Day of the Dead and Goals for November

Feliz Dia de los Muertos!  (I hope that’s right.)

Here we are on the first day of November; a new month with new goals.  Last month’s goals went pretty well. I’ve certainly felt more motivated, and hydrated.  October was the month I decided to take writing more seriously and try to do it on a daily basis.  As a result, this month  I had the most views on this blog since I started two years ago.  Thanks to everyone who stumbled upon this and read my ramblings.  

November’s Goals

1 – Eat more veggies (inspired by the The GOOD 30-day Challenge)
You can never have too many. This would hopefully drive me to cook more, since fall vegetables are my favorite and nothing is worse than letting perfectly good vegetables go bad. NOTHING.

2 – Make a short to-do list (inspired by Zen Habits 13 small things to simplify your workday)
Right now I make a weekly to-do list of twenty items, mostly with me making them up just to make twenty. It’s a pointless obsession. Rarely do they all get done at the end of the week.   With a shorter list I can just focus on the most important things and get a sense of accomplishment when it’s done.

3 – Reduce stress (inspired by Zen Habits The 8 Habits of Healthy Living)
I have an awful habit of bottling up stress for weeks and never dealing with it head on.  I would much rather use the energy constructively and go to yoga or paint instead.

4 – Plan gifts early
My mom has had to plan our Christmas trip back to South Dakota since September, and knowing already what a ridiculous week of traveling it’s going to require, I won’t be able to do my last-minute shopping I do every year.  I also don’t want to make the mistake I did last year by spontaneously buying my sister this Molcajete  made out of volcanic rock I then had to carry through a subway to my apartment and then on the Bolt Bus with me back to Delaware.  My family is also notorious for placing so much importance on wish lists and then NOT following them.  This year I’d like to encourage using Pinterest to make lists that much easier.  I already started mine (it’s still pretty sparse).

5 – Let the creative freak flag fly
While I don’t want to relive my days of wearing safety pins and all of my costume jewelry at once, I do miss when I was younger and wore whatever I wanted as a way to feel creative. Now that I’m working, it’s hard to make time to do things just for the sake of creativity.  There is also a habit of just following everyone else’s patterns: how they work, how they spend their time, what they wear, what they listen to.  Everyone is looking for their own signature way of doing something and the easiest way to discover it is to follow your instincts and let the creative freak flag fly.