It's a really cool idea and one that I've never considered trying before. I also saw plenty of resolutions and goals that each of you want to accomplish this year. The new year always makes me think about what I want to accomplish as well. There's just something to be said for a fresh start - be that a new year, a new week, or a new day - it's inspiring and motivating!
As I thought about my goals and dreams, I realized I had a lot of them. After reading Jennifer Fulwiler's book, I read Rachel Hollis's book and have been following her instagram since the end of this past summer and she has been very inspiring and encouraging to me. She talks a lot about writing out your goals and dreams and then brainstorming the steps it will take to accomplish them and then just picking something and starting with it. She also recommends starting small and working your way up. For example, it's easier to run 2 miles, when you have already been running 1 mile consistently.
So as I reflected on what I want to accomplish, along with thinking over what word would encompass everything, I settled on the word intentional. I want my year and my life to be intentional. I chose this word myself (without the help of Jen's wonderful website), and I want to explain a little more what I mean by this word.
Each of us has 24 hours in a day, 365 days a year, and and unknown number of years. I want to use each of these minutes and days with as much intentionality as I can.
Some of my goals for the year include growing my photography business, losing weight, doing more with my kids, reading more books, sleeping more, etc. How can I accomplish all of these items, you ask? By being intentional with my time.
What does this look like practically? In all honesty, it primarily means kicking some bad habits out of my life and implementing new ones.
For example, I'd like to lose weight this year. One aspect of what this looks like practically for me (right now) is doing an eating plan called intermittent fasting. I'll be writing more on this later, but the short explanation is that I eat during an 8-hour window each day and fast for 16 hours. I've been doing this since January 3rd and have already lost 2lbs! More on this in a separate post though! But basically this takes discipline. I stop eating by 6:30pm each night. That is hard! Do you know how sad it can feel to watch a movie at night with no snacks? And yet, there's something satisfying about knowing that I have the discipline to be intentional with my eating.
Another example is that I would like to keep my house a little cleaner. What this looks like for me is picking up the living room every night, putting the toys and books and children's clothing away. It means washing the dishes in the sink before doing anything fun for that night. It means wiping down the table and the high chair. It's a pain in the butt, but every morning I am so grateful I did it. Waking up to a (relatively) clean house is motivating for me. It's not easy to do, but it's worth it. Sometimes I set a timer for 10-15 minutes and clean up as much as I can in that time period. Usually most of it gets done in that short amount of time!
I want to grow my photography business and skills this year. I also love netflix and TV. But my skills won't improve themselves and my business won't grow if I don't devote time and energy to it. My end goal is to commit to at least 1 hour per day for 5 days a week. Is this realistic? Definitely. It just means eliminating some of the TV I watch. It means keeping my house relatively picked up throughout the day so that I don't have as much to do before working on photography.
We all have time that we aren't using to its full potential. We all have things we can cut out or move around in such a way to make time and space for what we want to accomplish. We just have to be disciplined and intentional. I know it's not easy. Believe me, I do. I'm getting more and more tired as I'm writing this. My dishes aren't washed yet, but I am still planning to do a 10 minute clean-up before jumping in bed.
I want to encourage you to be intentional with your time, with your goals, with your life. What are your goals for this year? How can you accomplish them? What do you need to change in order to make them possible?
