Hey, everyone! It’s been six months – can you believe it, six months since I did an Achievement Unlocked post. 😱 The second half of last year was just so busy that I didn’t even have enough time to sum up the end of each month. I’m using the same prompts that I used last year, because I thought they weren’t too bad – plus, I’ve noticed a few people copied them from me because they liked them. 😉

Just before writing this, I was:

Watching a highlight reel of The Project when Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins (from the band Foo Fighters) featured on the show. Nick and I saw Foo Fighters live last Saturday night too!

This past month, I achieved:

I read two books:

• The Wife Drought by Annabel Crabb
• The Joy of Less by Francine Jay

Both of these books have been added to my 27 by 27 list, which I have made a little more progress on this month.

I also started working on a new look for my blog. It’s been almost two years since the last redesign and I just want to change things up a bit.

I’ve got a really crazy average of 126 minutes of exercise a day, according to my Apple Watch. I’m kind of only doing it because, for some stupid reason, it challenged me to do 125 minutes of exercise a day in January. I thought, are you crazy?! It usually sits at 30 minutes for most people. I guess it wanted to give me a ridiculous challenge. I digress.

This past month, I learned:

That when it comes to being a minimalist, you also have to think about the waste that is produced as a result of anything you buy – be it technological, material, food waste, etc. It only just hit me that every time I come across something that isn’t good enough to donate or sell, or isn’t wrecked enough to trash – it basically is trash, and makes me realise that a lot of what we are convinced to buy is often just wasteful.

This past month, I got bored of:

I didn’t so much get bored, but since I am trying to make my new blog design have enough colour contrast for the visually impaired, the existing aqua colour on my blog was proving difficult to work with. I’ve been looking into changing it to a colour that is more accessible. I have an attachment to this colour just as much as a lot of my loyal readers & visitors, though, believe me! 😢

But that’s OK, because I enjoyed:

Looking through our wedding photos! Eeeeee I can’t wait to start sharing them! Here are a couple from Instagram:

Today, something that made me happy was:

Feeling some pain in my chest muscles! I have been trying to improve my form on the chest press exercise, which I did yesterday, so the fact that it hurt in the right spot must mean I am doing something right. 😄

Today, something I could have done better was:

I was working from home today and there were too many moments where I got distracted. I rushed my morning routine a little bit, and usually when I sit down and write some notes, it gets me into the groove. I really should have done a better job of setting up my working space in the morning.

Tomorrow, I’m going to:

Hit the gym in the morning and work out legs and glutes! Usually I do that on Wednesdays, but thought I might change it up. I like to change things when it comes to my workouts. I love routine, but when it comes to the actual exercises, I like to shock my body a bit.

In February, I’m looking forward to:

I’m honestly looking forward to a new month. Not that there is anything wrong with January, but the year just seems to be breezing by and I feel pretty accomplished, and to bring that positivity into another month would be great.

In February, I’m going to make the positive change of:

Being more present. I said I wanted to do this starting this year, and I still have to remind myself every now and then.

I also want to try and welcome meditation back into my life. I used to do it regularly as part of yoga, but because of other priorities (strength training), yoga’s taken a back seat, and I don’t take as much time out of my day to be intentionally mindful. I have spent more time walking home and allowing myself to really enjoy being in the moment, since it’s such a long walk, but I want to make sure I do that in all aspects of life.

One thing on my to-do list is:

To finish writing posts about our honeymoon! I still need to write a post about our visit to Hakone and our time in Tokyo! 😱

One happy photo from this past month is:

If I had to write a book or record a film about this past month, I would call it:

Kickstart My Heart

After I post this, I’m going to:

Get ready for bed! 🌕

I know resolutions are always made at this time of year but I think you can make a change at any time. Even though the new year seems like a good time, if you think you haven’t gotten very far this month, just keep going! 💪

Thank you for your attention! ☺️ How was your first month of the year?