Category: Level 10 Life

Recapping day one to five of Instagram Challenge

08
Jul
2021

So I decided earlier this week that I was going to do a 120-day oracle card challenge on Instagram. This challenge has two objectives: ensuring that I’m posting something daily, and locating my online ‘tribe’. While I realize that oracle card readings may not be everyone’s ‘cup of tea’, I’ve found them to be a great starting point for reflecting on various things.

Since I have several different oracle decks (actually I have thirteen), I decided that I would use a different one every ten days, in addition to possibly extending the challenge longer (130 days would allow me to use each deck once, but extending it to 578 days would allow me to draw each card once).

While I’m sharing the cards daily on Instagram, I decided that I would do a summary of them on the blog every five to ten days (ensuring at least one to two posts per oracle deck, to begin with).

To start the challenge, I decided to use the Enchanted Map oracle deck by Colette Baron-Reid. I like the stories that one can draw from the cards.

The first card that I drew to start the challenge was ‘Into the Unknown’ (card number seven, in the upright position).

This was a fitting card to start the challenge with as I’ve been slowly thinking of stepping into the unknown of changing careers. I’ve spent the past year and a half doing a large amount of personal and professional reflections, and while I don’t have the path totally planned out—I do have an idea (or two) of where I would like to start. Part of any path is knowing that you have a learning curve to deal with, but at the same time one needs to figure out how to move into the new ‘arena’ even if you’re at a ‘disadvantage’ compared to others.

It is also a reminder that growth comes by stepping out of our comfort zones and into the unknown.

The second card that was drawn for the challenge was the ‘One-Ring Circus’ (card number fifteen, in the upright position).

This card reminds us that we’re capable and competent in any endeavor that we pursue—as long as we put in the work. Self-reliance is key, as we’re the only ones who can forage our paths, others may ‘walk’ with us, but we have to do the work. For me this is also a reminder that I need to become a more ‘active’ learner—actually starting to put various things into practice instead of just reading/watching and moving on to the next book or e-course.

I’m slowly becoming better at setting (and meeting) my own deadlines for projects. My biggest ‘problem’ actually is that I get overly ambitious about the project and bite off more than I can chew initially. These two aspects (setting and meeting deadlines) will be essential as I move towards my career transition (especially so I won’t be feeling overwhelmed and able to juggle more than one project at a time).

The third card drawn was ‘Heal the Ouch’ (card number thirty eight, in the upright position).

Did you know the phrase let ‘bygones be bygones’ originated in the 15th century?

This card is a reminder that forgiveness is the healer of the soul and sooths the heart and mind as well. It also brought to mind the Buddhist saying, “Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”

This is something that I’m working on—releasing past angers, irritations, and feelings of not good enough, not dedicated enough, or not driven enough. I’ve realized that by allowing myself to either compare myself to others (or allow others to do so), has been one of the key reasons why I’ve been ‘stuck’ and afraid to step into the virtual world as a science communicator, educator, and advocate (even though that is my training and background).

I know that not everyone will agree with my posts, comments, or tone of writing—and that is fine, I need to be true to myself so that I can find my ‘tribe’ both in the virtual and real worlds.

The fourth card drawn was ‘Metamorphosis’ (card number twenty-five in the upright position).

This card is a reminder that nothing in life really stays the same and that to become the best version of ourselves—we need to change. Change is also at times painful and scary (especially when it seems like we’re the only ones going through the process).

As mentioned previously–I’ve been thinking of a career change for several years now, and only decided right before 2020 to take time off to really try to figure out what I wanted to do with my life—the long hours in lab and at the bench no longer appealed to me.

Over the past year and a half, I’ve been reflecting on what type of ‘change’ I could do—a total change in direction, or a hybrid change (bench work part-time and something else part time). The ‘loss’ has been the realizing that the childhood dream of my own marine biology research lab wasn’t going to happen, the ‘pain’ is realizing that I’m going to be trying to step out in an arena with others who have been doing it longer. But the ‘growth’ is there, I just have to take the baby steps away from the lab dreams and start focusing them on a different area of life.

