I’ve been writing down monthly intentions or goals to help me focus in on what is important. Many of the things listed are daily habits I’m seeking to maintain or grow in. The goal is not to obtain perfection, but to make steady progress…and months when there isn’t any progress, to give myself grace and start again the next month. That is my hope for you too as you strive to implement daily/weekly/monthly habits. Here are my monthly intentions for March.

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Recap of Intentions in February

Things that were challenging in February: working in the basement with my husband, my morning routine (my youngest son and I both got sick the last week and a half of February and we’re slowly recovering), doing anything on the blog other than posting here (so no guest posts completed!).

Things that went well in February: Tracking expenses (second month in a row!), getting at least 6 hours of sleep at night, making our bed, meal planning, getting movement in on days I’m off, and going out with my friends. I did get to have two 1:1 dates with my oldest and youngest. My priority next month is with my middle son.

Reading and Listening to Books

Last month I wrote about goals – having them, not having them, and finally realizing that I did have things I wanted to write down as goals. One of the goals that I didn’t write down is a certain number of books that I wanted to read in 2017. I’ve never set a goal for myself in that area like some people do. I’m usually always reading at least one book.

This last month though I reserved a whole bunch of books in one day from my local library and they all started coming in at once.

I finished David Bach’s book Start Late, Finish Rich and my husband and I started reading Smart Couples Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Creating a Rich Future for You and Your Partner together during our weekly budget meetings. We actually met for a budget meeting 2 out of 4 weeks in February, which is progress for us!

David Bach’s system of getting rich is to pay yourself the first hour of each work day in a retirement account – and to make it automatic! That turns out to be a savings rate of 12.5%. Revisiting his site and re-reading his books motivated me to increase my retirement savings even though it feels like we can’t spare a penny right now.

When I started working at my job, I set it up to save 4% each paycheck because at that percentage, my employer would give me a 50% match. I should have steadily been increasing this with each annual increase, but I haven’t.

Instead of kicking myself over the past (okay, there may have been a few minutes of “woulda, coulda, shoulda”), I just resolved to increase it that day and increased my retirement savings by 3%. It’s not at 12.5% yet, but I hope to increase it again by the end of the year.

I also read The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz and listened to Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and 10% Happier by Dan Harris as audiobooks. I loved Big Magic. It was inspiring, entertaining, and very down to earth. I loved the idea of inspiration looking for a human partner receptive enough to work with.

February’s Top 3 List:

As part of these monthly recaps and goals, I’m sharing the top 3 posts and top 3 things I was grateful for this past month.

TOP 3 POSTS IN FEBRUARY:

1. Stress Free Meal Planning for Beginners: Finding what Works for You
2. 10 Lessons Learned After a Year of Decluttering
3. Meal Planning for Beginners

TOP 3 THINGS I WAS GRATEFUL FOR IN FEBRUARY:

1. The wonderful, warm Spring-like days scattered throughout February.
2. Reading and listening to books!
3. The You Need a Budget program. I got a 4 month free trial with my Conquer Your Clutter Super Bundle as a special bonus. It’s been great so far and I hope to write more about what my husband and I love about it in the future after we’ve used it for a few more months.

Top 3 Posts and Top 3 Things I was grateful for in February #gratitude #top3 Click To Tweet

Monthly Intentions for March:

SPIRITUAL:

• Daily bible reading from The Daily Message. 
• Pray for my husband, children, and loved ones daily using the scripture God has given me.
• Take at least 3 slow, deep breaths in the morning. Silent prayer and meditation for 12 minutes.

PERSONAL:

• Finish reading 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam, On Writing by Stephen King, and Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford.
• Going out with friends at least once a month.
• Intentional movement 5 days of the week (running or HIIT video at least 2 of those days).
  • As the weather warms up I’m hoping to start running again. My 1:1 date with my oldest son was going on a run together.
• Be in bed by 11pm. Sleep at least 6 hours a night, with 7 hours being ideal.
• Write down 3 things I’m grateful for daily each evening.

HOUSEHOLD:

• Meal Plan dinner for the weeknights (get FREE Meal Planning printables)
• Finish setting up the boys’ rooms. My oldest son wanted to stay in a room alone, and I wanted to honor that. We’re trying to figure out the best use of the bedroom spaces for the boys and making it homey.
• Work at least 15 minutes in the basement (with or without) hubby on Sunday evenings when I put in a load of laundry.
• Budget and track daily expenses with the You Need a Budget program. Meet weekly with my husband, read a chapter together from Start Late, Finish Rich and get on the same page with our money.

WRITING & BLOGGING:

Elite Blog Academy  (EBA) has been my main blogging course that I’ve been going through all year. It’s been instrumental in giving me direction and guidance every step of the way. The course is open now for 5 days only: February 27-March 3. 

EBA is closed now and only goes on sale once a year. If you’re interested in starting or refining your blog, the EBA Blog Structure Blueprint is a must have! You can download it immediately when you sign up for the wait list HERE.

• Post at least once a week (ideally twice) on my blog for March
• Write 500 words at least 3 times a week (daily is too much for me right now!)
• Write one guest post for February, featuring ideas from my eBook (still working on this!)
• Figure out FB ads to let more people know about my FREE 7 Day Decluttering eCourse. (still figuring this out!)
• Contribute an old post on Huffington Post. I was so excited to become a contributor to Huffington Post. You can find my entries so far here.

Monthly Goals:

• Date night with hubby- this may even become a twice a month thing now that we can use my oldest son as the babysitter! We’ve also starting streaming $1 movies through VidAngel . We used to use Redbox, but the convenience of not having to go out of the house to return the movie, is awesome.

• One on one outings with each son.

What are some monthly intentions that you have for March?

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