Reflections on Quater 2

Happy JULY Friend!

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to embrace some serious sun and water time, beautiful blooms, watermelon, outdoor walks, nights outside with fireflies and all the amazing things that come with this Summer season.

But before I dig into the Summer goodness and Quarter 3 goals and intentions, let’s wrap up Quarter 2 well!

1. What did I cross off my Q2 list?
2. What did/didn’t work well in Q2?
3. How did I feel in Q2?
4. How do I want to feel in Q3?

P.S. – These are the 4 questions I ask myself at the end of every month/quarter to figure out where I’m at.

01 | What did I cross off my Q2 list?

Here’s what I set out to tackle in Q2 and notes on where I’m at in that process. While I didn’t tackle everything perfectly SO MUCH PROGRESS WAS MADE…so I’m thrilled!

Personal

• Continue working on creating a solid spiritual routine
  • To help with this I’m continuing my coaching with Diana and reading The Path of Energy, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, Self-Compassion, and The Emotion Code. Progress was made!
• Celebrate my mom’s birthday!
  • Done!
• Celebrate my sister’s high school graduation!
  • Kind of…I spent lots of quality time with her recently and I think that counts!
• Celebrate my brother’s birthday!
  • Done!
• Celebrate my birthday!
  • Done! We had our second wedding celebration on my birthday! More on that soon.
• Create a life towards total financial freedom and work on paying off my student loans
  • In Progress!
• Continue an at home strength training routine twice a week
  • I didn’t do this one too well. I need to create more time in my schedule in Q3 for this.
• Find ways to stay connected to my friends and family. Keep my community strong.
  • I’ve been pretty good at connecting with my dance community through Marco Polo and my lab community via Slack.

AOP

• Deliver a beautiful Spring wedding
  • Done!
• Photograph a beautiful engagement session (from a distance)
  • Done!
• Photograph a small wedding ceremony (from a distance)
  • Done!
• Attend my Move Mountains retreat (online) in April
  • Done!
• Attend 2 (online) networking events a month
  • Yes!
• Finish refreshing content and copy on the AOP website
  • In Progress!
• Improve my SEO and ranks on Google
  • In Progress!
• Create and print a refreshed look book to send vendors and clients
  • Was put on the back burner to focus on more pressing needs.
• Spend time getting clear on how to deliver a new legacy product and service
  • In Progress…and I can’t wait for this one!
• Beta launch the legacy product!
  • In Progress…and I decided to launch in July. So stay tuned!
• Continue to deliver and share the monthly AOP Dispatch with YOU! P.S. – Sign up to stay up to date with everything going on here at AOP!
  • YES!
• Continue to share and improve the newly engaged newsletter!
  • I continued to share…but there are still improvements to be made!
• Create some AMAZING FREEBIES for YOU!
  • Not for AOP…but I did work on some for Legacies Untold!
• Present at my local Rising Tide group on creating business systems in June!
  • Done!

Science

• Work diligently on improving my Matlab skills and analyze my NMR data
  • In Progress! While I’m no expert, I am making progress.
• Help with new COVID projects as needed during this time
• Present my worm work at the online TAGC conference
  • Done!
• Create a great career development resource to share with other early career scientists at TAGC
  • Done!
• Address any reviews/adjustments to the JoVE paper and see it published
  • Done!
• Find postdoc grants to apply for during this quarter
  • Nope – BUT I have been refining my next career goals so I’ll count that as a win!
• Finish up and submit my body size paper
  • In Progress!

02 | What did/didn’t work well in Q2?

What worked WELL?

• Showing up. I haven’t shown up perfectly in every area of my life, but I’m showing up and following through well considering all the tribulations 2020 has brought.
• Celebrating. I celebrated so much in Q2! Birthdays, weddings, and a graduation. Lots of good things have happened to celebrate for sure!
• Adapting. I’ve continued to put forth effort to adapt and evolve well.
• Reflection. I’ve been spending more time refining next steps in science and AOP which is giving me much more clarity on what I want the next few years to look like.

What DIDN’T work?

• Haven’t been giving myself enough grace and room to breathe.
• I’ve been a bit too relaxed on my work boundaries and have been letting my work life affect my personal life too much.
• Didn’t block and prioritize my days efficiently. I want to work more on “eating my frogs” and doing my hard work first thing every day.

03 | How did I feel in Q2?

I had some high highs and low lows in Q2. There were some beautiful moments and things to celebrate like my sister’s graduation, my birthday, my brother’s birthday, and the start of my own marriage! But I’ve also had some overwhelming moments surrounding COVID-19 and all the racial injustice issues surfacing this quarter. Overall, I had a harder time doing DEEP work this quarter, but I’m trying to extend myself a little bit of grace. Good things, hard things, beautiful things, and sad things filled my Q2. So it was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

04 | How do I want to feel in Q3?

While Q3 is still full of lots of unknowns, I stand by what I shared in Q2…I still believe despite facing many unknowns, Q3 CAN be a fruitful quarter no matter the conditions.

In Quarter 3 I want to feel….

• Calm in the storm.
• Tackle big projects and focus my attention in the right places.
• Lean into my strengths more and ask for help when needed.
• Confident in leaping into the unknown.
• Excited about the direction Amanda Olivia Photography is going/growing in and what’s in store for future clients.
• Happy and proud of the new Legacies Untold work that will be coming soon
• Joyful and grateful about what I have and where I’m at.
• Foster new connections and build strong relationships.
• Intentional about the life I’m living.
• Embrace, welcome, and foster the right relationships in this season.

I’m thankful for all that filled my life in Q2 and I’m ready to take on this new season no matter how unpredictable.

Share with me friend, how was your Quarter 2? What can you be grateful for right now? What worked/didn’t work for you this past quarter?

I’ll be back tomorrow with Q3 goals and intentions!