Today’s card is the ‘Spark’ (card number thirty four and in the upright position).

The spark is here to remind us that if we’re feeling the spark of creativity to go ahead and move forward with the idea, or if we want to start a new job—now is the time to search and apply.

It has taken awhile for me to be able to find or see the ‘spark’ of creativity—I’d thought it had be totally extinguished as I kept trying to make a go of a career in academia. But it hadn’t been extinguished; it was just not burning as brightly as it could have been. It is slowly starting to burn brighter. What is my creative idea/job that I’m trying to move forward? Figuring out how to blend science education/communication/advocacy together with a personal development/hobbies/spirituality blog.

It’s been suggested that I do two blogs—but I know that if I try to do that one of them will flounder and fail. Not because I don’t have ideas for both—but because I know that I’d focus on one more than the other (as I’ve been prone to do—focusing on something and ignoring everything else). The plan—slowly start adding in more science posts to the blog, and keep reworking things until I find the right ‘mix’ of the two areas.

So, that covers the first five days of the challenge. Each card, while randomly drawn has been the exact card that I needed that day. They’ve been reminding me to listen to my inner voice (no matter how quiet it is)–I just need to be able to sit quietly and turn inward. I also need to trust both in myself and this journey that I’m on–that I not only will ‘survive’ but thrive as I make my way down the ‘unknown’ road of online entrepreneurship.

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2020 Update on my Level-10 Life. Reflections & future plans.

08
Sep
2020

All right, I realize that I haven’t posted a level-10 check-in since July of last year. I did do a level-10 check-in in December 2019, May 2020, and then this most recent one—beginning of September 2020; but two of those three were only in the journal.

So, just a quick reminder of what a Level-10 life check-in is:

There are 10 areas of life: family & friends, personal development, spirituality, finances, career (and I also include professional development here as well), social life, fun & recreation, giving & contribution, physical environment, and then finally health & fitness.

You then rank each area on a scale of 1-to-10, quickly and without thinking too hard on each one. Then you can compare your most recent Level-10 to the previous one and see how (or if) each area changed. Then depending on how you score them, and the change you can set up goals for each for the coming cycle.

Instead of doing three months, I stretched it into four months this year—because it’s 2020. Usually areas have been either staying constant, or just going up or down a little.

Though, with this check-in there were two areas that had slightly higher ups and downs.

Those two areas were finances, and the physical environment. My ‘happiness/appreciation’ of my finances went down 1.5—due largely to my impulsive e-book buying (and therefore a slightly larger than normal amazon bill). My ‘happiness/appreciation’ of my physical environment went up 1.5—due mainly to me keeping things better organized than I have in the past.

So what are my goals for the last four months of 2020? These goals are going to encompass basically seven out of the ten areas—leaving out family/friends, giving/contributions & social life. Not that I don’t care about those two—but 1) we’re still currently in a pandemic, so if I want to socialize with people, it will have to be online (or a minimum of 12 feet apart); 2) I try to keep in semi-touch with family/friends via social media; 3) there may be things to be donated or given away—just not sure on that particular point.

1) Finish the following workout programs:

            Morning Meltdown 100—I should be finishing my first round of the program on 9/15/2020

            Yoga Booty Ballet & LIIFT4—I should finish this combo by 11/15/2020 (marking the first finish for Yoga Booty Ballet-Abs & Butt Makeover & the 2nd time through LIIFT4)

            10 Rounds—I should then finish this program by Christmas (and it will be my first round of this program).

            I will then start either Muscle Burns Fat & then Muscle Burns Fat Advance or another round of 21-Day Fix and 21-Day Fix Extreme (either of these will then carry me into 2021).

2) Finish the following professional development courses:

            Data Science Syndicate (finish by the end of September; only 1 ½ modules left; actually finished this on 9/3/2020).

            Medical Writers Organization (by the end of October)

            Management Consultant Firm (by the end of November)

            Project Management Consortium (by the end of December)

3) Start learning python (tied with #4 and #2)

4) Finish at least 6 other short e-courses

5) Read at least 8 personal/professional developments books and write short reviews

6) Daily mediation and tarot/oracle card readings (bi-weekly or monthly oracle card review on blog)

7) Learn a new hobby (try my hand at cross-stitching). Also get more yarn and start another afghan possibly.

