We’ve entered the final quarter of the 2018 calendar year. Honestly? Wow. It’s mind-blowing me to how quickly this year has passed, and it undoubtedly has to do with the fact that just four days in, my father died unexpectedly. That threw my entire year, and life, for a loop and in some ways threw me totally off course.

I’ll be honest: the one thing I told myself I was going to do this year – keep writing my novel that I started in late 2017, and then work on seriously getting it published, even if only as an eBook – is the one thing I didn’t touch. At all. I completely abandoned the entire thing, and sometimes, I feel bad about it. I wish I hadn’t. It’s still there, sitting, waiting for me to rescue it, and at some point, maybe I will. But I’m just not there yet.

That being said, when I stumbled upon Rachel Hollis’ #Last90Days challenge, I was intrigued. The final three months of the year are a great time to set intentions for yourself, and with the way this year has gone, it’s time to get myself in order.

Rachel’s challenge for the last 90 days of the calendar year involves five aspects. While I’m not following it strictly, I appreciate what it’s all about: setting goals and intentions for yourself, being intentional about what you do in life. That’s something I can get behind, especially because as I’ve seen, life is short and you never know when your time is up.

So am I getting up an hour earlier every day? Honestly… no. I cherish that time in bed too much, it’s warm, it’s cozy, my favorite blanket wrapped around me, and sometimes I need that extra 15 minutes or more of shut-eye. And that’s okay. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was I. At some point, maybe I’ll commit to that time in the morning, but for now…

Next up: work out for at least 30 minutes a day. I’ve been trying to work on getting into shape, losing weight and getting healthier anyways, so this isn’t a big stretch for me. I’ve got my gym membership at LA Fitness, and while I don’t go as often as I’d like, I make it a point to go a few times a week for a little while. I’ve got my move goal on my Apple Watch, and I’m going to really strive to meet or surpass that goal every day for the next 90 days. So whether that means cleaning around my apartment for a few hours, or going on the treadmill or the bike at the gym for 30 minutes, I’m getting it done.

On that note, one of the five points to strive for is to basically give up a food group you know you shouldn’t be eating. While I haven’t completely abandoned any specific food groups, I have in general been working on eating healthier, introducing more fresh fruits & veggies into my diet, etc. That goes along with the gym membership and aforementioned activity. It doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” deal (and in fact, that’s often been shown to be the key to failure!), but starting slow and working to cut out some bad foods is a good goal for me.

Drink half of your body weight in ounces of water each day. Good Lord, I’m trying. I’m not there yet, but I am being more intentional about drinking water. I really don’t drink much else aside from a very occasional soda here or there, or maybe some juice. I’m not drinking half of my weight, but I’m making sure to always have a bottle of water with me and to refill it once it’s empty. I also bought a bunch of very pretty reusable water bottles that come in handy!

Finally, write down 10 things you’re grateful for every single day. I definitely appreciate the sentiment behind this one and honestly, it’s been a little harder than I thought! I know there are so many things in my life to be grateful for, but sometimes, it’s about getting over the fact that I feel like some of them are so miniscule.

That being said, as part of my #Last90Days challenge, I’ve got two threads running on my Twitter account. One is keeping me accountable for doing good things each day: from working, to working out, actually eating lunch (a habit I have been bad at!), checking things off my to-do list, etc. The other thread is my “10 things I’m grateful for” thread. It’s an easy way for me to keep that list and again, keeps me accountable for writing those things down daily.

The first 90 days of 2018 were, in many ways, absolutely dreadful for me. But I’m determined to not let the year end the same way, and to make the best of it – so here we go.