Tag: quarterly goals

2021: Third Quarter Goals Recap

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I’m having a really hard time believing that it’s officially fourth quarter. Fall used to be my favorite season but now it marks the beginning of our “busy season” and I always want to rush to the new year. This year I want to really stop and enjoy myself instead of rushing through the rest of the year.

Before I set my goals for fourth quarter, here’s a quick recap of my Q3 goals.

  1. Be kind to myself. When I’m going through something hard I tend to be really hard on myself too. I’ve noticed this especially when it comes job. I’m never good enough or doing enough. I’ve been trying really hard to be kind to myself and give myself grace. I feel like I did okay at this but I want to still focus on doing better at it.
  2. Setup health appointments. This has been such a fun goal that I set for myself. I’ve been poked and prodded so much this last quarter with even more to come. But I feel good knowing that I’m taking steps in the right direction for my health.
  3. Spend time with friends and family. I didn’t do great at this to be perfectly honest. I did spend some time with family but I’ve realized that I don’t really have any friends to spend time with and that’s been weird to figure out. I do have friends but we don’t live close so it’s hard to spend time together. I have been trying to check in with them more at least!
  4. Celebrate 10 years with Brett. We had a nice long weekend in a nearby beach town to celebrate our anniversary. It’s still hard to not see Brett the majority of the week due to our work schedules but I’m hopeful that will change soon!
  5. Read 3 books. I read several books and it was so nice! I go through phases of not reading much and then phases of reading constantly. There’s something so relaxing to me to be able to spend a few minutes each day reading a book and getting my mind off of the real world. Have you read any good books lately? I need some recommendations for Q4!

I’m currently working on my goals for Q4 and should have them posted soon. I keep looking back at my old posts and I’m really glad that I’ve captured so many of these quarterly goals. It’s easy to sit back and think that I haven’t really accomplished anything over the past few years but these posts remind me of just how far I have come.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

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2021: Second Quarter Goals Recap

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I was super late with writing my second quarter goals post so it really does feel like just yesterday that I was writing these. Quarterly goals are important to me because they give me something to constantly work on unlike New Years Resolutions that I quickly forget about.

Second quarter was strange. Michigan started opening back up and at first I was okay with it because I thought I’d still be able to work from home but things change. I’m still waiting on some information but right now I feel really unsure and frustrated. I’m happy to be vaccinated and to have things mostly return to normal but some of the things that changed with Covid were nice and I wish that we were able to maintain them.

Here’s a quick recap on my Q2 goals:

  • Spend at least 30 minutes everyday doing something that I enjoy. I was pretty good about this. As things started to open up I found myself slipping into a pretty negative mental space and had a harder time with this goal. I still tried to prioritize things that would make me happy. I’ve loved re-reading the Harry Potter books, working on my garden, and spending time with my sister and her new baby, Lucas. I’ve been able to visit her in New Hampshire twice this quarter which has been the highlight of my summer so for.
  • Work on my nighttime routine. I also slipped a bit with my nighttime routine but I want to get better. I just wasn’t feeling having a whole nighttime routine most days but it’s something I really want to work on.
  • Be a positive change at work. I was feeling really great about this goal until recently when more changes happened at work. I still want to be a positive change but I might have to fake it until I make it for a bit.
  • Be patient with myself. I am really hard on myself but I’m trying to be more patient with myself. I’ve always had myself on some sort of timeline and that’s not working out this time which is super frustrating. I’m still trying to give myself grace and be patient with myself.
  • Continue taking a break from social media. I’ve kind of failed at this lately but I plan on taking another break soon. I’m much happier being off of social media. It makes me anxious and I hate planning the comparison game so I’d rather just stay away from it. I’ve started unfollowing as many people as possible but it might be nice to just start over if I decide to get back online.

Here’s to hoping that Q3 is better for my mental health and I’m able to enjoy a bit more of my time.

How was Q2 for you? Do you have any plans or goals for the rest of the year?

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2021: First Quarter Goals Recap

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This post is super late and I have no excuse. Sometimes life just happens and I need a break but quarterly goals are important to me so I wanted to make sure that I still shared my recap and Q2 goals so that I can look back on them.

