Blog| May Goals

I'll start by saying that April sucked.

It seems like every time I get my act together and start actually being productive and healthy, something throws a wrench in my plans. That happened early in April and even though it's been almost a month since I got mugged, dealing with the aftermath has taken a while.

In February, I started making myself a small goals list for each month to feel productive. I was in an art funk, still trying to come back from the heavy damage and exhaustion event after event caused at the end of 2016, and needed to get things in order. The goals helped. I started small, things I knew were easy but good for me. I didn't always meet all five every month, but I tried and that was okay.

April Goals

• Deep clean the office and declutter the house  I actually did get this one done and ended up selling quite a bit of the paintings laying around and re-organized. We redid the entryway, dining room, and I threw out a lot of broken furniture in the living room that had seen too much wear and tear.
• Meal prep Sundays Yeah, this one kinda dropped off. I didn't have any willingness to even eat, much less cook for three hours for a whole week
• 1 Painting  I finally, FINALLY, finished a commission I've had on my To-Do list for moooonths and boy did turning that in feel good
• Set up the Bedroom For some reason, even though we've lived in our house an entire year and the rest of the house is decorated, we haven't done the bedroom. The walls are bare except one tiny wall with our family photos and my Sandman collection. I still haven't set it up
• Go to the Gym 2x a Week Life happened with this one and when you can't leave the house without having panic attacks, you definitely can't pull yourself together to go to the gym by yourself at night

2 out of 5 isn't wonderful, but I had a hard month. I'll give myself some slack. I think the best thing was getting that painting done and de-cluttering. I get anxiety when there's a mess and that painting had been on my mind, stressing me out or months.

For May, I decided to make two separate set of goals. One personal and one for work. I think this way I can feel productive and feel like I'm bettering myself.

May Goals

Personal:

• Cut junk food down to only twice a week
• Clean the house for at least 30 minutes a day and put away at least 20 things
• Read 2-3 comics/or a few chapters in a book every weekend at least
• Work out once a week (home or gym)
• Get up earlier and leave the house by 7:50 am

Bonus: Take puppies somewhere once a week

Work:

• One sketchbook painting a week
• Blog once a week at least
• Re-Open the Etsy Shop by the end of the month
• Finish printed Inktober Sketchbook
• Upload two videos this month

None of my goals are huge, but they are things that have been on my list. Since early April, I've dropped the ball on my health and I want to refocus on that. Eating healthier, working out again, and relaxing are all good for me and my mental health. I also need to get better in the morning. I tend to go to bed at midnight, sleep in way too long and am rushing out the door not to be late every day. It's hard tending to the animals and forcing myself to get out of my warm bed each morning, but sometimes you have to adult.

I've let my business slack a bit. I would blame it on the holiday season but I know better. With Lubbock-con at the end of the month and Ladies Night having just passed, this is a good time for me to get my brand out there and draw in new readers and customers. It'll be the only convention I do this year so I need to be on my A game.

The Etsy shop has been closed for a few months while I redo everything and I'll be listing the discontinued product as well as my sketchbook and some new prints and originals. I think the move away from mainly jewelry will be good. I liked making them but replicating the necklaces over and over isn't as fun as I originally thought.

That said, I have a lot of things in the pipe shoot planned blog-wise from photo series, a breakdown of the Cosplays I'm going to do for Lubbock-Con, to what I'm reading and watching.

What would you like to see and what are your goals for the month?

Here's to May and hoping for a better, fresh start!

-Sam <3