Revolution of Love

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

How I Started Setting Goals & My Mid-Year 2018 Goals

It has been awhile since I’ve posted about my goals and before I jump into sharing my mid-year goals, I thought I’d give you a little background into how I got into goal making in the first place.

Myth: I’m not a goal setting type of person.

Back in the summer of 2014, I first heard about Lara Casey and her Powersheets and making goals as a way of living your life. It all seemed foreign to me. I was a stay at home mom with four kids ages 3-12. I was just trying to make it through the day with my sanity intake and maybe a clean load of laundry. I imagined goals as something for women who were entrepreneurs, or authors writing a best seller or travelers saving for a trip to Paris. I didn’t fit into any of those kind of categories.

But as I read Lara’s thoughts about making goals, I realized that goals can be lofty things, but they don’t have to be. For a postpartum mom, her goal may simply be to get an extra hour of sleep. Then as some time passes for that mom and she exits the fog of new mommydom, she can focus on expanding to different goals. Later, when her kids are at school, her ability to explore new avenues will open different goals int her life. Her goals move and expand with her life as needed. I love that it is not a one size fits all but a tailor made process, whether you’re single, married, have babies or grown children.

I’m too busy to add goals to my list of things to do, not to mention that I suck at resolutions.

The thought of adding one more item to my to do list was overwhelming. However,  I came to see that it was more of a re-prioritizing the different areas of my life and focusing on making the most of the time I had to do the work God had placed before me – namely, being a wife and mother. It was more than a lofty resolution, it was working towards a way of positively living my life. Lara Casey explained it this way:

Goals can be overwhelming if they are not connected to what matters. They can make life busier. I don’t want a new to do list for my life; I want a clear, meaningful path. I want to know I’m living with intention and purpose instead of living by accident.”

Yes, yes and yes. I swear life is going by faster each day and sometimes I feel like I wasted the day without really getting anything done! Goals help me prioritize so I get the essentials done and not just fill my day with busy work.

I don’t even know what kind of goals I would make.

At this point I saw the value of making goals but I didn’t know what kind of goals to set. Using Lara Casey’s Powersheets really helped me to focus on the “big” goals of my life. She asked where would you like to be a year from now, ten years from now, or at the end of your life. Well, at the end of my life I hope I can say that  I… loved God and lived my life for Him, had a healthy and loving relationship with my husband, raised godly and kind children, developed lasting friendships, made creativity a part of my daily life and made a difference in the world by sharing God’s love with others. You know, little things like that. 😉

I don’t know where to start to make my goals happen.

Next, I took those big goals (that will take me lifetime to complete) and broke them down into smaller goals and then broke those down into bite size things I can do each day. It helps to keep it specific and not vague. Example, instead of choosing “eat healthier” or “drink more water,” I’ll pick specific ways to do that. For example, cut up carrot stick and cucumber slices for a container in the fridge and grab them instead of chips for a snack. Or set the hourly alarm on my phone or watch and drink a cup of water when the alarm goes off. Even if I don’t always accomplish that, doing a little bit well is better than doing nothing.

Do goals really help?

When I reviewed over the goals I made at the beginning of the year, there were some I had to change because I accomplished the goal. That was such an amazing feeling! Then there were other goals that were still works in progress. No worries. I would simply keep working at them during the second half of 2018.

My Mid-Year 2018 Goals

For me, I preferred to divide my goals into five main areas of my life. I am a daughter of God, wife, mother, homemaker and woman. I have my main “big goal” and then I broke those down into mini-goals that will help me reach it. Here are some specific things I want to work on over the next month or so.

* * *

RevolutionofLove.com - goal_daughterGoal #1: I want to nurture my relationship with the Trinity, seeing God as a loving Father, Jesus as my brother and the Holy Spirit as the One who inspires me and pushes me to share God’s love with others.