8) Determine way(s) of earning extra money (or free-lancing options)

9) Start building up a varied portfolio for looking into free-lancing/remote/on-line job options.

10) Go to the storage unit and start repacking boxes that need it, plus maybe start seeing what I don’t need.

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Level 10 life check-in

04
Jul
2019

July marks the start of the second half of the year, and the start of the third quarter. That also means that it is time to take a look at my level 10 life, and see what changes have occurred since April (when I did my last level 10 life check-in).

Level 10 life check-in. Starting the third quarter of the year.

In case you haven’t heard of Level 10 life, basically what it is–you take ten different areas of your life (friends & family, personal development, spirituality, finances, social life, career, fun & recreation, giving & contributions, physical environment, and finally health & fitness) and you rate them on a scale of 1 to 10.

When you rate them, you’re not suppose to spend a lot of time thinking about it–you rate them as how are they are–not how you would like them to be.

I started doing this last year (when I first read about it), and I will admit that there really hasn’t been any huge changes in any given area. I’m lucky if I can get things up to a five or a six. There are some areas that have held constant at around a five (namely family and friends), and my lowest has been at a one (social life).

My long term goal is to try to get things up to a seven or an eight, and I’d prefer if I could also maybe get my social life up to a four or a five. Every area needs work, as this check-in has shown that things have slipped backwards just a little compared to my April check-in.

While I could try to focus on little things for all ten different areas, I’m thinking that I’m going to try to focus on just three or four areas. Therefore my goals will be:

In terms of personal development: Continue reading different non-fiction books and working through different e-courses.

In terms of spirituality: Meditating daily, and doing a daily tarot/oracle card reading (even if I don’t share them right away).

In terms of career: Working on my “reboot break”, my transition plan, and trying to network more.

In terms of health and fitness: Trying to get back into a workout routine (either doing a program all the way through, or creating my own hybrid calendar).

I think that these are the basically the three big areas I need to focus: health (physical and mental), career (figuring out the next step), and just working on becoming the best me possible. Once I have these headed in the proper direction, everything else should also head in the proper direction.

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Level 10 update & photography challenge day 42

31
Mar
2019

Well we’re almost through the first quarter of the year. Tomorrow is both Monday and the start of April–which means April Fool’s Day. I think there is a universal joke being played on us–that is almost an unfair way of starting the week. But since the quarter is almost over, it’s time to do a quick check-in on life via the Level 10 criteria.

Level 10 Life Update: Starting the second quarter of 2019

So there has been little change in basically all areas–either things stayed steady or they went up or down a little. Things almost balanced out in terms of what when up and down–though I think I’m +0.5 in the positive direction in terms of changes.

I still don’t have much of a social life–and currently I’m perfectly fine with that. I know that it could help in terms of networking–but at the end of a busy day at work or a busy week–I don’t want to go back out and deal with interacting with people. So right now most networking is done on-line. I’m planning on doing in-person/live networking, but that will be in a few months (once I have a little more vacation time earned) and I can do a duel networking/mental health break.

I’m hoping to get more things done in terms of my job transition plan, and moving towards getting an industry position (more on this later), and I’m also probably going to be starting a new beachbody program tomorrow (as long as the wireless and internet behave in the evenings–streaming workouts aren’t fun if they keep crashing in the middle). So what are some of my 2nd quarter goals for April through June:

  1. Getting in touch with friends and family via email/social media
  2. Continue reading different personal development books and doing different short challenges (more on this later).
  3. Continuing to try to mediate daily and do my daily tarot/oracle card readings
  4. Different savings challenges
  5. Work on my industry transition plan and network
  6. Lunch with friends on the weekends
  7. More time for crafts
  8. Donate clothes (mainly t-shirts) at the end of the 333 challenge
  9. Repack boxes in storage unit (make room for other boxes from home).
  10. Hopefully do Transformation 20 (new ShawnT workout from Beachbody) and then the hybrid Transformation 20/LIIFT4 program.