The first quarter of 2021 was a wild ride. I’m debating about how much I want to share about my current journey so there might be a post coming up with some additional details or I might wait until this current storm has passed before I share.

Here’s a quick recap of Q1:

  • Work-Life Balance: I’m happy to say that my work-life balance is much better than it was last year. I’ve been trying to work a more normal amount of hours. I’m still work at least 50 hours a week but that’s better than it was before. I’d life to try to make lunch at least once a month or so but I’m taking baby steps. Year-end is over and tax season is almost over but we are still extremely busy.
  • House Projects: This was a fail. Contractors are busy and lumber is super expensive so a big house project is on the back burner. That’s okay though!
  • Blogging: Another fail. Q1 was way harder mentally than I anticipated. I’m hoping that I’ll be in a better place for Q2 but no guarantees. I’m trying to give myself some grace with these goals. I’d like to get back to blogging regularly again though!
  • Monthly Date Nights: Brett and I have been pretty good about date nights. He’s so busy with work and our schedules don’t line up but we try to spend a couple of hours together on Sunday at the very least!
  • Health: I feel like I did pretty good so far with prioritizing my health. I’ve been trying to move my body and eat healthier so I feel good about the progress I am making. I’m not focusing on scale goals which is a nice change.

How was Q1 for you?

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2020: Fourth Quarter Goals

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At the beginning of 2020 I was super motivated to make some lifestyle changes. I wanted to use this year to prepare myself for the next chapter of my life which might include motherhood. COVID forced me to slow down and spend some much needed time working on my mental health and my relationship with my husband. This year might not have gone according to plan but it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

To finish the year strong, here are my 4th quarter goals:

  1. Be intentional about spending time with family. We’ve had to be creative in order to spend time with family and friends this year due to social distancing. I’ve still been able to spend quality time with the people that I love and I don’t want that to change because of the colder weather.
  2. Create a new holiday tradition with Brett. We love the Christmas season but this year many of our normal traditions most likely won’t be happening so we will have to create a new tradition together.
  3. Schedule my remaining annual and semi-annual health appointments. Dentist, PCP, and Neurologist. It’s going to be a busy 3 months with all these appointments but I will be glad to have them checked off my list for awhile.
  4. Save 50% of my holiday bonus for 2021 house projects. My company is super generous and always has a year-end bonus for employees. If we have one this year I want to save at least 50% of it for future house projects!
  5. Stick to my current health/wellness routine. This includes past quarterly goals of spending time outside, meal planning/prepping, and monitoring my water intake.

We are almost done with this crazy, unpredicatable year. Who knows what 2021 will be like but let’s finish this year strong!

Do you have any goals you want to complete before the end of the year?

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2020: Third Quarter Goals

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Every time when I go to write a new set of quarterly goals I am blown away by how fast time goes by. It’s already the third quarter of 2020 and I feel like the year just started. This year has not gone at all the way I pictured. 2020 started with a huge transition at work, then a global pandemic, and now another transition at work. All in all, not my favorite year.

One thing hasn’t changed though. I still love writing my quarterly goals. So without further ado, here are my goals for the third quarter of 2020.

  1. Monthly date night. As things start to open back up and return to “normal” I want to continue to prioritize time with Brett. Having a weekly date night has been great but I’m not sure if that’s as feasible with our normal schedules. Making the time at least once a month to have a date night will make our relationship so much stronger.
  2. Spend at least 30 minutes outside per day. I know this was a goal last quarter but I loved it! With the weather still being nice I want to make sure that I continue spending time outside. This has been really good for my mental health.
  3. Start meal planning again. Staying at home all the time has it’s perks but I have basically stopped meal planning. I’m able to grab what I want whenever I want since I don’t have to worry about packing a lunch for work. I want to start being more intentional with what I’m eating.
  4. Find a new outlet for my anxiety. I’ve had anxiety for a long time and I’m always looking for new ways to channel my anxiety. I’ve been feeling really anxious for the past couple of weeks and I know I need to find an outlet for this anxiety.
  5. Write down some professional goals. I feel like I talk about work a lot which is probably because I spend so much time working these days. My career is at a weird point where I’m pretty senior in my department and I have some new opportunities. I want to spend some time thinking about what my short-term and long-term career goals are and what I need to do to accomplish them.

