October was an improvement over previous months. Not necessarily for my goals. More for my overall mental health. By taking some pressure off myself and refocusing on my immediate priorities, I feel like I had room to breathe in October, even if that meant backing away from my usual goal-seeking.

Last Month’s Goals

1. Read three books.
2. All the routines.

Read three books?

I completed two reads in October: A Curse of Krakens, which I loved and reviewed here, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, one of George R.R. Martin’s off-shoot stories from world of A Song of Ice and Fire. I also reviewed that one, here.

I ended up powering through A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms during our beach weekend in early October, which already feels like ages ago. Sitting on the beach while the boys played in the sand for a few hours was solid reading time.

I’ve also been working through A World of Ice and Fire, the encyclopedic history of Martin’s fantasy world, partly because I really enjoyed Knight, and partly because I wanted to arm myself with knowledge prior to watching House of the Dragon season 2. Season 1 was so grim that I don’t care about spoilers. I wanted to know the highlights of the Dance of the Dragons so I wasn’t shocked with whatever happened this season. I haven’t watched it yet, but I’m still working my way through the encyclopedia anyway.

I’m hoping it will actually provide some inspiration for my own fantasy world-building at some point.

All the routines?

I feel good with where I landed in October. I exercised a bit and set some goals to achieve by the end of the year — simple ones, like “go to the gym x times”. I had a much-needed vacation with just my wife and sons at the beach. I did some writing for the first time in a couple months.

Goals for November (even though we’re halfway through)

1. Read three books.
   • Current reads: A World of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin, that encyclopedic history I mentioned. I doubt I will actually finish it this month. It’s a doozy. I also have barely started Behind You is the Sea, by Susan Muaddi Darraj.
   • Likely next reads: I’m still on the hunt for my next fantasy series. A family member recently recommended N.K. Jemisin.
2. All the routines, but more. I have a couple soft exercise goals for this year, really just to be more deliberate about working out and go to the gym more often than I have been. I don’t have any hard and fast writing goals, but I’m thinking about it more, which is a step in the right direction. With the holidays coming up, I just don’t want to fall off a cliff again.

Steve D