October Goals

It’s cliché, but these next three months are hands-down my favorite. No questions asked. No time to think needed. I love the weather, the flavors, the holidays, celebrations, and special occasions. I don’t care how basic that makes me.

I am acutely aware that at some point I will be miserably cold and shivering under four or five layers, but for the time being, I’m going to enjoy wearing makeup and not feeling like it’s melting down my face five minutes later. (Yes, I have setting spray. Don’t @ me.)

These upcoming months mean longer outside walks with Lily Munster (sans mosquitoes), comforting, hearty meals featuring spicy and rich flavors, warm baths, big cups of tea, blankets, oversized sweaters, open windows (at least for a few weeks), candlelight, and lot of general merriment. Even if I don’t have any parties scheduled in my planner, every day is its own little celebration.

I am that girl who got her PSL at Starbucks on launch day–which, if you recall, was in August. I do have a tiny bit of shame, so I asked the barista as casually as I possibly could, though I don’t think I fooled anyone.

I like cardigans. I like cardigans even more when I can wear them and not sweat.

The smells and tastes of this season are things I enjoy year-round.

I stock up on seasonal scents during this time so even when it’s April and everyone’s talking about flowers (which I enjoy), I’m still smelling peppercorn and spice and pumpkin.

Above all, I am just made for this season. I am stoked about fall.

Today in Kansas, the forecast is 89 degrees. Summer’s last stand! My AC is whizzing and whirring, even though I try my best not to run it past September. Outside on my porch, #dirtclods2018 maintain a strong presence–I’m up to my eyeballs in peppers. Despite a few days last week of lower temperatures, it doesn’t quite feel like fall is ready to stay.

Regardless, I am in Full Fall Mode™. My apartment is decorated for Halloween (though I doubt anyone but me [and maybe the Internet]) will really get to see it. There’s a pumpkin candle burning and I’m thinking about all the things I want to do in the last months of 2018.

I had a hard time thinking about how to structure my goals for October. It’s not at all challenging for me to make lists of things I want to do. In fact, I frequently overwhelm myself with lists of tasks.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see I regularly post pictures of my weekly goal checkboxes. There’s something so satisfying about putting a big X in a little box.

But beware! My boxes and lists can be dangerous! I can get so into the idea of checking off the box that I forget the reason I’m doing the task in the first place. The big why. What’s the point?

This October, I am trying to meet myself somewhere in the middle. As I planned out my October goals, I found myself in the between-space of making lists of tasks and lists of reasons why. In compromise, I decided to write the big picture and then how I hoped to accomplish that this month.

I want to get more stuff done and get organized.

Map out my week and time-block my days. // I know there are a lot of things I want to do. I also know there are many things I have to do. My life as a performer and teacher means an irregular schedule, but even so, there are a lot of stationary things on my calendar. I’m hoping a visual representation of my days will show me the little pockets of time I waste and that I can use for other things! Flexibility is key, I think, to make sure I maintain a balance between a nice routine and a stressful schedule.
Create a budget. // I am not bad with money, but I want to be even better. I am saving for a lot of things right now (maybe more on that later). Knowing my fixed expenses will tell me how much I can devote to those things.
Track my spending. // I want to be more mindful of where my money is going. There are lots of apps and digital tools I could use for this, but I will use an old-fashioned paper transaction register. Physically writing down each expenditure will force me to think about what I’m spending my money on.
Clean out my iPhone photos. // I take a lot of screenshots of quotes, books, and other things I want to remember as I mindlessly scroll through the Internet (which … hopefully by the end of this month, I will be doing a lot less of). I tell myself I’ll put the ideas in another place and then I never do, which results in a backlog of screenshots clogging up my phone. TIME TO PURGE.
Organize my Evernote. // I used Evernote religiously in undergrad. In grad school, I stopped for some reason … maybe because I realized that I’d rather take notes on paper. I love bullet journaling but I am not willing to add another paper object to my routine right now (my paper planner is fine). A few weeks ago, I decided to start using Evernote again and I’m remembering just how useful it was!
Clean out my Pocket. // I feel like a digital hoarder, but yeah. Lots of articles and things in my Pocket that I need to sort through, read, or delete.