Here’s to hoping that Q3 of 2020 is the best one yet!

Do you have any quarterly goals?

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2019: Fourth Quarter Goals Recap

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It’s still so hard to believe that 2019 is over. 2019 was the first full year that I created and recapped quarterly goals even though I started doing them in 2018. I’m really proud to have a full year of  quarterly goals and to be able to track how I did with them.

Setting quarterly goals is something that I really love to do! I find myself reflecting on the list and actually checking items off. I set quarterly goals now instead of creating the typical “New Years Resolutions”.

Here’s a quick recap of my fourth quarter goals to see how I did.

  1. Treat myself for my golden birthday. I love celebrating my birthday and I was planning on buying myself a new laptop for a gift. However, I also like to save money so we pay our car insurance semi-annually and it was due at the same time as my birthday. So I guess I bought myself 6 months of car insurance as a birthday gift! It’s hard being an adult!
  2. Try not to over-indulge during the holiday season. I’m pretty proud of how I handled food and the holidays this year. I was able to enjoy myself but I never felt out of control. I started Keto again on January 2nd so I feel back in control and SO much better.
  3. Buy new pajamas. I really want to pair down the items that I own so I didn’t go crazy with pajamas. I bought a couple of comfy jogger style pants and some crew necks that can double as both pajamas and lounge-ware. I went through my pajama collection and got rid of most of it and am feeling really good.
  4. Fight my migraines once and for all. Sometimes I’m not even sure why I bother with setting goals about my migraines. Fourth quarter was tough with the changing weather, food, and typical year-end stress. I felt really good after my Neurologist upped my medication dose but I had some really tough migraine days. I see my Neurologist later today so I’m hoping he can up the dose one more time which could help now that I’m back doing Keto.
  5. Schedule some days off! I’m super proud to say that I was able to use a couple of my leftover vacation days to go visit my sister in New Hampshire and to have a day off completely to myself where I watched Atypical on Netflix, wrapped Christmas presents, and just relaxed. I could use another day off again soon!
  6. Be more productive during the week. Done! I’ve been super productive both during the weeks and the weekends. I’m feeling motivated to clean, organize, meal plan, and meal prep. I hope that the motivation continues for the rest of 2020 too!

How did your 2019 goals go? Were you able to cross everything off of your list?

2019 Quarterly Goals: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

2018 Quarterly Goals: Q1, Q2, Q4

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2019: Third Quarter Goals Recap

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Happy Monday, friends!

Third quarter flew by so quickly! I think September was the quickest month of the year for me. I blinked and it was almost October! Here’s a quick recap of my third quarter goals to see how I did.

  1. Enjoy summer! Summer goes by so quickly and I was determined to enjoy every minute of it. I really stepped back from air shows this summer and was able to spend more time with my family and friends. I’m giving myself an A+ on this one!
  2. Continue my health and fitness journey. I’m actually really proud of myself for sticking to this goal! I have lost 15 pounds this summer and I’m determined to keep going. This goal is not about the number on the scale for me because I know that’s a terrible mindset for me personally. My goal is to feel better in my body and be the very best that I can be.
  3. Create a blogging schedule/calendar. Q3 was a great quarter for blogging! I created a blogging schedule (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and mostly stuck with it! I messed up two weeks out of the quarter but I feel really good about how far I’ve come. I’m still flexible about my schedule if I want to write something different than I originally planned though.
  4. Spend as much time with my sister as possible. Dani and I had a great couple of months together this summer. It’s always so nice to have her home with us! I miss her so much now that she’s living in New Hampshire but I’m incredibly proud of her! I’m looking forward to visiting her and for many sister adventures to come!
  5. Create a work space at home. I got a little side tracked from this goal. My desk is in our basement family room right now and I really want to paint it and move it to our 2nd floor bedroom. I decided to re-do the basement storage room first so that I can completely clean and organize the basement, move/paint my desk, and have a super tidy house. I’ll continue to work on this in Q4!
  6. Read 3 books and write book reviews. I straight up failed at writing book reviews but I did read 3 books so I’ll give myself a 50%. I read some pretty good books and do have a review coming soon for The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren. I was busy this quarter and wasn’t inspired to write book reviews. Oh well!

