March Goals

I'm a big fan of Lara Casey's Powersheets! I have a set for home (which I'll share here), and I also use the same basic process at work (though simplified a bit). Each month on her blog, Lara does a review of her goals for the previous month and her new goals for the month ahead. As another tool to hold myself accountable for the dreams I hope to make into reality, I'm going to do the same thing and share my monthly goals with you.

In the Powersheets program, a person annually goes through a process to discern her main goals. Then, each month she fills out her blank "tending list" to create daily, weekly, and monthly goals that help her reach her main goals for the year.

All of the goals and lists can be adapted at any time! Nothing is set in stone.

The process also involves setting a theme word for the year. My word for 2018 is: FREE! (my theme Bible verse is John 8:32 - "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.")

My main 2018 goals: 

1. Daily awareness and celebration of my freedom with a foundation of daily morning meditation/reflection/writing time. 
2. Read 52 books. 
3. Cultivate playfulness, affection, thoughtfulness, kindness and spontaneity in our marriage. 
4. Honor my body and mind. 
5. Create with regularity and purpose - especially through writing, blogging, videos, and social media. 
6. Make intentional space for time with family and friends. 
7. Explore entrepreneurship with bold curiosity and confidence. 

When it comes to the big over-arching goals, a person can choose to have anywhere from 1 to 10 of them. They can be added, adapted, changed, or deleted over the course of the year. 

I also color-coded the sheet above so that each of my tending list goals relates directly to one of my main 7 goals for the year. It's a helpful way to connect daily, weekly, and monthly habits/behaviors with the larger hopes and dreams.  

My March tending list: 

Monthly goals: 

• Spiritual Direction: I've always wanted to commit to a regular practice of spiritual direction. I've gone a couple times over the last 10 years but never stuck with it. After interviewing my friend Linda for this column, I decided to Google and find a Spiritual Director! I meet with her in a couple weeks! Looking forward to it. 
• Life Coach: I'll share more about this along the way, but an amazing opportunity has landed in my lap! I am abundantly grateful. I'll be working with a life coach for the next 4-6 months. It's a vocational time of discernment for me, and I'm excited to see how this coaching process may help bring a sense of clarity to what I want for my life after the bishop's election in 2019 (our team is all co-terminus. When the bishop's term ends, our terms end as well). I love my job SO MUCH! But it will be up to the new bishop to discern her/his staff, so I need to be ready to explore whatever new possibilities the Spirit is cooking up. I am so excited for coaching and especially a chance to articulate some of my entrepreneurial goals aloud!
• Med City Beat Article: I love this online publication and am striving to produce a piece this month for Sean. 
• Fun in Iowa with Josh and Sweta: We're heading to Iowa for an overnight this month! So excited for time with brother and sister!
• Lead Boundaries Workshop with gratitude: This is more work-related but it's significant personally, too, because it's not something I've done before. All rostered ministers are required to take something called a boundaries workshop every 3 years. Last fall I went to Chicago to learn how to lead a training. In a couple weeks a colleague and I will get to empower the leaders of our synod to embrace the beauty of boundaries! I never imagined growing to love boundaries and talking about boundaries as much as I do! 
• Walk15 certification: I've wanted to complete my walk instructor training for about 19 months! Time to get 'er done! I may need to take a continuing education day to do it, but I WILL get it done in March or April! 
• Clarified voice & audience: I'm going to take a couple hours this month to implement some of the things I learned from "Louder than Words" by Todd Henry. They involve getting clear on my voice & also my intended audience. This relates primarily to writing/freelance work as well as future writing/speaking opportunities. 
• 1 Emoji adventure: Justin and I loved making these earlier in 2018 and hope to make another this month. 
• Quality time with Mom
• Quality time with Stolls
• Quality time via email/text with Dad

Weekly goals: 

• Date with hubby
• Long walk/dog park with Finn
• Gym (x2)
• Read a book
• Write column with intention
• Identify meditation resources & use them
• At least 1 hour per week for spacious relaxation

Daily goals: 

• Movement
• 60 oz of water & 3 meals
• Kiss hubby
• Read
• Write/reflect

Thanks for the opportunity to share my March goals with you! Looking forward to checking in on this each month to share progress and updates. 

