The End of 52 Lists?

There hasn't been a new list prompt on Morea Seal's blog in quite some time. I'm not sure if the project just lost steam for her, or if there is something more serious distracting her from it. Whatever the reason, I wish her the best. I enjoyed the project while it lasted. So here is my final list - List #20

List Your Summer Goals

1. Take most of June and all of July off from school work.
2. Set up the teacher resource area in the library (once I head back in August)
3. Review some professional development books and sample lesson plans to help with planning for the new year
4. When school starts, I want my son and I to feel like we got to do fun things this summer - days at the pool, bowling, Lego days, craft projects, etc.
5. Finish the Lego mini-figure project we have been planning
6. Clean out the office so I have crafting space for the future
7. Clean out my son's room so you can see the floor.
8. Clean off a significant portion of my To Be Read book shelves.


[Yes, I know these aren't very specific goals - the summer is almost over. I'll just have to do the best I can with these vague goals for now!]

What are your summer goals?

52 Lists - List Your Current and Future Goals

It's time for the "Week Four" list for 52 Lists. This has been one of my favorites. In fact, I left extra pages in my journal where I am writing these so I can keep adding to my lists.

Here are a few of my goals that I recorded:

• Work diligently now so I can take June and July off
• Develop systems for the library to help next year go smoothly
• Organize my book shelves (DONE)
• Be under ___ lbs by my dr appointment (did not meet this one)
• Write a book
• Get a graduate degree in Children's Literature
• Cultivate our home to have less clutter and more space to move around

This is only a sampling - I always have goals and tasks I am working on or hoping for the future. I like seeing them in writing, even if there are some that I missed.

Going over my list again made me think of this blog post by Jon Acuff. There is some great stuff in here about dealing rationally with that voice inside you that says your goal/dream is ridiculous and will never happen. I walked through his process with my graduate school dream and I feel like it helped me think through the logistics that can help me eventually move this dream towards reality. I hope you will check it out.

52 Days

There's a lot of the number 52 floating around here lately. There's the 52 Lists project I'm doing and the 52 Days system I've been trying this year.

This is an update on the 52 Days deal. That's the one where the year is broken in to 7 sections of 52 days each. You set some goals for the first 52 days (January 2- February 22). If they don't work, or if your life changes too much for them to make sense any more, you change them up for the second round.

Someone figured up the following days to start each round of 52: January 2, February 23, April 16, June 7, July 29, September 19, and November 10.

So, I'm now in the second round. Here's where my goals stand:
Spiritual - I am keeping my goal of daily devotions. That's gone well and I like the three apps I decided to use.
Financial - that one went okay. I was working to only buy books with gift cards rather than the credit card. Now I want to keep that and expand it, working to make our credit card bill only have automatic charges on it, rather than a variety of online shopping, etc. We've gotten lax with our charging and I want to reign that back in.
Physical - I have been waffling on my weekly commitment to Weight Watchers. Some weeks are good and some feel like a lost cause two days in. I want to re-commit to that process and I have set a specific goal and time frame for myself.
Social - This one was pretty vague last time. I'm trying to tighten that up with a more explicit plan to reach out socially every week in some way.
Mental - This was the other goal that was vague last time. This time I want to read one non-fiction book each month (I read Quitter in February) as well as reading one e-book (this was my goal last time - in February I read Buried in Buttercream  on my Nook) and one Advance Reader Copy (ARC) that I have received for my blog (In February I read Killer Honeymoon).
Career - I want to keep the goal of adding 10 new books to the library every week. I haven't done this for a couple weeks, but I haven't felt too badly about that considering I was doing more than that for all of January. I want to get back to that and get caught up on the batch that is almost ready to go before I do another book fair at the end of the month.
Family - This was another vague one last time. This time I want to keep up our reading routine which we re-established at the start of the year. Then I want to add a movie or game night every week where we do that together, really focused on being together rather than just being in the same room but all doing our own thing.

So, those are my new goals for this next block of 52 days.

How are your New Year's goals holding up now that March is here?

52 Day Goal Update

A couple weeks ago I blogged about a new goal format for the year - setting goals in 52 day chunks throughout the year. The smaller time period would allow me to change goals that aren't working rather than scrapping them all together. The idea came from Jon Acuff.

Here's an update of how my goals are working so far in this first 52 day section of the year:
Spiritual (daily devotions) - I love the three apps I am using. As of this past Sunday (I check in on my goals each week on Sunday to keep them in my head and to refocus where I have gotten off track), I have only missed one day. I would like to keep up with this goal for the year and I feel like I've set a good foundation so far.
Financial (use gift cards, not credit cards to buy books) - as I was pulling together financial records for our tax preparation, I was embarrassed by how many books I bought for the school. A few is a nice gesture. This was ridiculous. This was manic. I want to exercise more self-control this year. Hopefully the plan to only buy books with gift cards will help with that.
Physical (Weight Watchers) - I have signed up for Weight Watchers and am slowly getting back into the swing of that. So far, we have been eating like we usually do and figuring out what points values go with our usual meals. The next step is to find some alternatives that don't burn through the points so quickly. I get about half the points each day that my husband gets (which is annoying), so I have to be much more careful in my planning.
Social (be more social) - I've discovered that I have an inertia problem. (Inertia is a body at rest wants to stay at rest). Once I get home on Friday afternoon, I don't feel like doing anything on the weekend. I just want to rest, dig into home activities, etc. I have to make the commitment to being social and force myself to follow through. I always have a great time once I go, but getting myself there is what requires the work.
Mental - my goal for this (reading on an e-device) was kind of lame, but I have done that. I have finished 4 books on my Nook this month.
Career (put 10 new books in the library every week) - In the three weeks of the school year, I have placed 83 new books in the school library. I found myself pretty sick of new books by the end of last week, though, so I started on a new project. We'll see if I keep up with 10 new ones this week or if I take a break.
Family (reclaim bedtime routine of reading) - we have gotten back into the routine of reading a book at bedtime during the school week. We finished the first book in the Wings of Fire series (The Dragonet Prophecy) and have started book two.

