2013 Goals: January Update

When I decided to publish my goals for the year 2013, one thing I was looking forward to was the accountability I would receive from my readers! To keep myself on track, and let you know the areas I've been working on, I'm posting an update today from the month of January. I'd love to hear how you are progressing with your goals for 2013, whether you set several or even just one! Don't lose steam now that the first month of the year is over!

 
Spiritual goals: {this is the most important area for me!}

Draw closer to and be more like my Saviour. I know this sounds vague and non-specific, but at the end of 2013, I want to be able to say that my relationship with Christ has deepened over the year. If I accomplish nothing else all year but this, 2013 will be worth it!

      **Ongoing goal

Finish memorizing Philippians. I have the first chapter completely down, and half of the second. I need to be more intentional about plugging away at this!

      **Memorized several more verses in January

Memorize one other book {or a section of 6 other chapters} from the Bible. After I finish Philippians. :)

Continue to record my 1,000 gifts.

      **Haven't been as diligent on this as I have in the past, but I am continuing to record little things along the way


Read through the Bible twice. This takes a bit of explanation. I have read through the Bible once in a year before. This year I decided to try it twice. I heard recently that reading through the Bible in one year only takes 11 minutes a day. So in less than a half an hour a day I should be able to read through it twice! All I am doing is reading 6 chapters of the Old Testament and 2 of the New Testament each day, in addition to a more in-depth Bible study. I think doing this will deepen my knowledge and understanding of the Bible, and make me even more familiar with it as a whole!

      **Doing well on this, and enjoying it! I'm currently in Numbers in the Old Testament and Mark in the New Testament.


Personal goals:

Purge and consolidate things in storage. Seems like I do this each year, but I am continually dissatisfied with how much stuff I have sitting in the attic untouched. If I don’t use it year after year, why do I hang on to it? I’d like to set aside a small amount of keepsake items and toss/donate the rest.

      **Worked on my paper clutter and systems this month.

Read 36 books. I easily read 2 books a month last year, so how about 3 this year? I also kind of dropped off the Booksneeze bandwagon, so I’m going to start doing those more as well.

      **Read 3 books this month - reviews coming soon!

Work on being a better correspondent. I think I improved in this area last year, but I still could do so much better. I’ve enjoyed hearing from some of my readers over the last few months as well, thanks guys! I’m also thinking about going back to some pen-and-ink corresponding - living life on the edge, I know - so we’ll see what I actually accomplish there.

      **Actually wrote some pen and paper letters this month, plus some emails. Woot!

Make daily exercise a habit. I had a good thing going for a while, but didn’t keep it up. Still trying to figure out the best way to make this work for me - you know I’ll keep you posted!

      **Haven't begun this yet

Make music practice a habit and priority. Confession: I never practice piano. Right now in this season of life there is nothing I need to practice for - which is truthfully kind of nice - but I still could stand to improve and be stretching myself further. I also have a violin and guitar that sit untouched, that I would really love to pick back up. Vocal practice wouldn’t hurt me either. So there is plenty I could be doing - I just have to figure out a system that fits in with our noisy schedule. :) {With 3 others practicing piano, plus practicing for church specials and a baby that takes naps, I’m not sure how this is going to work, but we’ll see!}

      **Haven't begun this yet

Continue to work on rising early. The Christmas season threw me for a loop...need to get back on track with this! I’d love to be able to call myself an “early riser” by the end of 2013!

      **Seeing progress with this! You can see my weekly updates here.

Start a journal and write regularly. I’d love to do better about recording life happenings, plus I think this would improve my general writing approach as well.

      **Ahhh, started this and am loving it. It has turned into a daily life/spiritual journal, and I am finding tidbits to record on a regular basis.


Blog and Shop goals:

Continue to blog 5 days a week. Some weeks it is more or less, depending on what is going on, but on a consistent basis 5 posts a week seems to work well for me and this blog’s community.

      **Have generally been continuing this, barring illness and power outages. =)

Have monthly planning sessions with myself to think and plan ahead. I continually find myself not adequately prepared to blog about a certain holiday or event...I need to take the time to sit down and see what is coming up in the near future. {hello valentines day}

      **Did this in January...love this time spent intentionally planning!

List new shop items once a month. I have some fun, new things planned for the shop, so stay tuned!

      **Listed my new Booktote and laptop sleeve this month, have you seen them yet? {love}

Post some new blog features and grow this online community...I have specific goals set in these areas, but don’t want to be a total spoil-sport. :)

      **Working on some behind the scenes things. {wink!}

Write out {and share} my blog purpose statement. I’ve been pondering, “why do I blog” for some time now...and feel ready to actually map out my purpose behind blogging and where I hope this blog will {and won’t} go. In the meantime, I’d love to hear why you read this blog...what do you enjoy most...what would you like to see more of? Thanks, your feedback would be much appreciated!

      **Haven't started this yet

Have you set any goals - big or small - for 2013? I'd love to hear about them! Thanks for helping me out on this journey!