I almost consider the first part of the year as still a “planning” period. Now that we’re well into the year–it’s time to get stuff done. More lists will be made (and possibly shared), so that things can be checked off and as a way to make sure that I’m actually moving forward and not just spinning in circles.

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Photography Challenge Day 1: Level 10 Life update

01
Jan
2019

So besides updating my 101 goals for the next 1001 days (and hopefully looking at them more often), I also updated my Level 10 life.

So yesterday I sat down and drew out where I thought everything was sitting in the 10 different areas of life: friends & family, personal development, spirituality, finances, career, social life, fun & recreation, giving & contribution, physical environment, and then finally health & fitness.

As usual things were going up and down in numerous areas. The only one that really stayed the same was my social life at basically 1. I realize that I have no social life, and currently I’m perfectly fine with that, though I know that getting out could help with the networking–I just really don’t have the energy to do it right now. I’m sure that it will change once I move to a new city and meet new people.

So what are some things that I can try to do over the next three months to try to bring the numbers up?

  1. Get in touch with friends/family via email, facebook, linkedin.
  2. Continue reading personal development books & getting through at least one personal development course that I’ve bought.
  3. Mediate about 5 minutes a night and do daily tarot card readings
  4. Savings challenges and limiting what I’m buying on campus.
  5. Working on my transition plan and networking
  6. Meeting up with friends for lunch (or walking around Boomer Lake) and/or trying to make it to a Cheeky meetup.
  7. Schedule time for crafts
  8. Go through clothes to possibly donate
  9. Repack boxes in storage unit & straighten up my bedroom
  10. Start either another round of LIIFT4 or try to do InsanityMax30 again.
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Level 10 Life Update: Going into the last quarter of 2018

06
Oct
2018

Well this is another post that is almost a week late. I had decided at the beginning of the year that I was going to go about goals and tracking them several different ways. One of the ways is my month in review posts, and the list of goals within each month. For the most part they don’t really change, and they’re focused on just a few areas (career, health and fitness, and a slight mix of other areas). The second way I’ve been trying to do things is looking at my life from the perspective of a Level 10 life. Basically, this breaks life down into ten different areas, and then you rate those areas on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest). After rating the different areas, you can then make a goal for each one that you want to work on improving.

Level 10 Life, as of October 2018

So for the most part, there was little change between this analysis of my Level 10 life and the one I did at the beginning of July. Though I did have upward progression in a few areas:

I’ve gotten back into trying to do a daily tarot card reading, which is helping me tune into listening to the universe and my gut a little more. I’m also getting back into try to mediate at least 5 minute each night (sometimes I can quiet my mind and sometimes I can’t). So I bumped the rating for spirituality up from a 3.5 to a 5.

I’ve also managed to put a little more money into the savings account (so I bumped this up from a four to a five for finances), and while the savings may take a small hit since I’m going to be trying to plan a trip out east for later this month, it is sitting at a comfortable spot currently.

I also managed to finish LIIFT4 (which is the first fitness program in probably a year that I’ve finished), and have also managed to limit the amount of sweets that I’ve been getting on campus (though the past few days I did buy some chocolate). I therefore raised the rating for my health and fitness from a 2.5 to a 5.

The other areas really didn’t change all that much from the analysis in July to the analysis this morning.

So my goals for the last quarter of the year include:

(Family and Friends): Getting in touch with friends via social media; and maybe trying to meet up with friends back east.

(Personal Development): Continue with my reading challenge, and commit to either re-learning a foreign language and/or learning a programming language.

(Spirituality): Continue with trying to mediate at least 5 minutes a night, my daily tarot card reading, and build my altar.

(Fiances): Continue with savings challenges, and try to schedule an appointment with a financial consultant to talk about investments

(Career): Work on my transition plan, network, and try to make it to at least one professional networking event out of state.

