Six Months and Counting: Where Are You?

Amazingly, we’re just past the halfway mark of 2012. This is a great time to review the plans or resolutions you made at the beginning of the year. Are you on course? Do you need to make a few adjustments? If you didn’t start 2012 with a plan, why not decide on what you’d like to get done before the next six months have passed? Let’s make sure that you feel satisfied and pleased when you raise a glass to ring in 2013.

At the beginning of this year, I published two posts encompassing my New Year’s review and planning process. The first is 2011-2012: Review, Celebrate, Plan; the second is 2012 Year Plan: Practice and Intentions.

I described my plan for 2012 as a “folio of intentions.” When I look at my list today, I see that I’m not as far along by this point as I would have predicted back in January. I crossed one item off of my list entirely after deciding not to do it. I also did a handful of things that weren’t on my list that I consider to be relevant milestones, but mostly I find it humbling — and inspiring — to review these priorities. I have some course corrections to make. Here is my original list, with the six-month update in green. New items are also in green.

2012 Intentions

Deepen presence in family time

• Consciously strengthen relationships with each child [yes]
• Continually add to “block time” card stack (activities/project deck with seasonal focus) [yes, but not as much as I’d hoped]
• Do at least one art project each week with Aidan and Liam — Thursdays [have not managed to do this weekly yet]
• Schedule weekly or bi-weekly date with husband [no — we’ve only had a handful]
• Spend one-on-one time with second oldest son before he leaves for college
• Spend one-on-one time with oldest son before  he goes back to college
• Spend one-on-one time with daughter
  

Continually solidify creative practice

• Submit five pieces for publication [behind pace]
• Blog at least once per week @ Studio Mothers [yes]
• Maintain Project Life binder all year [I’m a few months behind]
• Read 50 books [I’m on pace with this one]
• Create regular time for blog & magazine reading [still only ad hoc, not regular]
• Establish regular time slot for daily writing practice
  

Focus on self and spiritual practice

• Continually strive for daily meditation practice [yes — not 100%, but strong]
• Prepare for new role as peer leader at sangha [I decided to decline the offer to become a peer leader as I felt I was worrying too much about being a “good” leader, and that the ego-driven thoughts were actually distracting from my practice — in addition to not having sufficient time in my schedule for the responsibility]
• Daily journaling [yes — about 90%]
• Continue to strengthen morning centering practice
  

Build coaching business

• Add Right-Brain Business Plan benchmarks to planning calendar for year [no — this is one thing I want to get to sooner rather than later — adding it to my current action list]
• Develop and enact marketing plan [yes, but need more time on this one]
• Build envelope of private clients [yes]
• Foster private coaching circle [yes]

Build Open Studio

• Create new workshops for each quarter [yes]
• Attract increasing number of attendees for Creative Community hours [yes — quite successful]
• Establish working collaborations with local creative organizations, resources, and people [yes — measurable success on this front]

Up the ante on commitment to good health

• 100% vegan, gluten-free from January 2012 through June 2012 (longer if still working) [I only managed about three months of strictly vegan diet — went back to eating eggs and dairy. I could write a 3,000-word blog post on this topic if I thought anyone would want to read it]
• Consume 2 green protein smoothies each week [I’ve had a few lulls, but for the most part, yes]
• Take vitamins, minerals, supplements, and iron every day [yes — almost 100% — I take about 16 pills every day!]
• Exercise at least 3x per week [yes]
• Meet benchmark of being able to rapidly do 10 full-on “boy” pushups by end of year (I can barely do 5 right now) [progress here, thanks to working with an excellent personal trainer, but I have a lot more work to do]

Improve financial stability

• Reduce debt by 25% [sadly, not on pace for this one — and with two kids in college this year plus one still in preschool, this may not have been the most realistic intention]
• Set up automatic savings system [see comment above!]

Where are you on your intentions for 2012?

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