Goals #7 & #8: mid-year update

In January, I posted my goals for 2016.  Included in those goals were two goals relating to my personal relationships with family and friends:

Goal #7: Plan 1 visit with family (outside the usual special occasions) per month.

Goal #8: Make an effort to reconnect, visit or stay connected with at least 1 longtime friend per month.

This all stemmed from an article I read over the Christmas holidays and how I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t missing out on limited time with my family and friends.

So, now that we are mid-way through the year, I figured I should probably take a look at these goals and see how I am doing…

January:
I started off strong with a games night with a couple of my cousins and my sister, then a lunch with my grandmother, and a games night with some friends we hadn’t hung out with in a long time.

February:
I didn’t get as much done… I did visit with my parents a couple times and we went out for dinner with the couple that introduced my husband and I.  But it didn’t feel as intentional… Probably didn’t help that I was in a bit of a funk, was out of town for work for a chunk of time, and then was sick…

March:
This was a rebound from a poor showing in February.  Before we left on our honeymoon, I made an effort to go watch one of my nieces’ last soccer game, I went for drinks with a friend from elementary school that had just moved back to town, had another games night with the same friends as in January but added a couple more in to the mix, had my husband’s parents over for a visit and also went for dinner at my sister’s place.  Add to that that we also visited some of my husband’s family while we were on our honeymoon, I’d call March a very successful month.

April:
Half of this month was spend in Europe, and we did visit some of my husband’s family again during this time, but as soon as we were home, I made an effort to go watch one of my nieces’ T-ball games.  I went to an art show with my mum, had my husband’s parents visit again, and then went to a surprise birthday party for one of my husband’s aunts.  (I realize that I said the goal was to do these visits outside of the usual special occasions, but this surprise birthday required a trip to another city, paying for a ferry and staying at a hotel.  It required a bit more effort, so I am counting it towards this goal.)

May:
I sort of let the friends drop in April, so in May it appears I made up for it by dropping the family side of things… Well, I guess I hosted a mother’s day brunch, but that’s one of the usual special occasions that I wouldn’t count… Oh, and I did go to a get together for one of my cousins that lives out of town because she was visiting… So I also got to visit one of my aunts and another cousin at the same time…  Anyway, on the friend side of things, I went for drinks with one of my good friends from university who I definitely don’t see enough of seeing as we live in the same city.  I made an effort to attend a friend’s BBQ that I probably would have skipped out of laziness if it hadn’t been for this goal… I also hung out with my old roommate who is now a mom and I don’t see outside of our sports teams very often.  Considering that I was away for work for a good portion of May, I feel that was a very successful month.

June:
And so that brings us to this month… We are already about halfway through the month and we have already done three family based things: we made a special effort to attend one of my dad’s work functions, we hosted my husband’s uncle for a hockey watching nacho eating evening, and we took one of my nieces to watch a soccer game.  And on the friends side of things, I watched a parade with some friends and their kids, sent a birthday card to a friend who lives elsewhere in Canada, and I attended two social gatherings that I very easily could have “lazied” out of… Can you tell I can be a little lazy sometimes when it comes to being social?  Anyway, if I don’t do anything else this month, I still have met my goals.

So, just to summarize… I have met or exceeded my goal every single month so far this year.  Yup, even if this is totally tooting my own horn, I think I have done a pretty darn good job with this goal… Now to keep it up for the remaining 6 months of the year.

Do you have a similar goal?  Have you made a special effort to visit with family and friends lately?  Or is it just habit for you and no special effort is required?

 

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