To everything there is a season. Or at least that’s how the saying goes. Sometimes the new seasons in life are subtle and happen over time. Other seasons come at you fast and change everything. With Quarter 3 of 2022 underway, one of those fast moving, game changings seasons has arrived.
But first, let’s wrap up how Quarter 2 played out.
Season of Searching: Quarter 2 Review
Quarter 2 ended up being a roller coaster in some ways. Overall, I’m happy my progress, though. I completely cleared my professional development goal, and almost cleared the projects for my personal goals. My writing goals, however, ended up taking a backseat this quarter. But there’s a reason for that.
Halfway through the quarter, I decided to take a couple graduate classes that I needed to review my teaching certificate. I hadn’t planned on doing this so didn’t build in any projects towards it. I was going to let my certificate expire as I don’t plan to go back into teaching. The week before classes started, though, I changed my mind. Having my certificate still looks good for other reasons.
With taking classes, that meant a big pivot on my goals. I had to set aside editing my novel manuscript for a while so I could focus on studying. I finished one class before the end of the quarter. The second class started last week. Lots of extra reading and computer time to complete the assignments.
My biggest accomplishment this quarter fell into my professional development goals. Long story short, I’ve been looking for a new full-time job for a while. Many of the projects for this goal centered around that process – updating business profiles, researching companies, applying for jobs, and a handful of interviews. A few weeks ago, I accepted a new job. It’s with a company I worked for years ago before I started my master’s degree. While this means a big change in my routines and schedules, I’m looking forward to getting back to a more regular routine. (And a regular paycheck). I started last week and am working on figuring out new morning and evening routines.
Season of Change: Moving Forward Into Quarter 3
Quarter 3 will be a season of change in more ways that one. The biggest change will be going back to work full-time in an office. While this will be a good change professionally and financially, it means less time to work on other goals. Because of this, I plan to scale back on projects this quarter. In addition to limiting what I work on, how I structure my goals will be changing a bit as well.
In past quarters, my three goals always included 1) Writing and creativity, 2) Professional Development (job, new skills, etc…), and 3) Personal (usually health and wellness related). With starting a new job, I don’t need the same kinds of professional development projects. I still plan to learn and continue to work on my professional mindset, but it will be in a different way this quarter. Also, I’m reframing my personal goal around a specific health target rather than general wellness.
- WRITING & CREATIVITY – With the new job, I’ll have less time to work on my book and other creative projects. In a weird way, this could end up being a good thing. No matter how hard I try to be realistic with my time, I always end up being too optimistic about what I’ll get done and over-plan. This quarter, I am focusing on two primary projects – finishing the first major edits of my novel and developing my author website through new freebies and email list. There will be a handful of other small things, but these are one-time projects rather than ongoing things throughout the quarter. My hope is that by having less time to work on this goal, I’ll be better able to focus on a few key projects rather than trying to get a lot of little things done.
- PROFESSIONAL/FINANCIAL – In past quarters, this goal including projects related to finding a new job, along with things like reading books on professional development, podcasts, and skill building. While some of that will stay, instead of the job search projects I no longer need, I’ll also be using this goal for some financial projects. Now that I’ll have a consistent paycheck again, I am setting targets budgeting and savings.
- PERSONAL– This goal will still include some general wellness and self-care type things. I have targets for reading a certain number of books, working on hobbies, and some activities with friends. This goal has always included some health related things. But this quarter, I’m adding a more targeted approach to these. Instead of things like “walk at least five days per week,” it will be “walk at least 100 miles this quarter.” By having specific target numbers, I can better track my progress and have more clear expectations.
Seasons of Change
While this quarter brings some significant changes in terms of schedules and responsibilities, these new seasons offer a chance to evaluate your goals and become more focused. It will take me some time to get back into a traditional schedule. This new schedule also means less time for other goals. However, I’m choosing to see this as a good thing. With less free time comes the chance to really focus on which parts of my goals matter most. By scaling back, I can devote time to finishing the few important projects instead of bouncing around to a lot of small things.
I’m looking forward to seeing what Quarter 3 brings.
** What goals are you working on right now? What plans do you have in place to be successful? I’d love to hear your process.
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