July was one hell of an interesting month. I fared really bad when it comes to challenges I set for myself but each day was special in its own way that it ended up being a memorable month.
 

Review of July

 
1.Affirmations
 
This month definitely showed me that staying positive can create wonders. I felt everything was coming my way without me putting in much efforts. It was amazing. But I still need to be more regular in affirmations.
 
2.Exercise
 
I could not succeed in this as I had tough time in going to sleep early. But once, I set my sleep timings, I followed exercise diligently. I feel lighter and happier after I got back to exercising.
 
3.Cooking
 
Even though my cooking time has not reduced significantly, the taste of the food has improved significantly. I don’t stress out too much on what to eat but I still have a long way to go.
 
4.Words
 
It was not possible to learn a word daily but I could learn 21 words so far. It was fun to create a story out of the words I learnt. This exercise made me realise that most of the english word roots have latin origin. It strengthened my memory because it makes me recall all the words daily.
 
5.Editing
 
I could finish only Elements of style out of all the books. I hope to finish two more books this month. I went back to whatever I wrote in the past and edited them based on the rules I learnt.
 
6.Knowledge on finance
 
I made time for the first few days with a great difficulty but could not continue it later.
 
All I am perfect with is one rule – What’s needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework
 

Plans for August

 
I realised that I have not been productive in the last month because of which I was not able to accomplish the goals. This month I will talk as little as possible, reduce the time I spend on WhatsApp, Instagram and Quora and cut down on worrying which will help me make time for the things which really matter in life.
 
1.Books for the month
 
Apart from the books on finance and editing, I want to read the books Emotional intelligence 2.0 and The language of emotional intelligence. If I am still left with time, I will reread The art of learning and the inner game of tennis which will help me do the research for my next book.
 
2.Meditation
 
I will meditate at least for 5 minutes daily. I will be more mindful when I eat and worry less. I will go for meditation classes if required.
 
3.Exercise
 
I will do at least 5 minutes of body weight exercise daily. 2 minutes for squats and 2 minutes for planks and one minute of push-ups. 5 more minutes for surya namaskaras. This way I will ensure to get at least 10 minutes of exercise daily.
 
4.Writing
 
I will write at least 10000 words for my second book. To reach this target, I need to aim for at least 300 words a day. Apart from that, I will get back to writing by starting off with book reviews.
 
5.Talk to strangers
 
I have lost the habit of initiating conversations with strangers. Most of the acquaintances I made in office last year seem to have left now. So I will talk to at least ten strangers in the next one month to start it off again.
 
6.Words
 
The methodology I used last month for learning words is time taking but it is helping to stick to a schedule in learning and retaining words. I will continue the same this month too.
 
7.Stay Happy
 
I decided to choose to stay happy every day. It has worked wonders so far. Hoping to continue to do the same for this entire month.
 
That’s all for August.
 
How was your july? What are your plans for August?
 
Happy August!