazon mid-month for books that will hopefully be serving as reference books for a story idea. While I did purchase a few e-books throughout the month, it hasn’t been to the same extent that I did during March, April, or May.

Time outdoors and meditation/sitting quietly:

The amount of time spent outdoors this past month depended heavily on the weather. We had really hot and humid weather at the beginning of the month, and then really wet and rainy weather towards the end of the month.

I only missed one meditation night earlier in the month, and I learned that even sitting for a minute or two focusing on my breath at night does help me sleep better. When I decide not to do that exercise–my sleep suffers and I have a harder time staying asleep throughout the night.

Start (and hopefully finish) at least one other e-course

In addition to going through the Intellectual Property Pack program, I also watched a short e-course via skillshare on punctuation. This is one that I may go back and re-watch every so often just as a refresher. While I’m fairly good at understanding and using most punctuation marks–the comma and semi-colon are ones that I’m probably misusing from time to time.

Craft time:

So I’ve been trying to slowly move away from my go-to ‘craft time projects’ of doing the color-by number app on my Kindle. Therefore I’m slowly working other crafts into my day. I have semi-doodle an cross-stitch pattern, but have also decided that the my ‘first real trial piece’ is going to be a mixture of geometric designs and trying to see how may colors I can use. I have some ideas for necklaces and bracelets–I just haven’t gotten around to actually creating them yet.

I would say that I managed to reach about eighty percent of my goals for June. With the way the weather is going–I may be falling back on my old ‘step making’ method of putting on a movie and marching in place/circles and getting the steps that way. I realize that finding the dedicated time for crafts and the more computer intensive work will require me actually setting aside time in the day to focus on those items (goals for the third quarter).

As we move into the third quarter and second half of 2021, I’m going to be slowly focusing a little more on how to create that ‘new career’ that will hopefully be a mix of freelance/remote/contract/online/consulting and blogging/photography/writing/crafts–in other words trying to find that harmony between personal and professional interests.

Therefore the domain (web address) of the site may change (I have two ideas bouncing around in my head and might put them up for a vote on LinkedIn and/or Facebook) at some point this month. The content won’t change that much–there will be additional pages added, and possibly a few more science/humanities related blog posts but that currently will be the extent of the ‘changes’ at least for 2021.

Therefore my goals for July 2021 will include:

135-155,000 steps, since we’re entering the ‘dog days of summer’ and the fact that it may be too hot for weekly walks, I will be figuring out an alternative method for reaching daily step goals.

Finishing LIIFT4 and starting my second round of Morning Meltdown 100

Read one to two non-fiction books (and write small reviews)

Read two to three fiction books (and write small reviews)

Finish up the editing assignments (and start the writing assignments) for MWO, and watch the first few videos in module one of the Regulatory Affairs Council program

No spend days/no spend weeks/limited spending month

Time outdoors, meditation/sitting quietly, daily gratitude entries in the journal

Craft time (start the cross-stitch project and possibly create at least one necklace)

Work through at least one other personal/professional development e-course

Start back at refreshing Spanish (30-45 minutes a day, two to three days a week)

These goals are more or less the same as last month, but again–that is how they become habit, you keep doing them until you no longer really think about them, and then you can go to ‘new goals/habits’ and keep repeating those and so on.

These are in addition to other goals that I’m going to be developing to help push that ‘new career’ forward. I will share those later when I do an update on how my second 12-week year is going. These goals help me focus on my health (physical and mental), that I have the had habit of not looking after when I get laser-focused on something else. So, until I make these habits stick (so that no matter how laser-focused I am on something else, I keep doing them)–I will be repeating them in some variation over and over again until they’re habit.

The first half of 2021 is over, and it has helped me slowly start laying the foundation for creating an ‘online’ career and presence. Moving forward, I now need to figure out how to slowly start ‘standing out’ in that crowd, but at the same time stay multi-facet (so I don’t lose interest and get bored).

2021–will be the year of growth, creativity, curiosity, happiness, and prosperity.

Random question: What are some of your favorite business podcasts to listen to??