10/25/19-10/31/19

This week was one of my favorites! It was filled with learning a lot about myself and growing in my faith and relationships with my family and friends.

Here’s what happened this week:

Travel Plans

My first category I announced was to travel to 25 states I haven’t been to before. I mentioned last week that I planned some trips. I did book 3 trips for the remainder of the year, and just planned to go by myself for two of them. I had mentioned to some friends and coworkers where I was going, and two of my friends decided to book flights to come with me!

I am so excited and have looked at so many ideas of things to do in these two cities: Nashville, Tennessee and Seattle Washington. So, if any of you are from either of these cities and/or have any good recommendations, please leave them in the comments!

I talked last week about planning, and I am just so pleased that my plans are coming to fruition and are becoming this great adventure. That is what I was looking for at the beginning of this journey anyhow.

This Amazing Read

Another huge part of why I started 25 Things Before 25 was to learn more and improve myself. I am so pleased to have read and gained all of the knowledge I did from Marie Forleo’s book Everything is Figureoutable. I hope to apply all of her teachings to the rest of this challenge and the rest of my life.

In doing so, I am never going to let anything stop me from moving forward: not money, not time constraints, not work, not people, and definitely not any limiting beliefs. I struggle with limiting beliefs when it comes to my career path. I actually realized that for the first time while doing one the first “Insight to Action Challenge.” That being said, I won’t be giving any excuses but will simply figure out how to do what needs to be done. Always.

I would definitely recommend this book! Purchase it by clicking the link below.

What I Have Accomplished

As I mentioned, the weather kept me inside for nearly two days, but I had a lot of fun on those snowy days. I got to catch up with my mom and brother and start and finish a great book. My best friend, also, came over and we made two different vegan and gluten free cookie recipes. To me, there is no better way to spend a snowy few days than with friends and family. Mixed in with all of this, I worked a lot and did a lot of research which is like going down the rabbit hole for me. This brought me to the non-profit I found to make a donation. I am so happy to have completed so much! Here is what I accomplished this week:

1. Read Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo (Number 2)
2. Donated to Women’s Global Empowerment Fund (Number 6)
3. Completed 7 of my routine workouts (Number 8)
4. Memorized a bible verse (Number 12)
5. Learned a word in a different Language (Number 13)
6. Went to a local restaurant for the first time (Number 14)
7. Tried a new product (Number 18)
8. Tried two new recipes (Number 21)

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My Progress in Perspective

Can I just say that I owned Week 5?! I completed a total of 15 tasks with the struggles of a snow storm and dangerous driving conditions. It feels good to think that I got so much done in the 5 days where I could actually leave the house (although, I did go to workout both days of the snow storm).

I am at a total 57 tasks completed! PLUS, I met the rules of Number 8 with 25 routine workouts in the first month, which sets a good pace for the remaining eleven months! I am closer to my goal average of 17 to 18 tasks per week, as well. Like I said, I am killing it! It may have just taken getting used to it in the first month.

Goals for October

So this is one area where I struggled. I didn’t have as strong of a start as I would have hoped, but I am not letting that diminish what I have done. In fact, I am removing the emotion from it and am going to analyze this topic objectively. My October Goals were:

1. Have at least one thing in each category completed by the end of the month.
2. Post 2 or more blogs per week describing these adventures.
3. Add videos of my experiences to Instagram!

I did not complete one thing in each category by the end of this month. This week, I did add to 3 categories for the first time which makes it a total of 8 open categories. Last week, I mentioned that it wasn’t realistic to meet this goal for a variety of reasons. I might not make it out on a mountain again until next summer because of the snow. And that’s okay. I didn’t meet this goal, but I accomplished so much in an effort to meeting this goal. 17 out of 25 categories ain’t bad, huh?

I did not average out 2 or more blog posts about my adventures each week. I did post 2 blogs each week, but not specific to 25 Things Before 25. During October, though, I have created more blogs than I ever have in one month with a total of 10 blog posts! I think that a lot of these posts are some of my best yet! And I think that is something notable.

I did add videos of my experiences to Instagram, but not as many as I would have liked. I’ll say I met this goal because I have never posted videos to Instagram, so even doing it at all was a feat. I think I actually improved all of my social media interaction and participated in a lot of good conversation.

What I Learned for Next Month

1) Monthly Goals

I learned a lot in the first month of 25 Things Before 25. The first would have to be how to set my goals and achieve them. I think these monthly goals should be more about consistency rather than achievement unless it is trying something new. I have a few good goals in mind for November that I will share with you in the Week 6 Update!

2) Apply My Knowledge

I am really going to take the lessons I learned in the two books I read to heart and apply the lessons I have learned. One book was mostly based on relationships while one was based on facing adversities: both of which have been present in my life overall and had a huge impact on me this month. I learned that I need to pretty much just trust that everything will work out while also working my a$$ off to reach my goals. If I know how to do something, I should, and if I don’t, I will figure it out.

3) Weekly Planning

I learned that, in order to stick to my 17 to 18 tasks a week, I need to intentionally do so. I kind of just waited to see what I would accomplish each week and write about it. I, also, wrote about being disappointed in myself. Looking back, I don’t know how I could have ever thought I would accomplish 900 tasks without diligent planning. Now that I know I will be consistently behind until I implement some plans, I know what it will take to meet this huge challenge!

Thank you all for following along on this journey and I am excited to see what next month hold with all of the knowledge I have attained in the first month of 25 Things Before 25!

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the first month! Let me know in the comments!

XO,

Sonja Hoff