(Social Life): Meet up with friends for lunch, or walks, and/or also try to make it a Cheeky Scientist Meet-up

(Fun & Recreation): Work on my crafts a little more: including more photography, knitting, jewelry making, and free hand drawing.

(Giving and Contributions): Go through clothes to see what I can donate

(Physical Environment): Continue straightening up the bedroom (it always looks like a tornado has gone through it by the weekend) and work on repacking boxes in my storage unit.

(Health and Fitness): Continue with the hybrid workout calendar: LIIFT4 mixed with InsanityMax30 (and maybe 22 Minute Hard Corps); and making sure that I’m also practicing mindful eating.

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Level 10 quarterly update

02
Jul
2018

So as you know I decided to switch things up this year and try different ways of doing my goals–so instead of setting a long list of resolutions at the beginning of the year, I decided I’d try two different things: 101 goals in 1001 days (though I’ve gone beyond the 101 goals) and looking at my life from a level 10 perspective.

Basically with the level 10 life, you take 10 areas of your life and you rank them from 0 to 10 (0 being totally unhappy and 10 being totally happy with the way things are turning out). Then depending on how you ranked everything, you can set a goal (or two) to work on in each area to try to bring that number up higher the next time you do an level 10 assessment.

So I’ve been trying to do the level 10 assessment quarterly (every three months). So this would be my second assessment of how I’m doing based on the goals I set at the end of March (it’s hard to believe that we’re already half way through the year).

So I actually went and bought a new journal for the second half of the year–and it is one that is actually recommended more for the bullet journal process, as it’s a dot journal. there aren’t any actual lines in the journal—just rows of dots. So this time the graphs don’t line up perfectly with the titles underneath, but hey–it’s my first time I’ll get better with practice.

So basically I’m holding steady in each area (with minor 0.5 variations in both directions with several of the areas). Right now my social life has the lowest setting, but that is due in part to being an total introvert and not really wanting to go out to bars with friends; and the fact that I’m quite content not really having a social life. Yes this is something that I know I need to work on, but being totally honest–it is probably going to happen after I move again for the new job.

As I stated in the quote that I placed on the page: “Strive for progress, not perfection”.

So most of my goals for the level 10 life are what I had at the end of the first quarter. Though I can say that I am going to start working on organizing my storage unit this month–maybe by working on that I can kick start several other areas as well. Sometimes our biggest blockade in where we are wanting to go is us–sometimes we just have to get out of our own way (at least mentally) and just trust in the universe that we are going to end up where we need to be.

So maybe–just maybe this quarter I will get a few of them edging a little higher or at least have put a big enough push to get the momentum needed to start going in the proper direction.

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Update on Level 10 Life: Photography challenge day 11

05
Apr
2018

So I realized that this past weekend, I should have also posted an update on how I think I’m doing in life via of the Level 10 life.  I had decided that I would do a new Level 10 life graph every three months and then after I drew it out, compare it to the previous one. So below is my most current level 10 life.

Current Level 10 life

So within the ten different areas, there were several that I felt really hadn’t changed that much: (1) Family & friends–I managed to get together with a friend for lunch in March, but not in January or February; and I haven’t started trying to send postcards or letters to my niece yet either; though I have been trying to keep in touch more via facebook or if we’re connected on linkedin, on linkedin. (2) Personal development–while I’ve managed to finish reading quite a few books so far this year, I haven’t found a program that I like yet for learning a foreign language; and I’ve fallen short on the planning and writing in the journal. (6) I still have zero social life, and truthfully until I figure out the next job move I think I’m going to keep it that way (though I may meet up with people for a walk around Boomer on the weekends). (10) Health & fitness–I haven’t been able to fully commit to a workout program yet this year, and have fallen into a bad routine of not doing a workout in the evenings once I get home.