Mini-Goals:

  • Return to my morning prayer walks – When the kids started their summer vacation, I gave up my usual morning prayer walk that I used to do once I dropped them of at school. But by the end of June, I was missing it like crazy. It was such a source of peace, getting rid of stress, and drawing closer to God. I needed to go back to it! The only way I can make it happen to is to wake up an hour earlier and take my walk while the kids are sleeping and Brian is getting ready for work. It means no sleeping in but so far it seems worth it. I will continue it for a month and see if it is still worth it once the novelty wears off. 😉
  • Make moments of quiet – I am the type of person that likes noise during the day. I’ll have a favorite playlist or the radio on, or the TV playing or I’m binge watching a show while I do laundry. That is fine but I feel like God is calling to take some time out of the day to turn off the noise and just be quiet and talk with Him.
  • Spiritual Reading – I love to read but 99% of the time I’ll grab the a novel. Yet, I have a huge pile of spiritual books I want to read. So I’ll make one of my reading times each week a spiritual read.
  • Confession – Mark the calendar and go every first Saturday.

* * *

Goal #2: To be a loving wife and continue to nurture my friendship and relationship with Brian.

Mini-Goals:

  • Talk Time – Brian and I chat all the time but sometimes we need time to talk and catch up on things that go deeper. I’ll make sure that one night a week we have time to sit and talk without the TV on.
  • Date nights – Having time by ourselves to go out and have fun has been really important to us. I’ll continue to make sure we schedule once a month and try to up it to 2x a month.
  • Daily act of kindness for Brian. – I haven’t done this in awhile but I’d like to be intentional about this once again. It was such a positive thing for both of us. (For more info, refer to – 25 Acts of Kindness for your Husband.)

* * *

Goal #3: To be a strong and loving mother who helps her children love God, be responsible and feel loved and part of a happy family.

Mini-Goals:

  • Spend more time with the boys one on one.  – Bella and I often have our girl outings but I’d like to spend more time with the boys, particularly cooking, playing, working on projects, reading aloud or watching a movie together. Summer is the perfect time to chose one or two activities a week.
  • Update the chore chart. –  We always update the chores in summer to add more responsibility. I have to work on not “just doing it myself” because it is faster and I can do it better. I need to let go and let them learn how to do more around the house, even if it’s not perfect.
  • Life lessons for Bella – Now that she’s starting her junior year, that means Bella needs to learn/practice more life lessons like how to drive (what?!), balance a checkbook, shop for dinner on a budget and cook the meal. (Heck, I’m still trying to learn that.)
  • Make a flexible schedule – Although I love the carefree days of summer, there does need to be some coordination to make sure we don’t miss any summer classes and that we best plan which days work for fun outings. Plus, I don’t mind the kids’ having screen time but a time limit it a must (or we’d ALL be vegged out in front of a screen.)

* * *

RevolutionofLove.com - goal_homemakerGoal #4: Run an organized home because when things run smoother it brings greater peace in our family life.

Mini Goals:

  • Update our monthly budget and keep a daily log of spending. – I had been doing better with this, but lately have gotten way off track. Time to reign it in.
  • Continue with the purge and fill 1-2 bags a week with unused or outgrown items.
  • Weekly meal plan and update “Favorite Meals” reference list. – I am always stumped on what to make for dinner so meal planning is a must. Plus the boys want to help cook so we need to update our meal list.

* * *

RevolutionofLove.com - goal_womanGoal #5 – Be a well-balanced woman who has her own interest and pursuits and isn’t afraid to challenge herself.

Mini-Goals:

  • Get up before kids 5x a week to do my morning beach walk. – Continue working on my #rol100milesin100days challenge.
  • Continue to track weight, blood pressure and blood sugar to make sure I stay in the normal range.
  • Write more – Spend 15-30 minutes a day writing (or studying about using better writing skills) whether it’s in my journal, blogging or working on a Blessed Is She assignment. Post to the blog 1x a week
  • Build my online community – I love my circle of online friends and my best connections seems to be with IG/Instastories. Post more there and perhaps try out IGTV.
  • Build my IRl life community – Having online friends is great but I miss my in real life friends. This summer I’ll call up some old friends I haven’t seen in awhile. Plus I’ll develop my budding friendships with the local Blessed Is She group.

 

Since I’m using Lara Casey’s goal making system, I purchased her 2018 Powersheets, although they are currently sold out. However, you can use her online 2018 goal series and follow the whole process using your own notebook. That is what I did last year. I never bought the Powersheet and instead I answered all the questions and made the inspiration boards and used my bullet journal. You can see how I did it here.

