Tuesday, February 5, 2013

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!


8 comments:

  1. I set my goals as finishing college, eating better, exercising more, spending less, finishing my ACN, cooking more, keeping the house clean, and reading through the Bible. I'm behind with college from where I thought I would be, but still on track. I'm eating a little better, but love that chocolate!!!! Not exercising at all :( Definately spending less; nothing to do on ACN right now. I have been cooking healthy meals a lot more, I've kept the house clean. But I'm falling behind on Bible reading again. I have a hard time if it's not a continuous story that I'm reading, and the Bible is in so many parts and some so complex (Numbers) or, frankly, so boring (Matthew 1, anyone?) that I give up. I have a LOT of catching up to do!!! The big difference for me is that I want to catch up and continue to do better!!! Other years, I just give up. Not 2013!!!!

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    1. Wow, sounds like you are working on lots of different things. Good for you! Don't be too hard on yourself about the Bible reading...while spending time in God's Word is important, reading completely through the Bible is not for everyone. Sometimes it is best to do a particular study instead! One thing I have done in the past that I really enjoyed was to read through all 4 Gospels together, chronologically. I used a "harmony of the gospels" chart to guide me through, and enjoyed that study so much!

      I'd love to stay updated with how you are doing on your goals! Thanks for commenting. =)

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  2. There is so much here to strive for and so much you have already accomplished! I'm a first-time visitor coming over from Money Saving Mom. I've been thinking about journaling but have not found a way that will work and be fulfilling for me yet. Sounds like you are on course to do great things this year. Keep it up!

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    1. Thanks for the encouragement, Kristy! I'm talking today about journaling in a little more detail, if you'd like to check back later for that post! So far I'm enjoying it!

      Hope to see you around the blog again. =)

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  3. I think you did good. Keep up the good work.

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  4. Wow, Nicole! You're making me feel lazy ;-) lol! So glad to see you striving for excellence in everything you do and for being diligent to use this stage of your life as a time for preparation for whatever the future holds for you! I personally have never set year end to year end goals, but that's just me:-) I map out week by week what needs to get done and daily make it a point to accomplish something that I didn't plan to accomplish. By doing it that way, I'm always accomplishing something because I'm consciously looking to do so. I have committed to a 90 day exercise challenge that is totally kicking things up a notch for me :-) I've been a committed exerciser for several years now (it only takes a week to establish a habit) but was at a point where I felt I could and needed to do more. I've included my husband and kids in it and although I still work out more than they do, we've committed to get three nights in together as a family and they love it! We're on our 5th week and making great progress:-) I love reading your blog as it gives me new ideas about organizing and accomplishing short term goals. Although I memorize verses with the kids while we do Bible during the week, I think setting a goal of three verses for just myself each week is an excellent thing and I'm going to implement that! Great idea! Keep writing:-)

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    1. Thank you for the encouragement Lauren! I KNOW that you are definitely NOT lazy!!!! :) It sounds like you have a great approach to goals that works for your family. Keep it up! Your exercise program sounds fun, exciting, and challenging all at the same time, lol! I'm hoping to make exercise a habit very soon- maybe when it warms up some?? :)

      Thanks so much for the encouraging notes about my blog. It is always so reassuring to know that I am helping someone out in some way! Thanks for following along on this journey of mine!! =)

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