So we’re almost a third of the way through June–actually, tomorrow when we have the new moon it will mark the one-third mark in terms of days (since tomorrow is the 10th). So before looking ahead to the Gemini new moon (which will also be a solar eclipse–that I will not be seeing as it won’t be visible from Oklahoma), I need to look back at the goals I set for the Taurus new moon and see how I did with each of them.

So what were the goals for the Taurus new moon? They included:

  1. Making a financial plan (short term but also hopefully long term as well)
  2. Really start investigating potential directions for transition/career
  3. Try and finish the following books: Career Rehab: rebuild your personal brand and rethink the way you work by Kanika Tolver; Creativity Rules: Get Ideas out of you head and into the world by Tina Seelig; and finally Percolate: Let Your best self filter through by Elizabeth Hamilton-Guanino.
  4. Box (or bag) up t-shirts that no longer fit well for donation (or selling online)
  5. Continue with the daily intentional movements

So how did I do with each of them?

  1. I actually just finished a book on this subject (‘The Financial Diet’) last week, and am working at formulating some plasn. Trying to think ahead long term (especially in terms of money) has always been slightly difficult, but I’m slowly getting there. While I don’t have the perfect (or even imperfect) plan written down–I have ideas bouncing around in my head. I just need to start following some of the tips and suggestions from the book ‘The Financial Diet’.
  2. I also just finished a book on this subject (though that book looked exclusively at online work) as well last week (’25 ways to work from home’). So I semi-touched on this in that post–but basically I have several ideas that I just need to sit down and try to flesh out (which includes trying to develop a ‘business’ plan if I’m serious about trying to work for myself).
  3. Well, I didn’t finish those three books. I’d mentioned in an earlier post that I created a personal/professional development board game and while it has ‘read’ down several times, the book list has been randomized and a roll of the dice chooses the book. While those three books are on the list, and will be finished–it just depends on a roll of the dice when I start (at the beginning again) for each of them. But I have finished reading four books between the new moons and they were:
    • The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking
    • Permission to Screw Up: How I learned to lead by doing (almost) everything wrong by Kristen Hadeed
    • The Financial Diet: A total beginner’s guide to getting good with money by Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hage
    • 25 ways to work from home: smart business models to make money on line by Jen Ruiz
  4. Didn’t do–I wasn’t up to trying on shirts that probably don’t fit that comfortably (even though I should, as I’m trying to reach a somewhat neutral relationship with my body). I figured that this will happen once I figure out what my ‘business casual’ dress code is going to be along with my weekend/at home casual wardrobe. I will also have to have a ‘business professional’ dress code (mainly for interviews), but this will happen later this summer or early fall.
  5. Yes, I managed to keep up with the daily intentional movement (though it may not have always been recorded). These movements have been everything from house and yard work, to walking the dog, walks at Boomer Lake, and lifting weights.

So the only goal that I would say I met almost ‘perfectly’ was the daily intentional movements goal. I did read several books–but they weren’t the ones I’d ‘initially’ chosen. Going through clothes isn’t what I would consider a ‘fun’ chore (it is a necessary chore–but one that is still going to be put off a few months).

The long-term goals (career & finances) are slowly coming along. Through quite a bit of self-reflection, I’ve realized that one of my ‘sticking’ points with trying to develop new long-term plans is the fear that I’m either making another mistake or the path is going to ‘dead-end’ again. While I can’t control what the future holds, I can try to make sure that I’m ‘checking-in’ with myself on a regular basis to know whether or not I’m happy with the direction I’m going, so I can try to ‘correct the course’ before it leads to another ‘dead-end’ and I have to forage yet another new path.

All four books that I mentioned reading have been reviewed within the past two weeks here on the blog–and I highly recommend them to people in need of a different point of view on leadership, what hygge is, or finances.

Small steps forward mean that I’m edging closer to my goals–and while I may not have them totally set, I’m not afraid to wander forward searching for something better than what is behind me.