Although I love Lara’s system, you don’t have to go through her series! You can think of your own goals and steps to make them happen.

Now that I have my goals set, I wanted to add them to my planner. This year I switched from the full-size Blessed Is She Planner and got the mini-sized Blessed Is She Planner instead.

I love that there is a monthly goal section! It is divided into five areas of a woman’s life – faith focus, personal, family, work and fun. It matched well with my five areas of life and I filled in each with my goals. I am ready to make some progress! 🙂

What about you? Do you make goals? What is the one thing that you really want to work on this month(s)? Do share!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd, or Spotify, 😉


September/ October 2017 Goals

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September is speeding by and today is the first day of Fall! This time of year always feels like a fresh start to me, even more than January 1st. After the care free days of summer, I am ready to get back into a routine of school and fall activities. At this point I also like to re-evaluate the goals I made at the beginning of January. Some goals still need work. Some goals were accomplished, so I can focus on a different area. Taking some time to review helps me to make the most of these last months of 2017.

I like to divide my goals into five main areas of my life – as a daughter of God, wife, mother, homemaker and woman. Here are some specific things I want to work on over the next month or so.

* * *

RevolutionofLove.com - goal_daughterGoal #1: I want to nurture my relationship with God, especially my prayer life.

Why this goal?

I love God but I want to love Him more deeply and more faithfully because I am His daughter and He has done so much for me.

Starting Steps:

  • Pray the Morning Offering as soon as I wake. (No checking emails, news or social media first.)
  • Spend time in morning prayer – During my morning beach walk, I’ll listen to the readings of the day (using the iMissal app) and listen to the Blessed Is She devotion of the day (using the “speak” feature on my iPhone) and pray all/part of the rosary.
  • Intentional prayer/ sacrifice during the day – When doing household chores, especially those I dislike the most (I’m looking at you, laundry) offer the chore up for a special intention.
  • Night prayer – Finish praying the rosary (if not completed in the morning) and do a night exam.
  • Mass – Add one daily Mass each week.

* * *

Goal #2: Nurture my relationship with Brian by spending more one-on-one time with him, being more appreciative of all he does for us and treat him with greater respect (not like he’s my 5th kid.)

Why this goal?

I want to be a loving wife and show Brian how much I appreciate him. Our time together will help us reconnect, nurture our friendship and keep our marriage strong.

Starting Steps:

  • Talk Time – Sometimes I am doing so much in the evening to prep for the next day, I don’t give Brian my undivided attention to just chat and catch up. I’ll give him that time in the evening before we turn on the TV to watch something.
  • Date nights – We currently go out once a month but now that Bela is older and can babysit more, I’d like to up it to every other week or at least 2x a month.
  • Daily act of kindness for Brian. – I haven’t done this in the last couple of months but I’d like to be intentional once again. It was such a positive thing for both of us. I’ll print out the list I made and add it to my planner for inspiration. For more info, refer to –  25 Acts of Kindness for your Husband.

* * *

Goal #3: Give the kids more one-on-one time, both with homework and at play. Also give them more responsibility and challenge them to grow as a young person.

Why this goal?

Spending more quality time together will strengthen our relationship and have fun as a family. As their mom I am responsible to help them become more productive, to work as a team and to resist being lazy and self-centered.

Starting Steps:

  • Get all of my work done by 2:00 PM so I have the afternoons free to help the kids with homework. – That includes leaving the phone alone.
  • Update the after school chore chart. – I want to include Bella with this and spend time giving her more life lessons (cooking, doing laundry, balancing a checkbook etc) since she’ll be going away to college in a couple years. (gasp!) 
  • Plan weekend outings or family time unplugged.

* * *

RevolutionofLove.com - goal_homemakerGoal #4: Improve my homemaking by spending less, decluttering what we already have and using my time wisely, especially in regards to meal planning.

Why this goal?

When our home life is tidy and organized there is much more peace.

