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August 2018 Goal Setting

Honestly, I’m sitting here on the day that I’m supposed to post this and have no idea what my goals for this month are. Let’s be real, I don’t always have it all together. Heck, I rarely have my life under control. I set goals and sometimes I accomplish them, sometimes I don’t. This month, I just have a block. And since we’re being honest, I just don’t feel it. I don’t feel like being productive. I don’t want to set productivity goals or do things every day that’ll work toward a bigger goal. I just don’t wanna (in a whining little girl voice) lol!

But I’m trying. I’m trying to get myself to set some goals for this month, even if it’s smaller goals. Soooo, here we go…

1. Prioritize a healthier lifestyle. This has been an ongoing goal of mine the last few months, and now my focus is going to be body and mind. I’ve never been one to focus on physical appearances so I’ve had to really find my “why” when it comes to being healthier. For one, it’s for a positive mind. When I eat right, exercise, and take time for myself I feel more relaxed and balanced.

2. Make faith my primary source of fulfillment. Working in a service-based business and in the day and age we’re living in, it’s really easy to fall into the destructive pattern of seeking other’s approval. I always have to remind myself that it’s not the approval of others I need to see, but the Lord’s. I know that if I seek Him and serve Him first, the rest is up to Him.

3. Read a book. I’m currently reading Soar by Bishop T.D. Jakes and I’m determined to finish it this month! At the very least I can read it on the plane when we travel to Washington DC at. The end of the month (surprise!).

4. Complete 1 backyard project. We’ve been using our back yard more often ever since we finished our 1st renovation project. Almost every Sunday, we have friends over, grill, eat, and just chill out there before we all have to begin the hectic week. It’s one of my favorite things about this summer! Charlie and I have a couple other projects we want to work on for the back yard that aren’t too costly – like patch up our fence, create better lighting, and build a fire pit.

5. Get ahead of blog posts. Just like that, guys, I’m backed up on blog posts. *Sigh* After the 30 Day Blogging Challenge I was so ahead of the game for the first time ever and I was determined to keep it going. Clearly, not determined enough lol! So this month, my goal is to get ahead again. At least get in the habit of a regular writing/posting schedule.

As far as theme for the month, I think my keyword is going to be contentment. This is something that I always have a hard time with. As an entrepreneur I’m always striving to be better, keep growing, and never stopping but this is really counterintuitive to the idea of being content. If contentment is being in a state of satisfaction then I feel like I’m always the opposite. I always have this feeling of not being good enough or wanting more. So this month, I’d like to make that the theme. Heck, maybe it’ll be my theme for the next few months because I don’t think I’m going to find contentment in less than 30 days!

Happy planning and goal setting, friends! Whether you’re super motivated or a little lazy like me at the moment, still seize this day and make it your own!

Xoxo,

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30 Day Blogging Challenge Update

I was really nervous about starting this challenge. 30 days in a row just didn’t seem feasible for me. Committing to something other than work was really scary lol.

Today is day 30 and I can’t believe the challenge has come to an end. I’ve mentioned a couple times that I’m really enjoying it. The only thing, though, is I thought I’d be farther ahead in my blog schedule. I probably should’ve done the math regarding how far ahead I would get before hand. But oh well. It wasn’t really just about that, it was to see if I could be disciplined enough to accomplish something. And I did!

Even though it was just a small challenge that I created for myself I ended up learning so much from it.

  1. It made me realize how important it is to keep a routine. The saying “we are creatures of habit” is definitely true. We don’t have to keep a routine, but when it comes to productivity it’s definitely best to. Once you really get your stride when you try to make something a habit it’s almost like you crave it.
  2. There is actually something to be shared every single day. I didn’t think I had anything to share, let alone something every day. I kept telling myself that I do the same thing every day – how interesting could that be? So I told myself that if I was going to blog for 30 days straight I needed to find topics. Getting my brain to approach my daily life differently than I normally do has changed my perspective on a lot of things. Not only that but it has kind of pushed me to write about things that I was kinda scared to write about.
  3. If it’s important to you then you’ll make time. When I’m not in the mood I always an excuse for why it didn’t happen. “I’m too tired.” “I don’t have time.” “I’m so busy at work.”  Blah. Blah. Blah. Blogging was one of those things I always made an excuse for. I’ve always been passionate about keeping a journal, scrapbooking, and later, blogging. But it almost felt like a reward. Like I could only do it once everything else on my list was done. At the same time it sort of left like a burden to do – trying to come up with content, graphics for each post, etc. So it was just one excuse after the other that kept me from making time for it. I’m so glad I decided to make it a priority.
  4. Reading posts from a year, two years, even 10 years ago has really been fun for me (and sometimes cringeworthy lol!). Reminiscing and reading what I was feeling at a certain time in my life has been really eye opening. Some of the posts I read are so embarrassing that I’m so tempted to take it down but I’m almost proud of it to see how far I’ve come since then. Some posts from the past were really heartfelt and full of emotion. I surprised myself reading it, it was like an out of body experience. It helps me to relive those moments and be reminded of my journey so far – good and bad. It definitely motivates me to capture and write about the moments I’m living now so I can reminisce in a another 10 years.

Lesson learned – don’t be afraid to challenge yourself to do something you’ve always wanted to try. Even if you need to carve out time to make it happen trust me, if it’s important to you then it’ll be so worth it. Yes, it may not turn out the way you thought it would. Heck, maybe you’ll get lucky and it will. But either way it’ll make you better to knock something off that list.

Xoxo,

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Talking about Difficult Stuff – Transparency

I thought I wasn’t afraid to be an open book. I thought I was being authentically me all day errday.

Nope.

I realized over the course of Ninong’s moving to a new space that there were so many things that I didn’t share that would have been great content because of fear. Fear of admitting that I felt like I was failing, fear of showing my mistakes, fear of sharing the unexpected. 100% fear, actually make that 99% fear and 1% me having no time to share it because I couldn’t move fast enough to get things done.

Looking back it made me think and meditate over it for a while. Why didn’t I share?

In hindsight, now that things are starting to settle down I should have. Actually I probably will in the future. But my point is it made me realize that I don’t share the difficult parts of my life. I mean, yes, there are definitely things that I want to keep private. But the tough stuff. The trenches, the downs, that’s where the “meat and potatoes” is of entrepreneurship.

Being authentic and transparent on the internet is hard. It’s so easy to share things when it’s glamorous, fun, and exciting things are happening. It’s way harder to share when it’s tough. But those tough moments are when it’s more humbling, valuable, and inspiring. When I watch or read about other people’s journeys those hard, vulnerable, authentic, and transparent moments are when they draw me in. They got me hooked cuz I saw some real emotion. But most of all, that’s when I saw the most growth in them.

I want to remember the moments where I pivot, grow, and change.

I don’t want to forget the times that I became better. Those moments where I’m in this dirty, muddy valley where there’s nothing but hardship in sight. Those moments when I think I’m done, it’s all over because this is the end and there’s nothing I can do to make it better. In those moments I forget that it’ll always work out in the end, but it always does. Yes, it might not work out the way I want it to. Yes, it’s hard work. Yes, it’s easier to give up. But it’s never over.

So cheers to the hard stuff! The difficult stuff, the valleys, the moments when you think you’re done. Let’s talk about it more, let’s not let fear get in the way of being who we are and what we’re meant to become.

xoxo,

 

 

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