Dodo Diary April 2015: Self-improvement challenge, Month #2

It’s been quite a month. Looking back at the second month of my Dodo to Dynamite in a Year self-improvement challenge, I can definitely see progress – but it’s been hard work!

My main focus topics for April were on clearing my house and building my business.

Dodo to Dynamite in a Year Progress Report

• Weight: Lose 40lbs. I decided to eat whatever I liked on Easter Day, but still didn’t spend the entire day stuffing my face with chocolate. And I went straight back to my eating plan afterwards, although I had several days where it was hard to stick to. It wasn’t the sugar, but I’ve had days where I’ve done a lot of hard physical work and I was just plain hungry! I’ve lost 6lbs this month – total weight loss so far 161bs.
• Smoking: Quit. I was going to try this month, but decided I wasn’t ready, as I was struggling to stick to my eating plan.
• Self-Control: Beat addictions to sugar and caffeine. Still controlling my sugar addiction most of the time, but I did have one gloomy day when I weakened and ate a huge bar of chocolate.
• Hoarding: Clear whole house. I’ve done several boot sales, taken more stuff to the charity shop again and cleared a lot of boxes of junk. I’ve completely cleared the boxroom, so now we’ve got a place to put them, we can start packing up items to take with us ready for moving home. My best coup was selling a stack of 23 chairs on Ebay – lots of space cleared in a single day!
• Relationships: Rebuild relationships with partner and family. Dismal failure so far. I missed another family birthday and a wedding anniversary. I remembered them, but I didn’t have enough money for gifts. I should at least have sent cards, and I didn’t. However, I did make a flying visit to my mother on her birthday, thanks to getting a ride with my sister – so at least I’m not the ‘bad daughter’ this year, although I can’t really claim much credit for that.
• Success: Build Ebay business/increase income. I’ve spent so much time trying to clear stuff out of the house that I’ve let Ebay fall by the wayside – but I’ve done quite well at boot sales so my income is actually better this month. Hoping for a lot more sunny days next month. I’ve also given more thought to less time-consuming ways to make a proper income online, but these are still at the planning stage.
• Writing: Refocus blog and add a new blog post every week. I need to refocus the Relationships section, but the rest of the blog is done. My blog posts are still up to date, but I need more back-up posts waiting in the queue.
• Friends: Make 3 new friends. I haven’t tried yet. I’d rather get the house clearer first, so I can invite people, but I need to start thinking up a strategy for making friends.

Next month, I’ll be working harder on my relationships with my partner and family – while continuing with all the targets I’ve already started.