Goal Setting Part 3

Today's steps for goal setting

are important, but I just

have to say that I always

have to remind myself 

not to get too hung up on them.

You'll see why:0)

Step 4

What is one thing I want to cultivate in the year ahead?

So I have had this answer since around Thanksgiving.

I want to cultivate JOY this year.

Last year was trying for me,

and I spent a good part of the year

just surviving and the other part

of the year trying to rise

up out of the darkness

I had found myself in.

I've done a lot of research

that I'll share in another post,

but JOY for me also has

to do with the connections

I have with other people.

So I also want to cultivate connections

with my husband, my daughter,

my family and my friends.

Step 5

Here's where I get to remember not 

to get hung up. 

It's okay to stop and 

feel the yucky feelings.

We need to feel those things,

but don't pack a bag and stay there.

I am an imperfect person.

I firmly believe that all the

hard things that happen to us

and all the mistakes we make

are learning opportunities.

(Wow, I needed that reminder today!)

What are the challenges you experienced in 2016?

-Depression. I only recently started to talk about this,

but the beginning of 2016 was full of this.

-I stressed out about my husband's job.

-I spent too much time watching TV and

being on my phone and social media.

-I didn't treat my body as the temple it is.

What lessons did you learn from the challenges?

Here are some lessons I've learned:

Now that I'm past all those challenges

I have been able to see the blessings in them.

God is good.

He has blessed me with

the strength I needed

through His Son,

My Savior.

How grateful I am!

Goal Setting Part 2

The last couple of weeks

I've been trying to 

work on finding a balance

that works better for my body

and working on my goals, 

so writing hasn't been a

recent priority for me,

but I'm back and ready to

share more of my goal setting.

Remember you can find more

tips and examples here

To read the first part of

my goal setting click here.

Step 3

 What good things happened in 2016?

When people think about writing goals,

they usually think about the future,

but I've found that looking back 

can help me uncover goals 

that are more meaningful to me.

Here are three good things from my 2016:

-I'm alive! Read that story here

-Starting Uncovering Strength and finishing my first 100 Day Project

-Being invited to Limitless

What lessons did you learn from the good things?

The number one thing that I learned/remembered again this last year is that Christ is the only way to find the strength I need. I can try all I want to do it myself (and I have), but in the end even my very best isn't enough.  I learned to trust in the Lord and rely on His goodness, His grace, His mercy. I learned that I am needed.  I have a message that He needs me to share. The Word of God is so important to study every day. It gave me strength. It gave me peace. It gave me answers. I get to trust myself to find the answers that I need. It was a year full of learning and remember to whom I should turn not just in my darkest hours, but always. He is the only way I found the strength to do all I did.

That's all I've got for tonight.

Until next time!

Let's Get Going 2017!

In the month leading up to the end of 2016, I saw so many posts on facebook about how horrible 2016 was to people. I am pleased to say that 2016 was actually a good year for me! Yes it started out hard (read that story here), but in the end I was blessed with the strength to get through the hard times and trust the God's got a plan for me and he'll help me find it.

I started off with my word of the year being "simplify," but it never felt quite right. By April I had picked myself up and climbed out of the dark hole I had stepped into and realized that my new word for the year needed to be "Arise." Arise I did! Although still having hard days, I pushed forward with faith, uncovering strength along the way, and accomplished some pretty great things!

Every month I had a plan and worked little by little to accomplish big things! I wrote more on my blog this year than ever before with the 100 Day Project. I started writing a book again. I worked on going through boxes and downsizing a lot of my stuff. I kept my daughter alive. I kept myself alive. I cultivated relationships and reconnected with old friends. I worked on being more grateful for all I have. I had a huge belief breakthrough and now know that I am precious! 

I have a feeling that 2017 is going to be an amazing year as well! Every year for the past 4 years I have had an amazing tool called Powersheets to plan and work on my goals.  Last year was amazing as I completed 9 out of 10 goals from the beginning of the year and made progress on the last goal. This is such cause to celebrate for me! It has been my pattern in the past to set goals and not really accomplish them, but as I've been using the Powersheets, I've been able to uncover goals that really matter to me and do them! 

Guess what? You don't need Powersheets to do this. You can choose to make what matters happen anytime. Lara Casey the creator of Powersheets has a five part blog series that goes through some goal-setting steps that can help you uncover goals that matter to you. You can find them here. I'm going to be sharing my answers to the different steps over the next week or two.  You can do it too! Grab a pen, pencil or other writing utensil and a piece of paper (yes an old bill envelope works too!) and let's get uncovering some meaningful goals!

Step 1: How are you?

I love this step because it's not just a "How are you?" from someone who is just saying it and not listening.  This is a "How are you really doing, friend?" What are you worried about? Scared about? What to do's are taking up space in your head and heart. What are you excited about? Hopeful about? What do you want? Download your thoughts onto paper. Get them out of your head so you can have a clear mind and heart while doing this process.

I am really tired right now. I already am tired from medication I take, but then add having a cold and not being able to sleep very well. I feel exhausted most of the time. I worry that I'm not doing enough in most areas of my life and that I'll give in to the exhaustion every day and do nothing but lay around and watch Netflix. I worry about not being good enough. I love that I have been able to learn about belief breakthrough the last five years, so I can work on my limiting beliefs about myself and the world and start believing in myself and creating new limitless beliefs! I'm hopeful that I am getting started and that I can work step by little step to create amazing things in my life! I want to get busy setting up new routines in my life so I can get back on track with my health and my environment. I feel so excited for the things I have planned this year! It's going to be amazing!

Also, rate each of these areas of your life 1 to 10. One being that you are not satisfied with it and 10 being you are very satisfied and happy with that area. My answers follow each area.

-Health -5- I haven't been treating my body very well since I had L, but I am healthy as in I'm not sick all the time.

-Friends -8- 2016 was a great year for me in reconnecting with old friends and having fun with my friends!

-Family (including your significant other) -8- I have the most amazing family.  We love and support each other. I want to spend more time building up my family members this year.

-Finances -6- I worry about this a lot.  I've definitely got some limiting beliefs I'd like to breakthrough this year.

-Spiritual -8- Immersing myself in the Word of God this last year has been an awe inspiring experience this last year.  I also worked on making my prayers more meaningful.  It has totally been an amazing experience.  This year I want to work on better serving others and being an example of the believers. 

-Work -6- My job as a mom is going pretty well.  L is learning and growing.  I want to start working on putting down my phone and turning off the television so I can spend quality time with her.

-Recreation -8- This has also been fun the last year.  We've been able to do so many things that we love to do this year. I'm determined to still do things even though we've got a child now.

-Environment -7- I started at the end of the year with a goal of getting some cleaning routines going in our house.  It went well until I got busy during the holidays and then I got out of the habits I had sort of created.  This is one of the things I'm planning on getting back to as a clean home helps us all be happier and welcomes the Spirit into our home.

Step 2: What are you chasing?

Watch this video. Chasing Perfect

I definitely struggle with chasing perfect. I want my day to perfectly follow my plan and I get everything done that I "should" do. Enter my toddler and most days I don't get much done...I want to have things be just perfectly like I want them.  I want to have complete control so things go perfectly. But it's just like the ladies in the video say, it's exhausting. You never feel like enough. I struggle with this almost daily, but I am lucky to have the knowledge of a Redeemer.  I know that when I'm not perfect and I make mistakes, I can repent.  I like to remind myself that I am always in my perfect growth process and that usually means my life is messy and imperfect, but it is helping me to learn and grow and become what I was created to be!