Month: January 2017

Intentionality.

This is my word for the year. I have always struggled with discipline and consistency in my life. My goal this year is to be disciplined.

Until this last year, I struggled to read my bible daily. I struggled in prayer. Until my friend introduced me to #writingtheword. Our group has successfully read/written through I think 8 books now. Unreal! It has strengthened my faith in more ways that I can count. It makes me see that if I set my mind to something and have a goal, I truly can reach it. But, it has taken a few things to accomplish this.

The first is definitely community. Each goal I have accomplished is set around community (and each group coincidentally has a facebook group – there are so many benefits to social media if we use them correctly and wisely). This group has to meet on a regular basis and have achievable goals. If you set a goal without any standard, we’ll continue to just do the bare minimum. Set your goals realistically, but set them high. Don’t just settle for the bare minimum…”Reach for the sky!!!!” – Sheriff Woody, Toy Story 😉

So an example… in writing the word, each day has a set of verses to write out (between 2-4 verses daily). We “meet” on facebook and discuss the verses we have read that day. We set new goals each month (new book on the 1st of each month).

This is true for other goals too. If we have a goal of working out or eating healthy, we must have a monthly goal that resets every month, but also have daily and weekly goals. So I will work out 3/7 days a week. I will eat clean every day with a cheat meal once a week. We must set boundaries for ourselves without completely constraining ourselves. I will eat 80% clean and 20% not clean. I will drink two of my blue waterbottles full a day. Etc.

I have seen this a lot in the essential oils world. Like most things, to create change, it must become a lifestyle. I use oils daily, but it came after I made a choice of health and wellness for my life. And that has moved into other areas of my life. I created a lifestyle of reading and writing the word and prayer. It was something that has become a part of my schedule and a priority in my life; so I do it. Essential oils are no different… If you truly want to see results, you have to make the choice to use them consistently and have them be apart of your life. Same with exercise and eating well. It has to be apart of our lives, and we have to be consistent.

Same with changing a poor habit.

My poor habit: Laundryyyy. Ughhhh. I hate it. It is the bane of my existence. But, a lot of it is perspective. A good friend of ours asked how my laundry was going. I said, “GREAT!” BECAUSE I had spent a whole evening sitting down folding and putting away the clothes. But, today, there are three or more loads that need to be washed, dried, folded, and put away. And I keep avoiding it.

She encouraged me to change my perspective. She said when her kids were growing up, she used that time to pray for her kids/husband. It made doing laundry a time she looked forward to instead of a time she loathed or dreaded. I now look forward to doing my laundry. I don’t know if that will help me to get it done ;), but I set monday’s as laundry day so that I don’t let it get completely out of hand.

We need a community, we need a goal, and we need a new perspective.

I bought a planner this year. It has been a few years since I have done this. I used to keep a planner to the minute of things I needed to get done. It helped me so much in college when I worked part time, went to school part time, was an RA, in choir, active member of my church and in volunteering, etc. My schedule is not quite as jam packed to the minute as in college, but I have a lot less time than I did in college. A lot of my time isn’t predetermined for me, but rather I have to go along with the needs of my babies. I can mostly predict their needs (12pm is nap time; breakfast, lunch, and dinner are pretty much at the same time daily, bed time is the same time daily, etc.) BUT, you can’t determine when your kid will get sick or when they will have a blow out. A lot of motherhood and intentionality is being wise with the time you have right in front of you. Like writing this blog… I knew I have at least an hour to write while Jackson naps. But, if I get on facebook and start scrolling or turn on a TV show, that hour or two will be up before I know it.

I can determine how I spend my downtime. Instead of watching TV for nap time because I think “I deserve it,” I have been choosing healthier things (not that I have been anywhere near 100% at this). I have been reading/writing the word, cleaning, working out, meal prepping, working on my business, etc. Time, which is so precious, cannot be wasted. Of course we all NEED time to veg every once in a while, but if you want to make change and be intentional, you cannot waste this time. The planner has helped so much. I can set daily goals (To Do lists anyone?) and accomplish them. Before writing them down, I just had this overwhelming feeling of failure. I knew there were things I should have been doing, but I didn’t have set goals to accomplish so I always had this looming feeling that I wasn’t accomplishing anything. Write your goals down. Your anxious mind will thank you!

I am still learning so much, and failing all the time, but I am excited to share more ways to be intentional as I learn them. I’d love to hear how you are intentional with your time… SHARE THEM WITH ME, WILL YOU? 🙂