Happy Valentine’s Day and welcome to my January 2023 roundup. In addition to a progress report on my January goals, I’m delighted to share six fabulous posts from five of of my favourite bloggers.

Read on for posts on revving up your productivity, why less is better, the trouble with the “Isms”, adopting simple self-care ideas, saying “no” to consumerism, and living a frugal life.

Cool things I read in January

Since publishing my first monthly roundup at the end of 2020, it has been an honour to introduce you to some of my favourite bloggers. I started the roundup to say thank you to the blogging community and bring attention to talented writers who create funny, inspiring, and informative content.

Here are some of my favourites from January.

Finding The Right Gear: Tips To Rev Up Your Productivity – Your Friendly Malaysian Writer

If you’ve lost motivation and gotten on the wrong road with your 2023 resolutions, this post from Stuart might be just what you need to get back into gear.

And the most important point of that topic is the first gear. Why? Because that’s where it all starts, no matter the pursuit. Also, it’s the trickiest gear to learn, and you could even destroy your engine with it.

Stuart Danker, Finding The Right Gear: Tips to Rev Up Your Productivity

More from Stuart…Why less is better

And here’s an added bonus. If you enjoyed Stuart’s thoughts on motivation, you might also like this post where he discusses removing things from your life and adopting a “Less but better” mentality.

The Trouble With Isms – Smelly Socks and Garden Peas

In this thoughtful post, Smell shares her insights on what’s behind all the various “Isms” (racism, sexism, etc.) in the world.

Different is good. Variety is the spice of life. Without differences, there would be no innovation, no progress, no art, no music.

Smelly Socks and Garden Peas, The Trouble With Isms

15 amazing self-care activities to add to your routine – According to Chren

If you think self-care has to be complicated and expensive, think again and check out this post for some simple ideas you can work into your daily routine.

Self-care isn’t just treating yourself every once and a while or going on a vacation. Self-care are the daily things you do to make your quality of life better.

According to Chren, 15 Amazing Self-Care Activities to Add to Your Routine

Questions to consider as you become a more conscious consumer – A Sustainably Simple Life

It’s tough to be a conscious consumer in a world that constantly tries to convince us to buy products to solve problems we didn’t even know we had. In this post, Alison has some excellent questions to ask before buying.

And the reality is, we all do need to shop sometimes. So how do we find that balance of being a responsible shopper?

A Sustainably Simple Life – Questions To Ask As You Become A More Conscious Consumer

How to be frugal – The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Frugal Living – Hello Brownlow

Regular readers know that I’m a big fan of money saving hacks and frugal living tips. This guide from Amanda contains a full lineup of tips to help you trim your budget and get control of your money. I love the term she uses: frugal eco minimalism.

Frugal eco minimalism is worth mentioning in this guide on how to be frugal. The foundation of each principle is choosing to consume less – for financial purposes like saving money and staying out of debt, for environmental purposes like using less plastic and reducing your waste, and for minimalist purposes by choosing to have less clutter in our homes and on our schedules.

Hello Brownlow, How to Be Frugal – The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Frugal Living

What I wrote in January

In case you missed any of these, here are the new posts I published in January here on Boomer Eco Crusader.

• 2022 blog recap of best posts and highlights
• Can we tame our love of shopping to save the Earth? – A Climate Change Collective post
• New for 2023 – The Sunday Spark
• The Sunday Spark – What’s the big deal about habits?
• A new approach to decluttering in 2023
• The Sunday Spark – Friendships that stand the test of time
• Is plastic-free living an impossible dream?
• The Sunday Spark – From Dry January to Dry 2023?
• Winter survival tips to help you get through February

In addition to my new posts, I refreshed and republished these older posts:

• Bring back the sparkle with this easy homemade jewellery cleaner
• Is privatization of recycling a good thing?

And, I wrote a guest post on intentional living for Bee at Mind Beauty Simplicity. If 2023 is your year to start living with purpose, check out 5 Steps to Living More Intentionally in 2023.

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January goals – How did I do?

As I shared in last month’s roundup, I decided to change things up in 2023 and set smaller monthly goals instead of annual goals. For January, I set six goals. Let’s see how I did.

Work out 150 minutes a week

I definitely got back into a fitness routine in January, working out 6 days every week for an average of 176 minutes a week.

Plus, despite the dreary weather, I managed to squeeze in 9 outdoor walks.

Read 2 books

January was a great month on the reading front. I crushed this goal with 4 books read:

• The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich
• Things That Matter by Joshua Becker
• Red Bones by Ann Cleeves
• Less: Minimalism For Real by Rose Lounsbury

Dry January

I did it! 31 days with no alcohol. It was surprisingly easy, especially considering I had a few social gatherings during the month.

Journal 20 days

I wrote in my journal 27 out of 31 days in January. Mostly, I just captured my daily highlights or random thoughts but it’s a start.

Declutter 2 areas of my home

I found my motivation again and decluttered 3 areas:

• My older daughter’s room. It’s funny that I still call it her room, even though she hasn’t lived at home for over four years. Does anyone else do that?
• My home office.
• My night table.

Reconnect with at least 2 friends.

January was a good month on the social front. At my niece’s baby shower, I had a good catch up with a friend I haven’t seen since before the pandemic. I also went out for dinner with colleagues and friends from my professional association. And, I had a fun get-together with my high school friends.

My February goals

Overall, I’m happy with how January went. In February, I’m hoping to continue the momentum from January. Here are my February goals:

• Continue to work out 150 minutes a week. And, I’m going to practise habit stacking by adding on a couple of additional challenges: 15 outdoor walks, and a daily plank challenge. My limit for planks right now is about 25 seconds. Can I work my way up to one minute, or maybe even two?
• Read 2 books.
• Consume alcohol only when I go out, or on special occasions.
• Make journalling and reflection part of my morning routine.
• Declutter 3 areas of my home.
• Limit candy to once a day. I expect this to be my biggest challenge this month. I do love my candy!

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Thanks for dropping by to check out my monthly roundup.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the posts I’ve shared. Tell me your ideas below.