Businesses usually break their year into quarters, report on the results at the end of each. Ninety days is a good length of time in which progress can be shown without causing too much distraction through constant checking. In talking with a couple friends, they agree this is a good time for taking stock of personal goals as well. Daily life gets messy quickly. For example, back in January, I was happily renting a house with no plans for change. In the last 30 days of the quarter, we found a house, bought it and moved. Wow. My head is still spinning over how we pulled that off.
Of course, that major of a life event comes at a price. Many of my plans, activities and goals were thrown into disarray. I quit exercising completely, I gained back all the weight I had lost, all but quit writing and haven’t touched my lathe since January. Naturally, I went to my dark, self-pity place and was pretty down on myself. At my coach’s urging, after she kicked my butt, I started listing all the things I did accomplish in this quarter. Good medicine indeed.
Probably my proudest accomplishment for the quarter is this blog. I am pleased with the progress so far. The writing has helped me sort through many different thoughts and try them on for size. I have enjoyed the opportunity to present ideas and gain your feedback. The kind words and pushed me in new directions I hadn’t considered. Thank you all for that. It is very humbling to realize there have been 1277 visits in the first quarter. Not too bad for a blog without a lot of promotion. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
We found, bought and moved into a wonderful new house between February 14 and March 14. I wrote about it only a little here. What I didn’t cover were the miracles that occurred that made it all happen. When our agent, Buffy Schwieger, told us we needed to get pre-qualified on Feb.11, I laughed. I thought it waste of time. There were at least a dozen things that had to happen before we could even consider buying a house. Still, she insisted on going to look at another house on Feb. 14. I happened to see one pop up on the listings and suggested we take a look at it, too, even though it was $30,000 beyond our range.
Well, to make a long story short, it was the house for us. Miracle after miracle happened in the next ten days, including the bank accepting our offer $33,000 below their price, our house in Boise finally getting a renter, obtaining financing and our current landlord finding a new renter, letting us out of our lease. I could go on, but I won’t. It became obvious that we were supposed to move into this house. Fast. When heavenly forces move mountains for your good, you better get in step and move with them. Ever packed and moved in a week? My wife is amazing!
I pushed my running all the way to 5k. I actually made it the entire distance February 21st. While I haven’t run in a month, I did go out this morning, figuring I would have to start all over again, huffing and puffing to get to 1 minute. I am thrilled to find out I didn’t slide backward that far. I didn’t really time it, but I didn’t die either. I can recover and still hit my goal of running in a 5K.
I have read 12 books so far in 2011. I am a little off my initial pace, but I am still making great progress. I have several waiting for me to write reviews. I owe at least four that attention. I am reading three others right now and they are just as good. I have been finding some very good books lately. They are thought provoking, insightful and even entertaining. I can’t tell enough people about the Chocolate Wars, even though a lot of my regained weight can be traced to my renewed cravings for chocolate after reading it.
Yes, it has been a good quarter. I have nothing to be ashamed of. I have made progress toward my goals. I am more on track than I thought I was. I have some adjustments to make, but with three quarters of the year left, I can easily make them happen. And, as my previous vice president and friend, Gary Bronson, says, “The best is yet to come!”
Image credit: ToastyKen
