My Mindfulness Project

I recently read The Happiness Project. For those who have read 'Eat, Pray, Love' - it's like that but for normal people. A woman is on a quest to optimize her happiness so for an entire year she focuses on one aspect of her life per month and seeks to increase her happiness.

Now I love a project and goal setting and while I didn't love everything about this book, I can relate to wanting to improve things in your life. But I feel happy. In fact I think I'm the happiest I've ever been and can't imagine what could make me happier.

But I do think I could learn to focus on and improve a few areas of my life. So I'm coining this my 'mindfulness project'. Where I focus on one topic area in my life each month that I want to pay extra attention to. There is no failing - it's simply that I focus on creating opportunities for improvement.

And by telling you all (my 4 adoring fans) it holds me accountable to them.

So for the last 6 months of 2011, I'll focus on the following:

July - finances
August - time/calendar
September - distractions
October - health/wellness
November - relationships
December - traditions

At the end of each month, I'll let you all know how things went. So, since it's the last day of July, and my last day to focus on finances, I'm happy (mindful?) to report that I had a successful month!

For the first time in my life, I feel good financially. I've spent many, many years living paycheck to paycheck and sometimes even beyond my means. Between a few promotions and raises and sharing expenses with someone, I'm doing quite well.

So how do I ensure that I'm saving appropriately, in the right places and for the right things.

Carl is very good with money and has a lot more knowledge about things like money markets and IRAs. He was so helpful in guiding me into some good decisions that not only made me feel good about what I'm doing with my money day-to-day but also what I'm doing to plan for our future and retirement.

So, here's the recap:

1. Opened a money market account
2. Opened a Roth IRA
3. Got a new credit card (that will actually reward me with something)
4. Began storing documents on Carl's computer, which we will now share
5. Created a monthly budget
6. Update my will

Ok, so #6 hasn't been done yet but I'm working on it tonight. I created a will in 2006 and needed to update it but the software I created it with wouldn't work so I bought new software. It's sitting next to me right now, just waiting.....

And since this project isn't about failures, I'll be happy when I get it done, no matter when that is (but hopefully tonight).

So while I'm not seeking increased happiness, I will say that it made me pretty happy to make these changes. It was an investment in mine and Carl's future as well and it was great to have a month to actively focus on that.

Next up is time and calendars - specifically how I best manage my time outside of work ensuring I make time for Carl, myself, friends, family and Buster. I'll let you know how it goes.....