Starting Steps:

  • Update our monthly budget and keep a daily log of spending.
  • Return to daily 15-30 minute declutter/ organizational task.
  • Update recipe binder and make a “Favorite Meals” reference list. – I am always stumped on what to make for dinner each week so if I had a list of meals that worked well for dinner I could have a little more variety.
  • On Sundays, meal plan for the week. – This is especially important because if I am in the throes of homework or after school activities, I can’t be worried about “what should I cook tonight?”  When it’s planned, the guesswork (and added stress) is taken out.

* * *

RevolutionofLove.com - goal_womanGoal #5 – Continue to work on improving my health; nurture creativity with photography and hand lettering; challenge myself to be brave when I am out of my comfort zone.

Why this goal?

Physically, to be healthier and present in my family’s life. Creatively, being creative brings me joy. Mentally, I’ll feel more myself and less like I am hiding the real me.

Starting Steps:

  • Physically: 5x a week morning walk at least 20-30 minutes.
  • Physically: Add 2x week strength training. – I need to start by looking up program/videos for beginners. Any suggestions?
  • Physically: Continue daily water, vitamins and weekdays in bed by 11 PM. – Not staying up late is soo hard for me!!
  • Creativity: Return to my photography challenge. – See what I’ve done this year so far on Instagram with #rolphotochallenges.
  • Creativity: In evenings work on handlettering drills while watching TV.
  • Mentally: In social situations do something out of my comfort zone. – I’m sort of an extroverted introvert when I’m around strangers so I sometimes feel like I don’t show the “real” me.

I’m using Lara Casey’s goal making system and broke everything down into monthly, weekly and daily tasks. I may not get everything done but even a little progress is still progress! 🙂

What about you? Do you make goals? What is the one thing that you really want to work on this month(s)? Do share!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd, or Spotify, 😉

PPS – Disclaimer: “Revolution of Love.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”
In other words, if you click on my affiliated links and make a purchase, I get a small compensation that goes towards keeping the blog online. Big hugs to those who click and help support the blog! xoxo 🙂

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2017 Goal Setting Series Part 4 & 5: My 2017 Goals

I am working on Lara Casey’s 2017 Goal Setting Series. Here is my reflection of Parts 4 & 5 of 5.

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PART 4: Uncover Intentional Goals

In Part 4, Lara asked us to review over what we’ve written so far, write out some goal ideas and then check to see if the goal ideas are rooted in what matters most. As she puts it:

The idea here is to SIMPLIFY your life, not to give yourself a new to-do list of random things that sound good. Be intentional about what you decide to spend your time on this year, with your own unique gifts and talents. How you spend your time is how you spend your life. Check each of your goal ideas to see if it’s worth spending your time on.

Read more here.

The sentence “How you spend your time is how you spend your life” really hit me!

RevolutionofLove.com - time_quote

I added it to my bullet journal as a reminder. Then I brain stormed and jotted down a long list of things I want to have as goals. I sifted through it and crossed out things that were good but not necessarily right for me in this season of life. I took to heart Lara’s words:

You never know how long you have left here on this earth to love others and use what you’ve been given to grow good things. Life is to short and too meaningful to coast through. The good you do today has the potential to change generations. That’s why uncovering good goals and having a clear focus is so important. Otherwise, you may spend your time lost in distractions. Lost in Instagram. Lost in the chase for perfect, or significance, or approval, or whatever it is that has been holding you back from really living. You may find yourself restless, knowing deep down that there’s more to this life.

Read more here.

Part 5: Make It Happen

Now it’s time to gather all my notes and narrow down my main goals and answer the prompts Lara provides for each goal.

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GOAL 1: Nurture my spiritual life and relationship with God.  I’ll do this by spending 15 minutes of prayer in the morning and a 10 minute night exam. During the day, turn my mind towards God, converse with him and offer up each chore or little cross for a person who has asked for prayer.

Why? To always have God at the center of my life and to deepen my love for Him. I want his will to be my will and motivation.

The positive effect taking action on this goal may have on my life and others: I will have a stronger and deeper relationship with Our Lord. I will be more aware of the importance of my vocation as a wife and mother. I will be more open and capable or helping out those God has placed in my life.

How will I feel at the end of this year having made progress in this goal: Hopefully, more at peace, grounded in faith and more charitable with others.