My 2016 Goals

*written while jamming to Gonjasufi

First, a few recommendations. 

#1: Leslie Sansone walking DVDs and her *free* Youtube videos. Do you like working out in the comfort of your own home without getting sweaty while you wear pajamas and your favorite Alaska sweatshirt with all the animal faces on it? Get out of town! WHAT A COINCIDENCE! Me, too. And that's where Leslie comes in. I love her walking in place DVDs. They are my exercise dream come true. And this one is actually quite challenging with the stretchy band! 

#2. The Skimm. Have you subscribed yet? Click here and give it a whirl.

#3. This song. It puts me into a Bollywood trance. And I like it.  

#4. Mary. 

#5. This. Bone broth. So into it. More to come on that topic in the weeks ahead. 

And now, #goaltime. 

1. Read a physical copy of a paper book for at least 15 minutes a day. 

2. Be consistent in my core daily routines of morning happy lamp/devotion time, 8 hours of sleep, and 30 minutes of movement. 

3. Utilize apps/accountability to limit mindless technology use. 

4. Implement best productivity/organization practices at work. 

5. Nurture conscious, collaborative relationships. 

6. Consistently utilize the life tools I've invested in throughout the year (Lara Casey, Sacred Ordinary Days, and Leonie Dawson). 

Your turn! What's on your goal list this year? Care to share? 

Wellness and Stuff

New feature. "Wellness and stuff."

As 2016 begins, I am recommitted to many of my core values. One of those core values relates to the importance of treating my body with a lot of kindness - from the kinds of things I eat, to exercise, to the kinds of energy/information I let into my brain.

So - here on the bloggy - you can expect an increased number of posts on wellness and stuff.

The drug that I am injected with for the platelet situation - Nplate - is so strong that its effects...both when it's working and when it has worn off...probably supersede any differences I can make to my platelet count with lifestyle and diet.

BUT - nevertheless - I feel renewed in my commitment to keep trying as hard as I can anything. To get good sleep. To minimize stress and utilize stress-management techniques. To surround myself with conscious, collaborate relationships. To put really nutrient-dense food into my mouth and as much as it is possible, to avoid putting anything that isn't life-giving in my mouth.

I generally eat quite healthfully. But not always. And when I put crap into my body, I think to myself..."What difference does it really make?"

But nowadays, I'm thinking...wow...even small amounts of things DO make a difference. One tiny little pill (whether it's Tylenol, Benadryl, or any other daily medication) can do a lot! So even small amounts of what we put into our bodies MUST be related to how we feel and how our organs function. Whether it's medication or alcohol or food or sugar or caffeine or processed crap or pesticides. Everything we consume sends signals throughout our body from the moment it enters our mouths!

Any hematologist will tell you my condition, ITP, has nothing to do with diet or stress. Perhaps but I'm actually really beginning to question all that again. Intuitively, I feel like there MUST be some correlation. Even if there isn't, I think my ability to thrive in life - with or without ITP - is very related to diet and stress management and healing old wounds of all kinds. So I'm going to give it my best shot.

I've now worked my way through the initial phase of Lara Casey's "Make it Happen" Powersheets, Leonie Dawson's "Create Your Shining Life" workbook, and the introductory section of Sacred Ordinary Days. I ended up finding that these tools compliment each other well! My favorite is Leonie - but I truly value them all. And in just a few days of use, I'm finding the Sacred Ordinary Days resource to be a great motivation to spend time devotionally with the Bible...which I *cough* hadn't been doing much of for the last year.

I'll share more about the discerned goals in the coming weeks.

For now, I'll share this....my word of the year is CONSISTENT.

I am a person with plenty of good ideas for lifestyle changes and habits and future plans. But, I am a person who struggles with being CONSISTENT in my routines...especially during times of increased stress.

So that's the word for this year.

CONSISTENT!

I'd love to hear your 2016 theme word. Comment below if you'd like. I'd love to increase the back-and-forth interactiveness of the blog in the year ahead. I miss ya'll. I was mega inconsistent in blogging for most of 2015. But...now...with my new "theme word" - I'll hopefully be writing and sharing again on the regular.

Your turn. What's your theme word for this year?

