I’m one of the many people that looks forward to setting goals for the new year.
I am a type-a person and a forward thinker.
I love making lists and setting goals.
I spend lots of time reflecting.
It’s how I feel I can get the most out of each day. I usually start reflecting as soon as Christmas is over.
I look back at the year and what I was able to
I think about the areas of my life I would like to improve.
From there, my goals for the next year are born.Before I started writing down my goal, I thought about the word for 2014.
A word I wanted to describe my year. Last year, my word for the year was Enjoy.
Hubs has joined me this year, his word is embrace.
Of course, first he gave me a hard time and told me it was opposition.
I’ve decided that my word for 2014 will be…
INTENTIONAL
Done on purpose; deliberate.
Remain in me and I will remain in you. We must live an intentional life to remain in Him.
John 15 4-5
My BIG goal for 2014 is to live an intentional life. I want to be purposeful in everything I do. From my relationship with God to my marriage to raising my daughter to my business to shopping (yes, shopping). Days go by, these days they FLY by at lightning speed. Many days I feel like I spent too much time sidetracked. Not focused on what I set out to do, what I set out to accomplish. I am trying to fit a lot into the 17 hours I’m awake. I want to get rid of the unnecessary things I fill my day with. I want to live my life with purpose. I want to live intentionally.
Here is how I plan to focus on my year of intention…
{My relationship with God}
I want to start my day with God’s word. I will do this with Jesus Calling and She Reads Truth. Even though it is just a few minutes at the beginning of the day, this is my time carved out for Him.
{My Marriage}
My marriage is a priority. This year, I will make sure my husband knows that on a daily basis. Planning more dates at home. Cooking the meals he loves or taking things off his plate when he’s stressed. Since his love language is words of affirmation, making sure I tell him how much I appreciate him.
{Being a mother}
This is where my balance with work and motherhood come into play. Waking up earlier in the morning to get things ready for the day. This will allow me to put all of my focus on the mini as soon as she wakes up. I want to spend time teaching her at home. Outside of home, playing with friends, exploring the area and starting family traditions with and for her.
{Financial}
I will have a plan of where my money goes. It will be spent intentionally. I will NOT be spending as much time at Target. When I go to Target, I end up with a cart full of things I don’t need (and Starbucks). My target trips and shopping trips will be limited. They will include lists of the things we NEED, nothing else. Each month hubs and I will sit down and have our financial “meeting”. We talk about what we spent, what we owe and what we plan for the month ahead.
{Health}
Gone are the days of setting weight loss goals. Gone are the days of crazy diets. My focus this year will be clean eating. I will be intentional by planning clean eating meals and menus. eMeals will be helping me with this goal with their clean eating meal plan. There will be cheat days, there will be days of fast food or ordering out. And that is okay. I want to have a healthy lifestyle, which starts with the food we put into our bodies. If I start this now, I hope it’s something my daughter will learn and will become her normal growing up.
{Myself}
I can’t be a good wife, mother, daughter or friend without focusing on myself. My happiness starts with me. It doesn’t depend on anyone else. I will intentionally focus on myself by setting aside me time each day. Time without any technology. Without any distractions, just me, myself and I. In the morning it will be time with my planner. Planning my day, what I want to get out of it, what’s important to me. In the evening, it will be my time to reflect and on {most} days decompress. In that time, I want to focus on the things I was able to accomplish and the things I am grateful for. During this time I will be filling out my gratitude journal. It’s time to stop being my own worst critic and start being my biggest fan.
Part of my intentional plan is completing 52 weeks of kindness, which I posted about yesterday.
2014 will be an amazing year because I am going to make it one!
Happy New Year!
These are great and intentional is a great word for the year!
I LOVE this!
Love love what you have in store for yourself and your family for 2014. Your list is similar to mine, really. Hope you take 2014 by storm!
Thanks for sharing this. I loved reading it!
Intentional was my word too! Happy New year
Itsagirlgirlworld.blogspot.com
What an awesome post Leah! You have always inspired me with your goals and accomplishments! I know this is going to be an amazing year for you and your family!!! I can' t wait to follow along and see you accomplish these things. And I love how you intertwined your word with your intentional goals. I think I need to do this.
Best wishes on 12 months of succeeding at your goals. Especially the Target one 😉
Yes! This was my word too! I just got Jesus Calling and am absolutely loving it. My specific focus for the word 'intentional' is in my prayer life. I have been letting myself get bogged down with to do lists and worry over the what ifs and what people may think when what I ought to be doing is reading God's word FIRST, and not IF I have time.
Found you from the link up …
Happy New Year!
So enjoyed reading this post…so motivational! Intentional was my word too – great to find your blog, loved flicking through!
Love this..I love the financial section…I WILL NOT be spending as much at Target either. My goal is seriously to only go there once a month or every other month!!! I know it'll be hard, but it sure would help my pocketbook.