August 2022 Month in Review

Welcome to my August 2022 month in review! This is my first time doing one of these. I was inspired to do so to track my growth. The idea of being able to look back a year from now at the post and be like “wow … that’s when XYZ was happening” is incredible to me.

Anyways, August, like most month’s this year, absolutely flew by. It was a month of crazy late nights for work and lots of self development / mental processing for me personally. Some of that processing was painful, but in the end I know I am more in-tune with what I need and want for myself right now because of it. I love the little life I am working on creating for myself right now.

In today’s post, we are going to review:

The big three goals I made on Insta for this month (and how I did on them)
Things I Did
Articles I Wrote
What I Wore
Books I Read
Best Sellers

My Big Three Goals for this Month (and How I Did on them):

Goal #1 - Get Resale Refocused Back up and Running (Finally)

Description: The home office is kind of a mess and I’m behind on listings x1000, but she’s back up and running! This month, I want to get her to a place where she’s organized, well run, and ready to take on more clients by the end of the year.

Status: Partial Success

Is my home office finally organized? No. Are all of my client’s listings up to date? Also no. That said, I’ve made progress. I’ve unbagged almost everything … things have been tagged and steamed. It’s a lot of work, and really does require a team! I’m excited for the future of this company and the prospective future it has.

Goal #2 - Get back into my journaling routine

Description: I used to be so good about journaling 3-5x a week! It’s crazy how much better my mental processes were / ability to think things through than when I took this time every morning to start the day on a positive, reflective note.

Status: Success

While I didn’t hit my goals for journaling per say, I do think I did a great job being more reflective and focusing on my breathing, my thoughts, and why I was having the thoughts I was! July was a scramble for me in terms of emotion and overwhelm, so I am proud of myself for this step. I want to make one of my September goals align with this! I see this as a success, despite the fact I wasn’t physically writing my thoughts down.

Goal #3 - Cut back on alcohol during the week

Description: If I’m going to a birthday event or something, I’ll still join in on the festivities… but I find it so easy to forget to eat during the week, so adding alcohol on top of that habit is just not productive / a value add to the lifestyle I’m trying to create for myself long term.

Status: SUCCESS!

It took me until about halfway through the month to really get to the point where I sat down and thought about my relationship with wine and why I drink it. Most of the time it is because I enjoy it – but why do I sometimes over consume? Is it stress? Boredom? An addiction? I’ve gotten really good at telling myself no or, if I decide to drink, limiting it to a glass which is a huge win for me! It’s helped that I’ve told myself if I’m drinking less, I’m allowed to buy my favorite, slightly pricier (like $12 lol) bottles. This is a blog post in the making, but I’m proud of myself!

Things I Did

My cousin came into town this month and it was so much fun to see her and meet her boyfriend, Vlad (Vlad – not pressuring a proposal buttttt you’re welcome to stick around as long as you’d like 😉 ). She was in town for a Thursday – Monday, and during that time I got to show her Dallas and convince the two of them to move here ASAP.

Articles I Wrote

Books I Read

August was a slow reading month for me because I was so busy! So I only read one book … it was AMAZING, but lots of trigger warnings. The Review:

When we Were Bright and Beautiful | Jillian Medoff | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | crime drama, legal thriller

⚠️: sexual assault, domestic violence, grooming

A sexual assault trial, secret first love, and one NYC elite family tangled in it all. This book will have you asking all of the tough questions, turning pages desperate for answers.

I have such a love / hate relationship with this month’s @bookofthemonth book. It’s a beautifully written novel filled with absolutely repulsive, real life topics (hints the number of trigger warnings listed above). It’s the first book I read where I used different colored tabs to go back to things at the end, and I’m so glad I did. Even in doing that, I still feel like I need to go back through and reread the first half.

While I absolutely recommend reading this book, I do want to caution readers that there are some very heavy, very real triggers in these pages.

What I liked:

the storyline and speed of the read
@jillianmedoff ‘s writing style
the PLOT TWIST – even if you had suspicions, you’re not going to guess it
the characters outside of the main family – Haggerty and DeFiore were the comic relief every book this heavy needs
The thoroughness the author put into the research behind this book to make it accurate and believable. Such a fan. I’ll 100% be reading more of @jillianmedoff ’s work