How was third quarter for you? Will you be setting any goals for the last 3 months of 2019?

You can read my quarter goals here: Q1, Q2, Q3

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2019: Second Quarter Goals

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Setting goals for 2019

I always enjoy starting a new quarter. Doing quarterly goals really challenges me to accomplish my goal list in a timely fashion. I feel like I accomplish way more this way! I can’t believe that we are already a quarter of the way through 2019! I really enjoyed Q1 and am looking forward to a productive and fun Q2.

In case you are new to Life of Hayley, every quarter I set a few new goals for myself. I do this instead of your typical New Years Resolutions and find myself actually accomplishing the goals I set for myself instead of getting to December and realizing I never did anything. This also allows me to set goals throughout the year that are relevant and specific to the time of year.

I hope this inspires you to set some quarterly goals of your own!

  1. Create a self-care routine. I am so bad at self-care. It always feels like such a waste of time when I have a million other important things that need my attention. This quarter I want to focus on myself and creating a self-care routine that I enjoy.
  2. Learn two new recipes to add to our dinner rotation. I hate cooking and am usually happy to eat the same things over and over again. But I have been doing the same dinner rotations for over two years now and I really need to switch things up. I have several cookbooks and I love Pinterest so I’m sure it will be easy to find two new recipes to try!
  3. Start planning out our summer schedule. Summers are always crazy for us! Brett is a huge airshow fan and helps organize a couple in our area. Pretty much every weekend in the summer is spent at airshows. I also want to be able to spend time with family and friends too which has been difficult in the past. We have decided that I’m going to step away from the airshows this year and let Brett go to most of them alone. This means that we will have to carefully plan our time so we still have some weekends together.
  4. Finish my spring cleaning projects. I love organizing my house and spring feels like the perfect time to finish all the little projects that I have been putting off all year like organizing the storage room and cleaning out my car. I love the feeling of a clean and organized house! Plus, this is a great opportunity to re-decorate. You can find my spring cleaning list here.
  5. Get a quote to have our driveway re-done. We were going to build a new bathroom this year in our basement but decided to save money and do it next year. Instead of the building the bathroom we have decided to see how much it would be to have our driveway re-done. We bought our house in the winter so we weren’t really able to see how bad the driveway was. Hopefully getting it re-done is within our budget for the year!
  6. Go shopping and do a spring wardrobe refresh! I wear the same outfits to work every week and it’s gotten really old. I don’t feel great in what I have been wearing and my confidence suffers because of that. I think buying a couple of new pieces to add in will really help! Plus, I am hoping to shed a few more pounds and know that I will need new work pants soon.

I am looking forward to crushing these goals over the next few months! The weather is finally starting to warm up in Michigan and I can almost feel summer approaching! If you didn’t know, summer in Michigan is the most amazing thing ever (I am not biased at all). I can’t wait to spend my days at the lake surrounded by my family.

Do you have any goals that you want to accomplish this quarter?

You can check out my Q1 goals here!

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2019: First Quarter Goals

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2019 Goals. New Years Resolutions. 2019 1st Quarter Goals

The time is finally here to start planning my goals for 2019. The past year flew by and I’m not sad to see it go. January always feels like a fresh start and this year I could really use a clean slate.

My goals for the first three months of 2019 are below and I encourage you to set goals for yourself too! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; setting quarterly goals instead of annual ones has been a game changer for me! I started setting quarterly goals at the end of 2017 and continued through all of 2018. I actually found myself looking back on my goals more often and completing them!

