My challenge for February was to work on the happiness checklist that I’ve been using for quite a while now. The happiness checklist was originally something that my therapist suggested that I use and I really liked having it. Even though I have a new therapist, I still use it. I think there were even times where my old therapist told me that I didn’t have to keep using it, but I still did. There’s something about reminding myself every day that I did so some things that made me happy that I like having as a part of my day.
I have made a few changes to the things I have on the checklist, but it had been a long time since the last time I had re-evaluated what was on it and if they really were things that did make me happy if I did them. So last month, I worked on seeing what things I wanted to remove, what things I wanted to add, and what might just need to be reworded or changed a bit. It wasn’t a huge challenge or something that would take a ton of work, but I knew if I didn’t focus on it that I wouldn’t do it.
I used some scrap paper to write up some ideas for what I might want on my list and played around with those ideas. I had some ideas about doing a major change, but I realized that I was really just overthinking things and tried to spend a few days focusing on each thing on the list.
And by the end of the month, I really only made 2 changes. I took one thing off the list and replaced it with another and I reworded one other thing to make it feel like it makes more sense and covers more of the things that make me happy in that category. It was such a minor change, but it really felt like it refreshed the list and made a huge difference. It’s silly how those small changes feel so big, but I guess having one thing on the list that I didn’t feel belonged on there affected me more than I realized.
Going along with the idea that small changes can make a big impact on my life, I found another tracking thing that I want to work on for this month. I used to be really good about budgeting and was having a lot of success with YNAB. I started to slack off a bit toward the end of the year for a few different reasons and I told myself that I would get back to it in the new year. But I also did an upgrade on my computer and I had to upgrade to the new YNAB system, which is significantly different from the old one. I did set things up with the new system, but I really haven’t been using it.
I also skipped over some of the online tutorials that I probably should have done before setting it up. I know that I need to learn about the new changes so I can use it properly and I want to get back into budgeting. I have the potential to really do better with budgeting and planning with my money and I don’t want to miss that chance by screwing things up. So this month, I want to work on going through some of the online tutorials and getting my budget set up again. I know this will be a challenge that will require a lot of work this month and will likely require work for a while, but the reward I will get from doing it will be worth it.
I want to know where my money is going and where I can possibly cut back. I want to see what things that feel like splurges are actually within my budget and I don’t have to feel guilty about. And I need to know what everyday things I am probably wasting money on and shouldn’t be indulging on. And the only way to accomplish this is to get back to my budgeting work and have everything set up the way I had it set up in the past.
I hope that I don’t get too frustrated working on the budgeting work. I was dealing with a bit of that when I set up the new system, but I also know I wasn’t giving it a fair shot. So this month is my chance to really try and see if I can make it work again. And if I can’t, then I need to find another way to work on budgeting because this is not something I can avoid doing.
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Adjusting Monthly Challenges (or Books And Happiness)
Another Therapist Check In (or Showing Off My Happiness Checklist)
Just A Little Bit More Reflection (or Evaluating My Happiness Checklist)
Budgeting and Spending (or Sharing YNAB With A Cashier)
Food And Budgeting (or Combining The Two Things I Often Struggle With)
Going Back To An Old Habit (or Finding Control With Budgeting)
