Today is officially the first day of summer. I celebrated by switching things up in my life a little bit. Lately I've been feeling very rushed in my days and it stresses me out to try to cross everything off of my to-do list. I love lists and having a schedule because I really do think that it helps me be more productive throughout my days. But over time I've gradually began to fill up my schedule more and more to the point that the bad outweighs the good.
This morning I set my alarm for 5 a.m. like I do every Monday morning. Out of bed, straight to the gym, home again to get ready, and out the door for work. That's always how it goes and it's very rare that I miss a day. But today I woke up and I craved more space in my life. Starting today, of course. Impulsively as usual. What better time to start than the first day of my favorite season, right?
I turned off my alarm, woke up naturally an hour later, and had time for a short yoga practice before work. On my drive to work this morning I realized that I want to set some goals for this summer season. Big goals that I can work on over time, but not too big that they can't be achieved. I've already had some in the back of my mind that I tucked away for some future moment when I'd want to grab them, brush the dust off of them, and make things happen. Today happened to be that day.
I wanted to share them here just to put them out into the world and as a way to inspire you to grab a notebook and write down some goals for yourself this summer (or over the next few months if you're on the other side of the world!).
SUMMER GOALS
Bike 40 miles
Since I recently bought my new bike and I'm absolutely in love with riding it I want to make it a goal to do a 40 mile ride by the end of summer. I know that it's totally possible because I have really found a passion with it within the past year and know that as long as I remain consistent with my rides that I will be able to make this happen!
Read 2 books per month
I made it a goal this year to read one book per month but for the summer months I want to amp it up to two. This will be challenging for me but I love to read and I want to make it more of a priority in my life.
Remain consistent with lifting
I have never remained consistent with lifting for more than about 6 months. I always get out of it during the summer because I like to do my workouts outside more. This time around I want to stick with it and see what type of things I can achieve. I have been lifting 4-5 days per week and I'm really considering cutting it down to three to give myself time to get more yoga in my life. But we'll see! Either way I know that I want to be consistent with it, whether it's 3 days or 5 days doesn't matter to me. Just doing it is what I want to stick to.
Write daily
What a struggle for me and I hate it. I love writing but it's one of those things for me like reading. Something I enjoy so much but also something that I put on the back burner for some reason. I am making it a priority to write daily. Either on here, in a notebook, in a word document, or wherever my heart desires at the time I am making this happen.
Bake more
Back before this little blog existed I was very much in love with baking. I used to decorate baked goods and sell them to people who saw my stuff on Facebook or heard about me via word of mouth. Decorating cakes, cookies, etc. is so fun to me. I still love it to this day. After I went gluten free and then vegan I drifted away from baking. Hello raw vegan cheesecakes! I never really realized until recently how much I miss the fun (and therapeutic aspect) of icing a batch of cupcakes or rolling out a ton of sugar cookies. Summer's probably not the best time to bring back my baking habit because the house will be steamy with the oven at work, but I still want to get back into it and I want to start now. So that's exactly what I'm going to do!
These are the main goals that I want to work on over the next few months. I have a lot of plans and ideas of things that I want to see and do as well. These are more personal growth goals which I think are so important and exciting to come up with.
What are some of the things that you want to work on this summer? I'd love to hear all about them!