Starting steps:

  • When I take my morning walk, I’ll listen to the Blessed Is She daily devotion on my iPhone (using the speak text function,) reflect on it, then pray the rosary (or at least a couple decades.)
  • During the day when I am doing mundane chores, I will do it in a spirit of love for a special intention.
  • In the evening, I’ll reread the scripture of the day that I listened to earlier  and write down any thoughts or insights in my prayer journal. I’ll close by doing a short examination of conscience, ask God for forgiveness then thank Him for two things I’m grateful for that day.

How I will know I accomplished or made progress on this goal: Spending time in prayer with God or reading Scripture will come more naturally and not be such a struggle to quiet my easily distracted mind.

Encouraging words: “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thes 5:16-18

How I will celebrate at the end of 2017: I have to think more about this but my first thought was to attend a retreat. I’ll work on this one some more.

RevolutionofLove.com - goal_wife

GOAL 2: Nurture my marriage with Brian. I will work on this by doing a daily act of kindness for Brian and be faithful to our monthly date nights.

Why? To be a loving wife and show Brian in concrete ways that I love him and appreciate how hard he works for me and the kids. Spending time alone allows us to reconnect, nurture our friendship and helps keep our marriage strong.

The positive effect taking action on this goal may have on my life and others: A stronger marriage, which benefits us and the kids, and a stronger friendship with each other. This especially helps us weather the tough times when they hit.

How will I feel at the end of this year having made progress in this goal: I’ll be a happy wife (which will give the family a happy life.) 😉

Starting steps:

  • Read over my 25 Acts of Kindness for Your Husband post.
  • Print it out in a size that will fit into my bullet journal.
  • Schedule a date night for January using one of the restaurant gift cards we have.

How I will know I accomplished or made progress on this goal: I’ll see “that look” Brian gets when his heart is filled with love for me. (insert blush) 😉

Encouraging words: “The love of husband and wife is the force that welds society together.” – St. John Chrysostom

How I will celebrate at the end of 2017: This seems out of reach but I would love to spend a night away at a nice hotel with Brian.

 

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GOAL 3: Give the kids more one on-on-one time with me in work, play and prayer. This includes after school during homework, play time with me on the weekends and being consistent in our family night prayer.

Why? To be a good mother that loves her kids and spends time with them and is not always “too busy.” I want to teach them about their faith and how to love and serve God in their young lives.

The positive effect taking action on this goal may have on my life and others: A closer family life and an environment of love within our home. (Albeit noisy, but loving.)

How will I feel at the end of this year having made progress in this goal: I’d be happy that I am taking my vocation as a mom seriously and spending more quality time with my kids.

Starting steps:

  • Make a weekly meal plan that matches out weekly schedule, such as crock pot meals on days when we have sports or speech therapies. Keep meals simple on those days.
  • On mornings when I have more time, do what dinner prep I can (ie. wash the lettuce for salad or chop the veggies for soup) so the dinner making hour is not so hectic.
  • On the days we have an easier afternoon schedule, let the kids take turns cooking with me. It sometimes stresses me out but they love it.
  • There’s more things popping in my head but I don’t want to overwhelm myself. Baby steps and one step at a time.

How I will know I accomplished or made progress on this goal: More peace in the home, especially in the hectic hours of after school and before dinner. 

Encouraging words: “Let us love one another as God loves each of us. And where does this love begin? In your own home. How does it begin? By praying together.” – St. Mother Teresa

How I will celebrate at the end of 2017: Plan an end of the year family outing TBD.

 

RevolutionofLove.com - goal_homemaker

GOAL 4: Cultivate an orderly home run on a balanced budget. Right now I am dealing with two problems – too much spending and too much stuff in our house. I want to simplify and get rid of the things we aren’t using or have outgrown so someone else could use them instead. (Not super easy with my slightly hoarder-ish tendencies.)  I also need to curb the impulse spending, which is not helping the clutter situation. It’s a vicious cycle.

Why? To bring order into our home so I am not stressed out by the mess and chaos. To be better stewards of the blessings we have.