  1. Get a professional haircut. It’s incredibly sad that this is my first goal but the truth is that I HATE getting my hair cut. The whole process takes way too long and I’m rarely 100% satisfied with the results. I have super thick, wavy hair and most hairstylists don’t seem to know how to handle it. I like to joke that my hair is allergic to water because the second it gets wet it goes crazy and refuses to untangle. I have tried every product imaginable to tame the beast but I’ve summed it up to be #thickhairproblems. Do you have any hair products that you swear by?
  2. Travel at least twice. After our trip to Europe in October I was exhausted and traveling was the last thing I wanted to do. But Brett loves to travel and deep down I do too. I don’t want my love of adventures to be another thing my headaches take away from me. Brett and I want to take at least two small trips during Q1 including a trip to Florida to visit his Grandpa. The other trip will likely be a super spontaneous weekend trip so stayed tuned for the details!
  3. Commit to the blog. I have said this over and over before but have never stuck to it. I love blogging and in 2019 I want to focus more on doing the things that I love. Over the past 5 years the blogging community has embraced me and this has become my safe place away from everything else. I want 2019 to be the best year ever for Life of Hayley!
  4. Read three books and write reviews. One of the best things that 2018 brought me was my love of books. So far I have partially read two books that I am loving. I enjoy writing book reviews so hopefully I will find three books that I love to review!
  5. Meal plan and prep for the week ahead. I’ll admit that I haven’t cooked a real meal in a long time. My Crock pot and I became really good friends in 2018 because I had no energy or desire to cook. I’m kinda sick of the standard Crock pot meals though and am ready to start eating healthier and meal planning. Before our wedding in 2017 I was the Queen of meal prep. I’m hoping to at least get to Princess level in 2019.
  6. Make healthy living a top priority. I almost titled this goal as “making weight loss a priority” but then I re-evaluated my mind-set. This goal isn’t all about the number on the scale. I know that I need to lose weight but I also know my negative relationship with my body image. For me, the focus has to be on eating healthier and exercising and not the number on the scale.

In addition to setting quarterly goals I also wanted to choose a word to capture my goals for 2019. It took me longer than I care to admit to find a word that completely covers everything that I want to accomplish this year.

The word I picked is confidence.

Confidence in my ability to fight the demons that I am facing. Confidence in myself to be the best person that I can be. Confidence in my body as I look in the mirror everyday. Confidence as I stand in front of my co-workers with the knowledge that I can do my job well. Confidence that I am moving in the right direction.

Confidence in me.

What are your goals for 2019? Let me know below.

Thanks for reading!

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2018: Fourth Quarter Goals

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2018 goals

Hey friends!

Woah… this year has gone by so quickly! I can’t believe it’s already time for another set of quarterly goals. This is the final quarter of 2018 and I really need to make every second count. So far it has been an exciting and challenging year. I’m looking forward to 2019 but I’m not quite ready for 2018 to be over yet.

Third quarter was probably my favorite so far this year! We slowed down a bit at work so I got to enjoy more time off and normal work hours. Brett and I traveled a lot and spent time with our family and friends. I got a lot done in the last three months so I feel good about going into the final months of 2018.

  1. Pass a certification class. I’m in the process of taking a class for work and the certification test is in December. If I pass I will earn my very first finance certification. My goal is to pass the first time which means I really need to get to studying!
  2. Write 2 blog posts per week. It’s time I make blogging more of a priority. I want to grow this space going into 2019. It’s been almost 5 years since I started this blog and I’ve only recently started to take it seriously. I’d love to create a content calendar and some sort of schedule.
  3. Do a complete wardrobe refresh. I am in desperate need of new clothes for the fall and winter seasons. I need jeans, sweaters, jackets, and boots to get me through the upcoming colder weather. I made a Thred-Up order so I’m hoping that some of those items will work out.
  4. Explore Rome with Brett. I am SO excited to be visiting Rome in October! I have wanted to travel to Rome since I was a young girl watching the Lizzie McGuire Movie and I finally get to go. I’m going to try not to worry too much about my diet and just enjoy my time in Italy.
  5. Live it up for my 25th Birthday! I have been talking about my 25th birthday for a while now. This whole blog started as a way to capture my life from 20 to 25. My work is having their 20th Anniversary Gala on my birthday so I’m excited to wear a fancy dress and celebrate with my co-workers and Brett.
  6. Celebrate 5 years of blogging! I’m turning 25 which means Life of Hayley is turning 5! The past five years flew by and I’m excited to share my blogging highlights with you in November. I have captured most of my adult life on this blog and that makes me incredibly proud and happy.
  7. Put 50% of my holiday bonus into our savings account. My work is awesome and gives out holiday bonuses every year as profit sharing. I feel so lucky each time I receive a bonus and always save the majority of it for future purchases. We added my 2017 bonus to our down payment this year for our house!

Interested in the rest of my quarterly 2018 goals? Check out these posts! Q1, Q2, Q3.

Thanks for reading!

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