Everything else has either gone up or down in terms of how I saw them at the beginning of the year. (3) Spirituality has gone down a little, mainly because I haven’t been keeping up with meditation, and I haven’t been doing my yoga either. I have managed to start doing new & full moon goals, and the different spirituality books that I bought are still on the list to be read (it will just take a little time to get to them, when there is like 90 books in total still to be read. (4) Finances have gone up a little, due to getting the credit card debt down, and getting a little more into the savings account. I still haven’t put any into a CD yet, but there could still be time for that. (5) Career happiness has gone down a little, mainly because I’ve realized that I could potentially be unemployed again less than eight months, and I really need to get on the ball with trying to transition into an industry position. (7) Fun & Recreation has gone up a little–I’m trying my hand at making jewelry & I’m starting to work on a new afghan. I know I need to do more of things that aren’t science/work related and that is also where my photography challenge is coming into play as well. (8) Giving & contribution has gone up a little–I donated a big bag of clothes (and it did only a small dent in my current wardrobe), and still have monthly donations to the Sierra Club and one or two other nature organizations. (9) Physical environment has gone up a little, with having straightened up my desk area, donating clothes, and just getting rid of things that I don’t need anymore has made my bedroom not seem as small.

So what are my goals??? Well, there is the picture below for the quarter, or what I would like to have accomplished by June.

Level 10 goals for the second quarter

But more specifically a goal for each area will be:

(1) Touch base with at least two friends or family members I haven’t talked to in awhile each month.

(2) Find a decently priced program for learning a foreign language and start refreshing my Spanish or German.

(3) Mediate for at least five minutes every day (and I’m already a few days behind on this one).

(4) Continue with my savings challenge (basically see how many no spend days I can have and try to work up to both a no spend week and then maybe a no spend month).

(5) Continue trying to add value to my connections and determine the industry position and company (or companies) that I would like to work for. Then try to set up some informational interviews.

(6) Continue trying to meet up with friends on the weekend.

(7) Continue working on different craft projects (afghan, jewelry making, photography)

(8) Donate clothes that I don’t wear all that often.

(9) Straighten up my storage unit and start moving other things into it.

(10) Workout 6 days a week (BOD or DVD), measure at the end of the month. First try to get through Yoga Booty Ballet by mid-May.

 

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Update on the Capricorn New Moon Goals

13
Feb
2018

I’ve mentioned earlier that one the areas that I’m trying to improve is spirituality. I’m taking a different approach from most people (I am not a church goer, nor do I believe in the bible [other than seeing it as book of fiction]). I’ve always been drawn to the older “religions”—the ones that worshiped multiple deities, especially those associated with nature.

While I’m not a firm believer in astrology, I don’t rule out that at certain times of the year I tend to focus more on certain things (and I’m learning that those times may coincide with a particular house that the new or full moon is traveling through). So this year, I’m going to try to focus on learning more about the phases of the moon and how they can help me in narrowing down goals for each month.

So I will always mention which house the new moon is in for both my rising sign (Scorpio) and my star sign (Virgo). But when I make my goals for that new moon (and even the full moon), I will be basing it off of the house in my rising sign (Scorpio). Read More

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Level 10 Life

04
Jan
2018

As I look towards the New Year, I’ve realized that I need to quit being a passive actor in my own life and I need to start putting serious work and dedication to certain areas to be able to get to where I want to be. So I’m doing things a bit different—I’m doing both a 101+ Goals in 1001 Day Challenge, and looking at my life from a level 10 view. Level 10 Life is a method that is described in Hal Elrod’s book “The Miracle Morning”; after seeing what the Level 10 life chart looks like and trying it myself—I’ve ordered the book and it is on my to-be read pile for this year—so look for a book review coming later (yes, I’m doing things backwards—but hey I never liked marching to the same beat as others). Below are the “10” Levels of life that we usually are giving some part of our life to, and the ranking (1 to 10) is how satisfied I am with each level as the calendar switches from 2017 to 2018; why I feel that way; then hopefully ten goals for each level that I can work towards over the next say three to five years to get everything up to a 7-to-9 ranking.

Here is a picture of what my “Level 10 life” looks like right now.

My current Level 10 life

Some of these goals will be overlapping with my 101+ goals in 1,001-day challenge that I decided to start this year as well (see that post-101+goals). Note—not all sections have 10 goals yet (and one has more), mainly because I’m still trying to think of ideas/goals for each area.

