Personal Goals Progress Update for July 2017

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Here’s my personal goals progress update for July 2017! You can check out my detailed list of 2017 Goals here. Writing publicly about my progress is one of the most effective methods of accountability I’ve found. Consequently, I’m aiming to produce a monthly update right through 2017.

Writing up my personal goals progress report is an important part of keeping me on track and accountable. It’s also a really useful method to review what is and isn’t working. Sometimes that will mean that some goals will change or be removed altogether. But the great thing is that these are my goals, so I can change them as often as I like! If you choose to write up or already have some personal goals then doing a regular review and write up is a great way to stay on track!

So here’s my July update… 🙂

Before I really get going with my update, I just want to mention that there’s a slight change in format this month as some of my goals have now been achieved or they’re ‘automated’ and I don’t expect them to change.  So to make my progress update more useful, I’ve now split it into two categories which are ‘Goals In Progress’ and ‘Completed/Automated Goals’.  This new format also helps to shorten my ‘to do’ list and therefore feels more achievable!

Goals In Progress

Fun and Travel

We didn’t take any trips of note in July.

The goal had originally been to take a two-week break somewhere, with Scotland having been high on the list.  In the end however, we decided to stay home for the two weeks and prioritise some home improvements.  So for now, a longer break has been shelved.  I’m not too disappointed however, as we have already enjoyed trips to Lyme Park & Lincoln, Bristol, The Eden Project and most recently, Snowdonia.

We’re still planning short breaks to London and Chartwell House & Tunbridge Wells later this year.

Health

Weight Loss and Fitness

Last month I reported that I had lost 7 1/4 pounds since starting my new diet regime.  Another month has passed and I’ve managed to stick with the diet plan most of the time.  I’ve got into the routine of diet food 6 days a week combined with an ‘eat what I fancy day’ on the weekend.  This is working well for me for two reasons:

(1) I don’t feel so deprived!
(2) I can enjoy a family meal or evening out without feeling guilty.

So how much have I lost this month?  For July it’s 3 1/2 pounds, making a total of 10 3/4 pounds since starting the diet.  Whilst I would love to say it was more, I’m comfortable with the rate of loss as this feels sustainable for me and it’s still moving in the right direction 😉 !

Achieve Your Best Life

Increase # of blogs published to six/month

Success!  Six blogs posted in July.  Here are the posts:

1 – The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
2 – My Goals Progress Update for June 2017
3 – You Need A Budget
4 – Improve Your Life With 9 Easy Things You Can Start Today <——Most popular post of the month!
5 – The Reason You’re Not Achieving Personal Goals
6 – 25 Simple Time Management Tips

You can also access the 2017 Archive by month here for posts on motivation, success, wellbeing, finance, progress updates and more:
1 – January 2017 Archive
2 – February 2017 Archive
3 – March 2017 Archive
4 – April 2017 Archive
5 – May 2017 Archive
6 – June 2017 Archive
7 – July 2017 Archive

Publish at least 1 vlog/month

Last month I was considering removing this as one of my goals as I couldn’t get past my fear of being in front of the camera.  It’s really frustrating to want to do something but having a personal stumbling block that seems to thwart all your efforts at taking action.  As you can see, this is as true for me as for anyone.

Then, in July, a breakthrough!  I finally mustered the courage and put out a Facebook Live.  I wish I knew what the motivation was that particular day so that I could call on it more regularly, but that’s all I can say is that I was ‘ready’ to take action that day.  Let’s hope I experience that readiness again in the near future!

Here’s the link to the Live broadcast for you to check it out.

Increase numbers of subscribers to the AYBL

I’ve had a couple of new subscribers in July!  Welcome to you all, I’m so pleased you’ve decided to join us.  Don’t forget to let me know if there’s a particular subject you’d like me to cover or if I can help you with your goals.

If you have not yet signed up to my list you can do it here 🙂 :

Free Downloadable Checklist

I’m excited to share my personal happy list with you today! Just pick 1 – 3 things from the list everyday to feel happier. Don’t forget to vary the activities to suit your personal preferences, or, if you’re feeling daring, step outside your comfort zone and just do everything on the list!