Goals for 2015

Happy New Year! 2015. We've arrived. I hope you woke up feeling excited about the year before us. I spent most of yesterday working through my Lara Casey #powersheets. It was a genuinely wonderful way to spend the day. The #powersheets include many worksheets of prep work to complete before the time comes to set goals for the year ahead. These worksheets provide space to ponder what worked well and didn't work well in 2014. It's also a space to clarify hopes and dreams - and imagine what it will take to get there. 

I felt exhausted and thankful by the end of the evening; ready for a good night of sleep - and eager for the new year to begin. The whole program is built around "making what matters happen." It's about clarifying and focusing - so that a person can say "no" to what doesn't matter and "yes" to what does matter. My focus word for the year will be.....

Concentrate. That's my focus for this year. I am really pumped about all 10 goals. But I know that in order to reach them - and in order to "make what matters happen" - I need to redevelop my ability to concentrate. Constant access to technology and social media has definitely contributed to the dwindling of my focus. I am committed to reclaiming concentration this year!

As a way to hold myself accountable to my 10 goals for 2015, I'm going to share them here on the blog. In addition to filling out the worksheets, I also made a purse-sized book so I can keep my goals handy and in front of me every day. Life is precious, and I want to make the most of 2015! Time moves SO quickly. It really seems like we just ushered in 2000 yesterday. But that was 15 years ago! I definitely want to have a lot of fun adventures and spontaneity in the year ahead, but I also want to know that I'm really advancing my core dreams/goals/visions. I believe these 10 goals will help me get there. 

1. All of my work will connect with my core purpose: "Use words (written and spoken) to empower others to feel valued and connected." The #powersheets program invites participants to identify a core. Everything else should then be rooted in the core and branch out from it. I have a variety of hats these days: pastor, Director of Communications, columnist, speaker - I want to make sure that all of my roles relate back to this core. Hopefully this will make it easier for me to say "yes" to some things and "no" to other things. 

2. Read 2 books per month. I love to read and this is an achievable goal. I have been slacking on my novel reading since college. I enjoy entering into "book world" and I know it helps me to be a better, more relevant speaker and writer. I own SO many books I haven't yet read, and I love to visit the library. Looking forward to lots of reading in the year ahead. 

3. Develop the Post-Bulletin column with intention. Writing the column has been such a source of joy in my life, and I am immensely thankful to the Post-Bulletin and the Holy Spirit for the opportunity. I'm not exactly sure how the column will develop in 2015, but I know I want to be more intentional about planning - while also leaving space for the Holy Spirit and last-minute inspiration. 

4. Blog daily. For most of this blog's history, it was a daily endeavor, and I really enjoyed that. Then, the "Summer of Medical Challenges and Hospitalizations" occurred, and I stopped blogging daily. I'm in a place where I am ready and excited to return to a daily pattern. You can see the plan for the daily schedule by looking over to your right underneath the photo.

5. Limit work distractions and maximize productivity. Utilize daily planning tools. Only check cell phone during my morning break, lunch break, and afternoon break (be sure to take breaks!). I LOVE my job and I want to make the most of it. That being said, I am often distracted and interrupted. Maximizing productivity and doing all the things that I hope to do with the position will require a sharper focus and concentration. There is LOTS to do and limited time. A better handling of interruptions will be key (there weren't nearly as many in parish ministry). Most of the interruptions I experience now are normal, healthy, and to be expected - I am the primary communicator of the team, and there are staff members, pastors, and church members throughout southeastern Minnesota who have things that need to be communicated. 

But my people pleasing tendencies often lead me to immediately start working on whatever the person has requested and then the larger projects (and likely more important projects related to core goals) get neglected. Also, I often don't take breaks and I get distracted by phone notifications and email. The emails come in all day every day, so I desire to find a way to limit my checking of email to times when I'm really ready to address the concerns. Asana is an awesome app, and I hope to use it a lot this year. I have a good system for daily planning that I plan to utilize. 

This job means the world to me. I have learned a lot in the last 9 months. This year, I want to focus on maximizing productivity and limiting distractions. 

6. Get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Sleep is so key for me. I feel SO much better with a good night's rest, and my brain is much sharper. Weeknights: no Internet after 9:30pm and bedtime by 10pm. That's the plan!

