Last year, I read Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project and it really spoke to me. I know that I often put myself last on the priority list. This year, I want to be more intentional about my goals and monthly plans. So I am modifying Rubin's plan to fit my life. To help keep me accountable, I will be posting my goals and progress here on the blog. I've also helped create an in-person group through the parent's group. We are sharing our goals and progress and meeting once a month for a check-in.

For January, I decided to start with my attitude. I mulled over a few different focuses for January, but focusing on my attitude seemed the most likely to get the year started correctly. After I picked my larger focus, I broke it down into three manageable and fairly measurable goals.

Goals for January:

• Commit to fresh flowers and natural room scents -- Having a nice home helps my attitude. I love having fresh flowers on my kitchen island, but always seem to write them off as a silly excess. And I know I'm susceptible to scents. Having a nice smelling home will help. So I am committing to weekly fresh flowers (maybe biweekly depending on how long they last) and weekly natural room scents. I amy also use candles at some point, but I wanted to start with natural room scents.
• Be aware of judgments -- I fall into this trap sometimes. I want to follow two mottos this month (and the rest of the year): "Don't be a dick" and "Great for her, not for me."
• Establish daily and weekly routines -- Routines make me feel better. I hate dealing with chaos when it come sot the everyday tasks and goals. I used daily planning pages last year and got away from them this year. I love using my big planner for the larger goals and planning, but I think I need to return to daily planning pages throughout the week. So I'm going to plan out my next week on Sunday and each day on the night before. Hopefully a routine will start to emerge and by the end of the month I can have something more set.

2016 Monthly Focuses:

• January -- Attitude and Mindfulness
• February -- Money
• March -- Marriage
• April -- Work
• May -- Friendship
• June -- Parenthood
• July -- Play
• August -- Knowledge
• September -- Books
• October -- Self-care
• November -- Vitality
• December -- Reflection