I want to savor and enjoy fall.

Celebrate fall and Halloween in the studio! // I am already on the case with this one. On Monday, I showed up to work wearing a pumpkin headband and my first pair of seasonal leggings. (I literally cannot be stopped. You cannot stop me. I am unstoppable.) I also decided to create a practice incentive for my students with the Super Stash for Spooktacular Students™. More fall and Halloween fun is forthcoming!
Decorate my apartment for Halloween. // I have already done this one, too. LOOK AT ME GO.
Carve a pumpkin. // I’m not sure if I will make it to a pumpkin patch (who wants to go with me?), but no matter what, I’m determined to carve a pumpkin. Will I top last year’s Law & Order: SVU pumpkin? Time will tell. The answer is probably no.
Make four new recipes. // Last year during Advent, I made a new recipe every week and I had so much fun. I love cooking, but when you live alone, making new things is a big commitment.
Celebrate my friend Audrey’s wedding! // I have been invited to a number of weddings over the last few years, but because of schedules and distance, I haven’t been able to attend any of them. My dear friend Audrey is getting married in Oklahoma on October 20th and she invited me! I am going! I am going to a wedding!
Drink tea. Burn candles. // #justGeorgeannethings

I want to continue focusing on my health and happiness.

Track my meals. // This is decidedly not a weight loss or “”””Health”””” blog (whatever that means), but it is a Georgeanne Blog, where I talk about things a Georgeanne is doing, and every day since the end of January, I have been tracking my meals. I am going to continue doing that. It makes me happy.

I want to be prepared for a 2019 audition season.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about this one yet, mostly because I am still sorting it out, but I do have at least one tangible action step related to this already set.

Print out a calendar and write in potential dates. // A simple but essential step.

I want to invest in myself.

Get a haircut. // Y’all, it’s been … almost three years. I’m going to leave it at that.
Read four books. // Many of my friends are super-readers. The other day, I saw another blogger report she had read 24 books! Awe-inspiring, honestly. While I am not shooting for that level of reading, I do hope to read more in October. Time-blocking my day will help me identify pockets of time where I can crack open a book. I plan to read one book for personal development, one music-related book, one fiction book, and one non-fiction book.
Watch four operas. // I learn so much about singing and performing when I watch live performances. Even if I can’t experience a performance in person, there are lots of options for me to stream or watch broadcasts, so in October, I am going to develop my craft by making opera-watching a priority.
Listen to two classical works and write about them.
Listen to two albums (non-classical) and write about them.
Go to a movie. // The last movie I saw in theaters was LEGO Batman (10/10, highly recommend), so it’s been a hot second. So far, I think I’m going to go see A Star is Born.

I want to make money.

(HAHAHAHAH DON’T WE ALL)

Take on at least five transcription jobs a week. // At the beginning of September, I had 39 private students! I am grateful to teach so much, but as my teaching schedule has grown more rigorous, my time for side-hustling has decreased. Something is better than nothing, though, so I am going to
Create at least four products for my Teachers Pay Teachers store. // I have been privately-teaching voice and beginning piano for a little over a year now, and I have noticed that lots of the resources published with method books don’t meet the needs of my students. They’re also very expensive, which is a strain on my students and often a strain on me. So, I started making my own. And because we’ve all gotta hustle, I started sharing these things with other teachers on Teachers Pay Teachers. My promise to myself has been that I would begin only by creating things I needed to use with my students … and I’m doing just that!

I want to grow my blog.

Create a running list of blog post ideas in Evernote.
Create an editorial calendar.
Post one new blog weekly.

I want to exude joy.

Gratitude journal. // I formerly used an app for this, but I may use an Evernote notebook this time around.

Whew! We made it, y’all. I know it’s a lot, but I am committed to crushing it this month. I’d love to hear about your goals for this October. What are you planning to do?

PS. If you’d like to learn a little bit more about how I set goals, start here.