Goals...

In my last post I mentioned that I have a few goals I would like to share with you.  I have been trying to identify things that I can do to challenge myself to improve and I figure sharing these goals on my blog will help me stay motivated and accountable.  I have a good friend who does this on a monthly basis and I loved the idea so here goes...

I picked areas of my life that I need accountability in and split my goals up accordingly.

School - This is why I am in GA, so it is a given that I need to set goals in this area of my life.
Goal 1:  Prepare for lectures.  I have been pretty good at keeping up with course content after lecture but I know it would benefit me to review the material before lecture.  Throughout my college education I have never pushed myself to prepared for upcoming lectures but I would like to make this a habit.  My goal is to skim the chapters that will be covered in lecture and lab the day before class.  I figure I should start small, so glancing through the chapters shouldn't be unmanageable.
Goal 2:  Focus on school but still maintain my sanity.  I can honestly say that I have been incredibly diligent with my study habits over the past 4 weeks.  I feel like I have done nothing but study.  This definitely caught up to me this past week in our first big exam.  I usually never get nervous for exams but I was nervous for our first one last week.  I psyched myself out and this was directly reflected on my exam score.  I made silly mistakes and got into my head too much.  This last week was incredibly frustrating but a good lesson for me.  I know that studying is important but I need to also work to maintain balance in my life so I don't let the pressure I put on myself steamroll me.  I am not sure how I will capture this one, but I am going to try to keep life in perspective and remember to take breaks and enjoy this phase of my life.

Health and Wellness - I know part of maintaining my sanity while at school is to take care of my body by eating right and exercising. 
Goal 1: Exercise at least 5 days a week.  I have been sticking to this pretty consistently through the month of September.  I have stickers that I put on my calendar on the days that I exercise in order to keep track of my progress.  This may sound silly but it is positive reinforcement for me and I get excited when I get to place a sticker on the calendar! (I sound like I am 7 years old..... but it works for me!) :)
Goal 2:  Jon and I have set up a little wager, that I initiated.  I know I am not at the healthiest weight I can be and I want to change this.  Most of you know that Jon will leave foor basic training soon and will be there for approximately 9 weeks.  Our wager is if I lose 12 pounds by his basic training graduation, then he will buy me a new outfit to wear to his graduation.  I had to talk him into this but I think it will be good motivation for me and give me something to focus on.  It will be fun to see if I can stay motivated long enought to accomplish this.

Finances - My budget is rather tight this semester so this is not only an area that I want to improve on, but one I need to improve in order to stay afloat in the next couple of months.
Goal 1:  Keep my food budget to $150 a month.  This is shaping up to be more difficult than I expected.  To date for the month of September I have spent $160.  So that means I currently have no money for food throughout this week.  Don't worry, I have enough food to get me by; however, I am more afraid that I will run out of coffee this week…eeek!
Goal 2:  Keep the rest of my spending to a minimum and be creative with what I have in order to make my money go further.  This goal is harder to define and rate whether or not I am accomplishing it, but my main focus is to be diligent about not spending money on frivolous things and only spend money on what I really need. 

Community - I want to get to know Augusta better and I want to push myself to learn more about the community around me.

Goal 1: Get involved in some sort of consistent community service opportunity.  I have been playing with the ideas in my head of trying to volunteer at the VA or finding a homeless shelter to invest my time into.  I haven't taken the initiative yet to get connected with either one of these, so vocalizing this goal will hopefully 'kick me in the butt' and get me going on this. 

Goal 2:  Get to know my classmates.  I feel like I have gotten to know a handful of students in my program but I want to push myself to really get to know them more and on a more personal level.  I know I have the tendency to fall into the routine of separating myself from others.  I am friendly but am usually very choosy about who I share personal information with.  Because of this I often feel like it is hard to make new friends.  I want to work at being more open with others and allowing them to do the same.

Goal 3: Post on my blog at least twice a week.  I feel like there are so many things I want to share with all of you but I don't do the best job of making time to sit down and blog about it.  I love staying connected with friends and family and I know I need to do a better job of being consistent about it.

So there you have it.  Hopefully I can stay accountable for these and help myself grow in the process.