Starting in January, I decided there was value in sharing monthly progress reports on my journey to develop this project and my own habit recipe. It helps me to recognize when I’ve made progress, particularly when it doesn’t “feel” like there’s been any. I’ll also be honest about where I slip-up or have trouble so that you can learn from it too. Above all, I value the accountability it provides when you check in with me to make sure I’m on track.
Today, I’ll be sharing a recap of May, including some fun stuff: my favorite juicing recipe, a 380% increase in my revenue, and a recap of the first 100 days since relaunching this project.
If you want to read through the reports for previous months, you can do that here.
Project Overview
Here are my “buckets” of projects:
- Accounting/Corporate Leadership – this represents my role as the Director of Finance at Port Royal Ocean Resort.
- Non-profit Leadership – this primarily includes my responsibilities as President of Texas Business Women.
- Purpose Project – that’s this Habit Chef project and all of its related tentacles.
- Relationships – having a great relationship with God, my husband, my daughter, and my extended family and friends is very important to me, but doesn’t always come naturally, so I track progress in this area just like I would for any other project.
- Personal Habit Development – my own journey to living and giving my best.
At the beginning of each month, I set goals and action plans for making consistent progress in each of these areas. Weekly, I think about the bigger picture and review those plans, scheduling the projects on my calendar and in Remember the Milk. Daily, I do my best to and complete my project tasks and personal daily goals (using the Lift app).
Bucket by bucket, here’s a recap of May’s results compared to its plans.
Personal Habit Development
April was a rough month for my personal habits, but May was tremendously better. I still haven’t had a Monster drink since April 9 – woohoo! I’ve been eating better – mostly salads when eating out. I’m also consistently juicing in the morning, and I feel great. Many of you have asked for more details, so I thought I’d share my formula.
I use a Breville Juice Fountain that my hubby got me for Mother’s Day. I was intimidated by it at first, but it’s very easy to set up and use, and clean up is much easier than I expected. All in all, the process takes about 20 minutes.
I’ve also settled on a basic recipe that uses primarily green vegetables (for the nutrients) and a couple select fruits for taste.
I make a batch every two days (usually Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday) and bottle up our juice for the next day. The small mason jars work perfect.
My standard ingredients are:
- 1/2 bunch of celery
- 1-2 cucumbers (depending on size)
- 1/2 tub of spinach
- 1-2 pears
- 1-2 small peaches
For two batches, the grocery cost runs $10-$11, so that covers 4 days for 2 people.
My goal for this month is to experiment a bit more and create special recipes for certain situations. For example, I want a unique recipe for Monday nights when I’m writing and recording the podcast. I know that ritual will help me focus.
Relationships
My goal for April and May was to recommit to the Storyline process. Looking back, I realize I haven’t spent as much time on this as I planned. But that’s because I’ve been actually spending quality time with those most important to me.
I’ve been re-reading Honor’s Reward and working through the devotional. Mariah and I have planned her summer travel and projects. Rex and I have decided to start a new project together, and we’ll be sharing the details of that soon. I was able to spend Mother’s Day with my Mom, Nana, and daughter, and I just returned from a long weekend with my sister.
For June, I don’t have any new goals, other than to continue along this path. It feels like I’m being more intentional with my time, and my calendar proves the needle is moving in the right direction.
Accounting/Corporate Leadership
Thankfully, May was a great month for us at Port Royal. After months of grinding, we can finally see the fruits of our labor.
The full renovation of our pools is completed, and the finishing touches on the surrounding area will be wrapped up soon. We were finally able to integrate all of the changes and new amenities into our systems. And we’re beginning to shift our marketing and communications from reactive to proactive, which lets us all plan more.
Our core team is as strong as ever, and we’ve added a few key positions that will have a significant impact. Now that we’ve caught our second wind, we’re ready for an exciting peak season.
From an accounting perspective, we’re able to maintain our standard projects and have the capacity to work through our backlog of “extra” projects. Soon, we’ll be able to get a head start on our budgeting process that usually starts in the fall.
For June, my main goals are to revisit my checklists and procedures to ensure that they’re accurate and current. I also want to firm up the final details on our backup and virtualization project with our IT team. Both of those preparations will ensure that we’re in good shape if an urgent problem arises.
Non-Profit Leadership
This planning project for TBW was a heavy burden on me last month, and we still have work to do to reach a resolution. But I’m feeling a sense of peace personally. After many hours, I’ve thought and researched enough to decide on which aspects I believe are most important for our future: a relevant area of focus and a consistent excellence in our member experience. I’m committed to championing those areas of emphasis and mining the collective wisdom and experience of our stakeholders to craft the rest of the plan.
With two major meetings in June, it will be an intense month as President. My goals are to balance my commitment to an updated plan with an understanding of the decades of expectation and consistency in our remaining members. I’m confident a path exists that’s not mutually exclusive, and we’re going to work hard to find it and start walking.
Purpose Project
At the end of February, I restarted this project with a firm plan for the first 100 days. I outlined an editorial calendar and promised myself I’d stick to it – no matter what. Truthfully, it had been decades since I’d honored that level of commitment to my own dreams. I’ve never had any problem achieving goals on other people’s projects, but my own were another story. I could push for a week or two at most, but something would always knock me off track. That would lead to months or years of inconsistency.
I’m thrilled to say that I made it. In the entire 100 days, I deviated from my schedule once. On the day of the Boston bombing, I was too rattled to record my podcast and postponed it two days. Aside from that, I have posted a habit profile every Sunday, a podcast every Tuesday at 4am CST, and a written article every Thursday before 7pm. Life has often thrown me curveballs, but I’ve overcome each and every one.
Simply put, it feels amazing!
After making it into the New and Noteworthy section of iTunes for a few days in April, the Habit Chef Podcast had a strong May. For the entire month, it averaged 70 listens a day, significantly higher than the average 20 for most of April. Cumulatively, I crossed the 5,000 download mark, ending at 5,045. It’s also up to 31 5-star reviews and 20 written reviews in iTunes. Super-extra-special thank you to each of you that took the time to navigate the clunky interface to show your support! It really means a lot to me.
Episode 9: How to Keep a Not-Daily Habit remains the most popular, and episode 1: The Power of a Proactive Schedule isn’t far behind. All of the recent podcasts are also enjoying strong numbers. If you’ve been listening, I’d love to know which one is your favorite.
In addition to the four podcasts in May, I also shared habit profiles on Rebecca Ryan, my Nana (a special honor for me), Sean Olivares, and Joe Magnotti and feature articles on how To Be, Just Do, Debunking the Myth of Motivation, Why I’m Struggling to Eat Healthy, and the Essential Tools for Getting Things Done. I added a special page to help explain #habitchat and let folks follow along as well.
The Tribe grew from a solid 25 members to a rockin’ 38. (Love y’all!) Our forums are picking up, and I’ve responded to several Habit Helpers. I also added two new coaching clients, and I’m confirming that I absolutely love this aspect of the project.
And my financial support almost quadrupled from $30 in April to $115 in May. Given that my goal is to double my income each month, I’m thrilled with that (and super thankful!). I booked a speaking engagement for July that I’m really excited about and will share soon. I was also accepted into the Clarity.fm coaching network if you’d like to connect with me there.
For June, I have two big projects that I want to share with you. I don’t want to spoil the surprise so I’ll leave it at that, but my mastermind group knows exactly what I need to do each week to stay on track. If you want to make some real progress this summer, stay tuned. Better yet, join the Tribe! We’re gonna have fun and change our lives together.
That’s it for me. Now it’s your turn!
How was your May? Did you accomplish all you had planned? What’s on tap for June?
Let me know in the comments.
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