The positive effect taking action on this goal may have on my life and others: When things are organized our family life runs so much smoother and there is more peace. We’ll be able to save more when we budget.

How will I feel at the end of this year having made progress in this goal: I am messy by nature but when I force myself to organize, clean, and plan, I am much happier and at peace. I will also be thankful that I have been able to help someone else out by passing on items they could put to good use.

Starting steps:

  • Sit down and review our spending over the year. Make a budget based on our spending. Figure out what excess spending we can cut out.
  • Make a master list of each room and what decluttering I can do to simplify our home.
  • Each week choose a small task to check off the list, even if it’s 10 minutes of dumping junk out of a drawer or driving that bag of baby clothes to the charity drop off. (I chose one thing a week instead of each day because I want to be realistic. If I have a free morning to do more than one, that’s great but not expected.)

How I will know I accomplished or made progress on this goal: I won’t see a pile of junk everywhere I turn. Our checkbook won’t be in the red at the end of the month.

Encouraging words: “Live simply so others may simply live.” – Ghandi

How I will celebrate at the end of 2017: Take some of the money we saved and donate it to a charity we choose as a family.

 

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GOAL 5: To take care of myself physically, spiritually and mentally. I already took care of spiritually, in goal 1. For physically, I want to get into the habit of taking better care of myself through the basics – walking, water, vitamins and better food choices. Mentally – being creative is usually my outlet, whether it is writing a post, taking a photo or decorating my bullet journal.

Why? Physically,  I want to be alive and healthy for my children and husband so I can be an active part of their lives as they grow up. I want to be a good steward of the life God has given me and not take it for granted. Mentally, so I can be a happy wife, mother and friend.

The positive effect taking action on this goal may have on my life and others: I will be healthier, physically and emotionally, and have more energy to keep up with my family.

How will I feel at the end of this year having made progress in this goal: Like a new woman. 😉

Starting steps:

  • On Monday through Friday, after I drop off the kids at school, take my 30 minute morning walk. If I can’t walk in the morn then do an after dinner walk for 20 minutes.
  • Keep my blue water jug with me all the time. Fill it up once in the morn and once in the afternoon to get at least 8 glasses.
  • Remove the Christmas cookies and candies from the kitchen so I’ll stop being tempted to nibble on them.
  • Put my vitamins in a 7-day container so it is easier for me to take them each day.
  • Do one creative act each day, even if it’s just posting a photo to IG or jotting a few ideas down for a future post.

How I will know I accomplished or made progress on this goal: In the evening when I review my planner, I’ll mark off my progress and keep track of how much I walk in my monthly tracker in my bullet journal. By the end of the year, I should see improvements in my general health and energy levels.

How I will celebrate at the end of 2017: Hopefully the healthier habits will also mean some pounds have been lost so I will treat myself to a new Christmas outfit, if it’s in the budget. 😉

Well, there are my 5 goals of 2017! It may seem daunting to someone else but I know I won’t be doing all this at once. I’ll be working on a couple of things and get it down pat before I move onto another step. My minutes, hours and days are going to pass whether or not I act. I may as well get something accomplished while I’m here living. 😉

If you want to take a step in making some goals that suit your life, I strongly encourage you to follow Lara’s series. I’ve heard from so many people that have made progress following her guidance. I believe the Powersheets are sold out now but you can still follow her blog series.

I also got Lara’s book Make It Happen at Christmas so I will be reading that and maybe tweaking my goals lists as I learn more.

So, what is one thing you want to work on this year? Share it in the comments and I will pray for you and your progress. Please say a pray for me! 🙂

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd, or Spotify. 😉

PPS – Disclaimer: “Revolution of Love.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”

In other words, if you click on my affiliated links and make a purchase, I get a small compensation that goes towards keeping the blog online. Big hugs to those who click and help support the blog! xoxo 🙂

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2017 Goal Setting Series: Part 3


I am working on Lara Casey’s 2017 Goal Setting Series. Here is my reflection of Part 3 of 5.

RevolutionofLove.com - goals_2017-series_part_3

Step 7: What things fire you up?

I looked over the good things that happened this year. I thought about the things in my life that get me excited, bring me peace and put a smile on my face. I jotted down all these things in my bullet journal.