7. Daily morning meditation and devotion. Practice mindfulness. I've been continuing my morning devotional time for the last 7 weeks or so. It has been immensely grounding, and I plan to stick with it. Also, I want to incorporate meditation every morning - even if it's only 1 minute. I've been reading quite a bit on mindfulness lately; it will be a priority for me this year. 

8. Nurture and deepen core relationships. Implement healthy boundaries. As an extrovert, I love people and I love making friends with everyone. It brings me so much joy to have coffees and happy hours and lunches with new friends. I have a tendency toward building lots of friendships with lots of interesting people, but because I am so excited by the prospect of knowing so many interesting people, I don't always take time to truly nurture deeper-level friendships. Also, I tend to keep people talking by asking questions, and this means I generally don't end up sharing very much about myself. I've made a lot of progress in that area, but I'm still working on it. I want to nurture and deepen core relationships while also leaving space to develop new ones. I want to give myself permission to nurture relationships that are life-giving and step away from relationships that are life-draining: this is true for family relationships, friend relationships, and perhaps at some point, romantic relationships. 

9. Take risks in writing, especially in writing with vulnerability. The best things I've ever written have been really honest and not sugar-coated. It feels good to write in that voice. It isn't appropriate all the time - but I hope to nurture that voice this year and take more writing risks. 

10. Limit food budget to $120/month...this includes groceries and eating out. At the beginning of 2013, I set a goal to have my student loans paid off by 2015. I have two of them out of the way (YAHOO!!!), and the third and final student loan should be paid off by the end of this year! (Side note: My Mayo bill has obviously expanded exponentially in the past 2 years. But nevertheless, my primary goal was to get the student loans paid off, and I am excited by that prospect! And Mayo doesn't charge interest and I can just keep chipping away at it indefinitely as many, many people do. No stress. I'm thankful for the quality medical care and thankful they don't charge interest.) 

I do really well with specified budgets. Also, I think it's enjoyable to map out and stick with a budget. I like the challenge and the focus. This year, I will not be buying any new clothes (I did really well with that in 2013). And I am going to be quite careful with my food budget. I spend a LOT on eating out and happy hours and lunches. A lot. More than I realized. It is something that brings me a lot of joy and I can definitely afford it without any trouble, but I'm not sure I want to spend money in that way. I'd rather save it or put it toward travel or student loans.

$120 a month isn't a huge number for total food cost, but I have quite a bit of healthy, high-nutrient food in my pantry and freezer to get through, and this will be a good incentive to get through it without buying new food. I also think this will be a good incentive to cook regularly, meal plan, eat more beans and legumes, and shop the sales!

So that's the list! My 10 goals for 2015. I am so excited for the year ahead, and I look forward to sharing this journey with you! 

New Year Tools

Hey-ooo!

It's nearly 2015.

AHHHHHH.

So exciting.

I get new year butterflies.

Today I thought I'd introduce you to several groovy tools I'll be using to usher in the new year at maximum productivity!

1. Crispin Finn wall calendar

2. Juice Plus+ supplements

3. Emily Ley planner

4. Lara Casey's #powersheets

1. I initially got this super cool British-made tool for my pal, Anna, and then I snatched one for myself, too. It's a year-long calendar at a glance in a big poster format. Perfect for many uses...goal setting, birthdays, big-picture thinking. 

2. I was originally a skeptic...as I am about any home-based business. But I've been taking Juice Plus+ vitamins for 5 months, and I genuinely feel healthier...especially hair, skin, and nails. It's a great supplement because it's made with actual food instead of synthetic vitamins. If you want to learn more, drop me a line. I am a big fan, and I'm committed to a new shipment every 4 months. 

3. Ya'll know how I feel about planners. LOVE. I have been a 4-year user of the Planner Pad. But 2015 will be a new experience for me because I've converted to the Emily Ley planner! So cute - with daily space for goals and planning. Yahoo!

4. Working my way through this set of Lara Casey's goal-setting sheets is on my to-do for the week ahead. I got a set last year, too, but got off-track with the new synod job and platelet hospitalizations. I'm hopeful that the #powersheets can be super helpful in the year ahead. 

What tools are you using to usher in 2015?