July was… amazing.

– I pushed really hard early July to get an application ready for The Richell.
– I applied for a launch party at Writers SA and was successful, woo hoo!
– I was launching Awaiting Annie Jones and doing more admin around ARC’s than I had done before.
– I felt a bit like I was glued to my laptop but secretly… I loved it!

My workload was heavy but I also knew it wouldn’t last and I that I’d feel great if I kicked a few goals by pushing a little bit harder.

A funny thing did happen at the start of July though.

I went to plan my month but because I was busy, I put it off. A few more days and still I put it off. I was ten days into July and still no plan….

Now, this may not sound like that big of a deal but planning is what I do. It’s what I love. If anything, planning is what I do when I should be working. It’s not work to me, it’s fun. (Yes, I am aware how superbly dorky that sounds). Anyway, so for me to not be doing something I love there had to be a reason.

And then I realised….

Over the years I had tweaked my goal setting process with an idea here, a ‘What about if I…’ there. And my process had become so complicated that I didn’t enjoy it anymore.

I was spending more time, creating ‘why’ statements and different colour codes for timelines that I was missing the real meat and potatoes of what I love about planning and goal setting. Making a list and crossing it off.

Previously I would report here about how I was going with my over arching goals that I made at the start of the year but I’ve decided to bring the focus down a notch or too and get back to: ‘What did I Want to do This Month?’ and ‘How Did I Go?’

So here goes….

July goals were:

• Follow through on launch plan for Awaiting Annie Jones
  This went really well mainly because it had to. I couldn’t miss this deadline and while the workload felt hairy at times it also felt good to be working towards the finished product.
• Create social media launch posts for Awaiting Annie Jones
  Again, they needed to be done. I did it all in a mad frenzy, not my favourite working style but it did get done.
• Update next three months of social media posts
  Grrr. No comment! This did not get done and never gets done so then I am, as above, doing it in a mad frenzy. The goal should really be ‘Create sustainable process for having a social media presence.’
• Be prepared for July mini launch
  Another one that was down to the wire but I think it was just the workload and the month it was. Everything just had to get done when it could get done.
• Be prepared for August conference
  Oh my goodness, again down to the wire, as this newsletter is going out I’ve only got a few days to really organise myself for conference!
• Enjoy the school holidays!
  Done! We had really relaxing holidays with a good mix of me being able to hang with the kids and also get some work done.

I can see a pattern this month for doing things at the last minute but I think it just was what it was. I can’t say I didn’t work hard and I can’t say I wasn’t planned for what I needed to do, there was just a lot of it! And as I noted above I loved it! I know I can’t keep up this pace and I will be due a break in a week or so but for now, I’m enjoying myself.

So for August I’m going to:

• Enjoy conference
• Process all the notes I take at conference and work out what action I will take with what I learned.
• Take a break
• Start writing 1000 words a day, Monday to Friday.

Happy August everyone!