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There were many things including big stuff like God’s mercy and love, family, nature, creativity, kindness and little things like my kids giggles and playfulness, road trips, movies and stationary.

Step 8: Write a list of what you are saying YES to in 2017 and what you are saying NO to.

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I am saying NO to…

  • Stressing over the small stuff.
  • Overspending.
  • Taking poor care of self
  • Too much screen time.
  • Negative thoughts and situations.
  • Clutter.
  • Being “too busy” to pray.
  • Not being grateful.

I am saying YES to…

  • Family time.
  • Being out in nature,
  • Quiet prayer with God.
  • Scripture and the rosary.
  • Acts of kindness.
  • Keeping.
  • Simplifying.
  • Time with friends.
  • More play with kids.
  • Trusting God.
  • Enjoying small things.
  • Creativity.
  • Affection and comfort.
  • Being grateful even when things go wrong.

I especially love Lara’s advice about making decisions. She said:

I came up with a little check-in to help me evaluate whether or not purchases, projects, or potential commitments on my calendar are worth saying yes to:

1. Have I prayed about it?
2. Does it honor or help other people draw closer to God?
3. Is it life-giving?

I love that! I will use is in the future.

 

Step 9: Pick a word for 2017

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After looking over the areas I want to work on, one word kept coming back to mind – Simplify. The synonyms of simplify was hitting all the right marks – reduce, streamline, order, clean up, and get down to basics.

Getting back to basics was just what God was trying to teach me in regards to prayer towards the end of the year. I wrote a post in October and said:

I was in a small group discussion and we were talking about prayer in our personal life. I was quietly thinking about it when suddenly my mind turned to the print I received. Our Lord (interiorly) spoke to my heart  saying, “Do you know why you received that print? Because you need to get back to the basics. Sometimes you get so caught up in the distractions that you lose the essence of prayer. You need to get back to Me and you.  Just be with Me.”

So whether it be decluttering my house, working on the budget or my prayer life, I’ll be remembering to simplify and get back to basics.

I’ll post Part 4 tomorrow (hopefully.) 😉 See you then!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd, or Spotify, 😉

PPS – Disclaimer: “Revolution of Love.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”

In other words, if you click on my affiliated links and make a purchase, I get a small compensation that goes towards keeping the blog online. Big hugs to those who click and help support the blog! xoxo 🙂

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2017 Goal Setting Series: Part 2

I am working on Lara Casey’s 2017 Goal Setting Series. Here is my reflection of Part 2 of 5.

 

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Step 4: What the one thing I want to cultivate this year.

Getting back to basics and simplifying.

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 Step 5A: What challenges did I experience in 2016? What areas need work?

Challenges included: Dad’s death, mom’s cancer, feeling far away from extended family, stress, worry, hectic afternoons, feeling overwhelmed at times. When I don’t have a plan to follow I feel like I am spinning in circles not actually getting anything done. And when I didn’t put prayer first it just made all these issues worse.

I already discussed what needs work in Step 1.

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5B: What lessons did you learn from those challenges.

  • Prayer brings peace and strength.
  • Family time is important.
  • Charity begins at home.
  • Less screen time = more positive activities.
  • The boys especially need lots of physical exercise.
  • Walking improves my health and stress levels.
  • I feel like Jesus is calling me to be a source of comfort and joy to His Sacred Heart and his children.
  • I need spiritual strength before I can share it with others.

Step 6A – Who helped me cultivate what mattered most in 2016?

Brian, my kids, my father-in-law, my mom, mi familia, my Blessed Is She sisters and a few close friends.

Step 6B (Optional) – Make a Pinterest inspiration board of things you want to make happen in 2017.

I made a Pinterest board here.

I also took a couple of favorites and made an inspiration board in my bullet journal.

RevolutionofLove.com - goals_jan_2017_e

I’ll post Part 3 tomorrow. See you then 🙂

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd, or Spotify, 😉

PPS – Disclaimer: “Revolution of Love.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”

In other words, if you click on my affiliated links and make a purchase, I get a small compensation that goes towards keeping the blog online. Big hugs to those who click and help support the blog! xoxo 🙂

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