<<<click the image<<< So to make yourself happy everyday, download my free “25 Things To Do That Will Make You Happy Everyday!” checklist. There’s sure to be something here that you can put into action today. It’s an easy A4 pdf that you can print off and pin to your wall or fridge.

Use it as a quick boost when you need to turn the tide on a bad mood! And don’t forget to come back and let us know how you’re doing!

which will also give you free access to all my subscriber-only content!

Increase Social Media Presence

I’m continuing to work hard on my social media presence, although I’ve probably done more work on Pinterest this month than the other platforms, which shows in the results below. I’m still finding Facebook a difficult nut to crack unfortunately.  However, I’ve nearly broken through the four-figures on Pinterest!

Here are my summary results for July:

(I’ve yet to discover my posting rate on Pinterest, but I’ll keep looking! So don’t be fooled by what appears to be no posts, I have been actively ‘pinning’ on Pinterest.)

You can catch up with me on Like me on Facebook and/or Follow me on Twitter. If you’re a Pinterest-er, you can follow me on Pinterest. I’d be very happy to see you there!

Overhaul My Website

There’s quite a bit of work going on in the background to create new images (you might’ve seen some), update some of the older content and re-categorising the content.  This is painstaking work but I believe it will improve the look and feel of my website for my users, making it more ‘user-friendly’.  This is an ongoing task right now.

Personal Growth

Reading

My goal here is to read for about 3 ½ hours per week and I use this as a loose guide to make sure I am at least getting some reading done each week.

No update this month.

Related Post: The Miracle Morning

Commit to Weekly and Monthly Personal Goals Progress Reviews

In July I started using Trello to track my ‘to dos’ and some of my longer term plans, which I’m finding quite useful.  However, at the moment my plan for August is in my head…which is not a good place for it to be.  I intend on buying a white board as I’ll soon be moving into my new home office space, I think this will help with planning as I’m quite a visual person and need to have my ‘to dos’ and plans right in front of me!

This monthly update is the ‘formal’ review of all my goals for the month.

Must Haves for a Home Office!

Contribution

To Participate in a Fitness-Related Charity Event

I’ve started researching what this might be, but not committed to anything yet.

Relationships

Maintain and Improve Contact with Family and Friends

• Family visits have been interrupted this month due to the holiday period.
• Catch-ups in July… Evenings out (1); Lunchtime treats (2); Coffee catch-ups (1). It’s been a good month for catching up with friends 🙂 .

Remember and Celebrate Birthdays and Anniversaries

Remembering birthdays and anniversaries is my Achilles heel, hence the reason I’ve included it in my list of goals as an area where I need to dedicate some focus.

Just one birthday for July, remembered 🙂 .

Finances

Re-instate our net worth position (update the spreadsheet) and work to increase our net worth by at least 10%

Nothing new to report this month. I may remove this goal from my list, but I’m not quite ready to let it go yet!

Completed/Automated Goals

Contribution

To Continue to Support the Two Charities I Currently Contribute To

Complete (Automated). I have a regular monthly payment set up to each Charity, so this will be a straight forward goal for 2017!

Personal Growth

Re-Introduce Meditation as part of my Daily Routine

Complete.  Thanks to The Miracle Morning, I’ve finally re-introduced a regular meditation practice into my daily routine. I’m already feeling the benefits of this practice and am able to stay focused for longer periods of time!

Attend (virtually or in person) at least 1 course in support of my goals

Complete.  I’m continuing to follow an online course to learn and better understand SEO (search engine optimisation) and am slowly revisiting and updating some of my older posts.

I am also working to up my knowledge of Pinterest, using an eBook I’ve purchased, Pinteresting Strategies.

So there you have my personal goals progress update for July. It’s been a busy month where I’ve been mostly focused on progress on AYBL. I’m also happy that my weight loss is continuing to moving in the right direction!

So over to you. How has your month been? Have you been busy working on your personal goals? Are you making progress on your goals? Do you need to make a few tweaks? Share your thoughts in the comments!