 

Level: Family and Friends (5): This is the level that I have the most satisfaction with, though it is only at basically 50%. It helps that I do live with my parents currently and my younger brother lives with in the state. I try to keep in touch with friends through social media, and the occasional get together.

GOALS for Family and Friends:

  1. Touch base with people (email/facebook/ in person) more often
  2. Sending Channing an postcard/letter monthly (start a pen-pal system with niece)
  3. Try to have a monthly lunch meet up with friends
  4. Send out a yearly Christmas letter/card to update everyone on how I’m doing (start a new tradition)

Level: Personal Development (4): This is a pretty good ranking, considering I’ve really only started to spend the past couple of months working on any type of development (personal, spiritual, or professional).

GOALS for Personal Development:

Read all the personal development books that I’ve currently bought (or pre-ordered) on my Kindle (roughly 56)

  1. Read the few autobiographical/personal/professional development books that I’ve bought on my Kindle (Roughly 3)
  2. Brush up on at least one foreign language (Spanish & hopefully German)
  3. Start doing more cooking (learning/trying new recipes and cultures)
  4. Tackle my anxiety of driving (find a place for lessons that has done some work with people that have driving phobias/anxiety)
  5. Take at least one vacation trip solo a year (either to a new state/city or to a new country/city)
  6. Listen to at least one podcast a day
  7. Write in a journal daily (make a hybrid of bullet journal and a normal journal)
  8. Set goals monthly (review daily/weekly/monthly)
  9. Develop a time management schedule and stick with it (i.e. planning out the day)

Level: Spirituality (3.5): This isn’t that high, but then I’ve never really considered myself to be a spiritual person (I vary daily between being a pagan and an atheist depending on my mood).

GOALS for Spirituality:

  1. Read the different spirituality books that I’ve got on my Kindle (4 right now) and possibly buy a few more
  2. Try to keep up with doing my new and full moon rituals (wishes)
  3. Mediate at least five minutes a day
  4. Do yoga at least twice a week
  5. Set up an altar for meditation/spell casting

Level: Finances (4.5): This is almost to 50% mainly because I do have a decent size savings account at the current time, though the debt could be lower.

GOALS for Finances:

  1. Get credit card debt down to less than $400 a month re-occurring
  2. Put 8K into a short-term CD investment
  3. Get savings account up at least another 20K
  4. Get a side hustle(s) going that can bring in at least $500/month (cover the re-occurring credit card debt)
  5. Have a monthly budget set up and stick with it; Write down everything that I buy (charge) for two months to see where money is going (and cut back accordingly)

Level: Career (4.5): This is almost to 50% mainly because I’ve realized that I really don’t want to be a professor in academia. Now I just need to spend some time trying to determine exactly what it is that I want to do, and work my way towards that goal.

GOALS for Career:

  1. Read the books that I’ve bought on scientific writing and presenting (7)
  2. Finish the CSA transition plan (mainly trying to rewrite my story to be short and powerful).
  3. Finish the CSA and SMBA modules
  4. Determine the best non-academia position that I fit and meet my criteria of balancing work and life
  5. Start networking with my linkedin connections
  6. Determine the company(ies) that I would like to work for
  7. Start reaching out for informational interviews
  8. Start reaching out for recommendations/referrals on linkedin
  9. Apply for key positions within companies
  10. Land dream(ish) job and start working my way up the ladder to the point that I want to get to.
  11. Finish the other online course bundles that I’ve bought over the past several months (programming, project management, Six Sigma)

Level: Relationship/Social Life (0.5-1.0): This is the lowest ranking. Currently I’m not in any relationship, and until I have my life somewhat figured out (i.e. what my career choice/goal is; location for said career) I don’t feel comfortable getting into a relationship with someone, that could end up having to be long distance. Also right now I don’t feel comfortable trying to meet people in the same town that I basically grew up in (in other words I don’t feel like potentially dating someone I went to school with (either public or college).

GOALS for relationship/social life:

Try to get together with friends on the weekends (lunch, or walking around Boomer Lake)

And more to come as I can think of them………….. Read More

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