Whoa, what a weekend! Between hubby coming home for the first time in 2 weeks, A's birthday, me hurting my foot, and A spraining her ankle it was quite a weekend. Needless to say, not much got done around the house...in fact, it looks like a hurricane came through.
To make things worse, I woke up not feeling well so after I dropped B off at school I went back to bed and stayed there most of the day. So what's a (limping, sickly) girl to do? Usually when stuff like this happens I call it a wash and vow to start again tomorrow (or never, whatever) but the whole point of this is to not do what I usually do, so instead of 9 or 10 AM I'm doing my to-do's at 6 PM but that's ok because I'm doing it.
Anyone else running into obstacles with completing your goals? What are you doing about it? Seriously, leave a comment. I know you're reading...don't leave me hanging here!
Ok, I know it's only the first week of the year but so far my new way of doing things is going great! Seriously, it is so easy just to pull out my home management binder (sorry should have mentioned that yesterday) and look at the planner to cross off the last task and see what's next. I even scheduled moving the laundry since I usually get busy and forget.
I thought I'd post a bit from my Gratitude Journal today so here goes...
January 1, 2013
I am so grateful
for another year! I am grateful that I can stay home with my girls and don’t
have to miss a thing in their lives. I can’t wait to see what You have in store
for our family in 2013.
Psalm 86:11 - Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
Psalm 119:35 - Direct
me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
Psalm 143:10 - Teach
me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level
ground.
January 2, 2013
I am grateful for
kids that make me laugh and love to read and write.
Psalm 127:3-5 -Sons are a heritage from
the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are
sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They
will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
January 3, 2013
I am grateful that
You love us even when we least deserve it.
Romans
5:8 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
January 4, 2013
I am grateful that you heal the brokenhearted.
Psalm 147:3 - He heals the brokenhearted and
binds up their wounds.
Here's a quick list of some of my goals for this year:
Spiritual:
To give my all (heart, soul, body, mind) to God
Morning bible study (Good Morning Girls - we'll be studying Luke, click to join!)
Maintain a gratitude journal
Career:
To stay home with my kids
To make money from home
To be creative
To help others
Physical:
To become healthier (Yes, I know I need to be more specific but my high school reunion is in 6 months so at least I'm properly motivated!)
Personal:
Stop being afraid - Seriously, this is a big one for me, I have a long list of fears to give to God!
Take risks
Blog 5x week (so far so good)
Other:
Move to a home where we can host family & friends
The Plan
So much of my time is spent on autopilot. There's very little time where I intentionally focus on "how" I want to achieve the "what" that I want. I plan to spend a small chunk of time (10-15 minutes) each day focusing on moving some aspect of each area forward.
If I was a graphic designer this is where I'd drop in an awesome diagram or infographic that would beautifully & concisely explain what I have in mind but since I'm not you'll have to settle for using your imagination...sorry!
In a nutshell, I've listed my goals and then broken them down into smaller pieces and linked an action to each item. For example, we're thinking of moving at the end of the school year. A huge task, right? So I've listed all the things we need to do beforehand and that I can act on now. Things like:
Create a moving binder where I can keep all the information in a consolidated place
Go room by room and decide what we will keep/sell/donate/trash
Decide how we will move our stuff (pay someone, rent a truck, PODs)
Then I break it down into smaller action items:
Buy a binder -> find or create check lists -> add items as I go
Designate bins for sell & donate items -> choose room (or closet, dresser, drawer - whatever I have time for) and begin making decisions
Research different moving methods -> narrow down 1 or 2 we like best -> contact for quotes
As I was going through my closet making decisions I ran across several rolls of film that were never developed (yikes!) and some loose pictures. So I added getting the pictures developed to my To Do list and set up a box for all loose pictures to go into that I may find in other rooms. The next day I researched the cheapest place to have our prints digitized.
I may not have the time or budget to take on a major project, but by breaking it down into small bite-sized pieces I can easily make sure that every day I am doing something to move closer to my goal.
I like to write things down so I can reference them later but if you're more of a free spirit you can always just say to yourself, "what can I do right now that would make an impact?".
Tomorrow I'll post about how scheduling has really helped me with this process and link to some of the tools I'm using to get it done!
I'll leave you with a little clip from the movie What about Bob explaining baby steps...enjoy.
P.S. Honey if you're reading this - you, me and the couch have a date night to watch this movie this weekend. I'll get the snacks ready...