So far, I am pretty happy with my progress. I feel like I am taking manageable steps to form a life I want for myself and my family. Here's to the next half of the first 52 days!

Satisfaction

As I mentioned on  Saturday, I am working through a few new apps to help me with some spiritual growth in the new year (I'll talk about the apps I'm using on Thursday).

On January second, in my Old Testament reading about Adam and Eve, the writer said something like, "in spite of everything God had given them, Adam and Eve were looking for something more and succumbed to temptation."

Satisfaction. Contentment. Adam and Eve weren't content with all they had - they wanted more. They wanted the one thing God denied them.

Ouch.

I live a comfortable life in a country that has no concept of its own abundance. Yet I often want more - a house with one more room, more books, more stuff. How many of my goals for 2013 would be achieved simply by developing a contented spirit, choosing to be satisfied with the life I have right now?

This idea has grabbed hold of me enough that I am already thinking of changing my word for 2013 (maybe it's silly to try to pick a word before January! I keep choosing one and changing it a few weeks in!). Maybe "satisfied" is a better focus for the coming year.

Goals/52 Days

Over the New Year's holiday I read a blog post from Jon Acuff called, "Why I Quit New Year's Resolutions (And What I Am Doing Instead)."

This really resonated with me because I routinely bail on my New Year's goals by February. Acuff described my experience perfectly - the goals don't work because they are determined without any clue what the new year will hold by way of opportunities and challenges.

The idea of tackling the year - and my goals - in 52 day chunks seems like a great way to change the course for me. I am gradually working on my first set of goals, and I feel optimistic about them because I know if they stink, I will get to change them up in late February.

Jon recommends setting goals in seven areas: Mental, Spiritual, Physical, Financial, Social, Family and Career.  Here are mine for the first 52 days of 2013:

Mental - read one book per month (so one in January and one in February) on a device (Nook, Kindle app, iBooks). This is to help me actually use the books I have downloaded onto a device - and reading is always a winning goal.
Spiritual - download a devotional/Bible reading app and use daily. I want to be more intentional about my spiritual life this year. A colleague posted the following on Facebook:  “We never grow closer to God when we just live life. It takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.”   I don't know where she posted it from, but the sentiment challenged me. I have found a great Bible reading app and a couple devotional ones that I am doing every day. I'll post about those another day.
Physical - Join Weight Watchers in January. It's time. It worked well for my husband and I when we did it 6 years ago and I'm ready to get back to it.
Financial - only use gift cards or cash to buy books. We have worked really hard to pay off our credit card, but trips to the book store, at least for me, get pricey. It's too easy to swipe the card and worry about paying for them later.
Social - engage with friends in person - not just Facebook. This one is a little wimpy. I would love to make it more of a "invite friends to our home once a month" sort of goal, but I have issues with feeling comfortable with others seeing our house. It doesn't make sense. We've done a small "gathering" the last two years before Christmas and have really enjoyed it. But I have many more years of house-shame to overcome. Maybe that should be my goal instead - banish my house-shame by inviting people over.
Family - reclaim our bedtime reading routine, starting with Wings of Fire/The Dragonet Prophecy. We've gotten out of the habit of reading together at night and I want to get back to it. So far in the new year, we are doing better about being consistent.
Career - Put 10 new books out in the library every week. Before Christmas break I killed myself, working late even when I was sick, to get a big crop of books cataloged for the library. Now they essentially just need their coverings - laminate or those plastic sheets that libraries use on hard cover books with paper jackets. I brought three bags of books home to work on over break, and I ended up taking all three bags back to school, untouched. I really embraced the idea of a "break" for Christmas break, but I am still committed to getting new materials into kids' hands asap. So, we'll try for 10 a week and see how it works. Hopefully I can actually do more.

So, those are my goals for the first 52 days. What goals have you set for 2013?

Ten Goals for this Coming School Year

I've already mentioned on this blog that I am a better starter than finisher - I do a better job of setting goals than meeting them, but here's what I am hoping for for this year.

• I want to feel "settled" rather than pressured or hurried or "behind."
• I want to have strong book fairs - $2000 to $3000 in sales or more for each one - so we can do some good things for the library and for our teachers (new carpet for kids to sit on in the library, maybe some more comfy seating, books for the library/classrooms, maybe some new TVs and an update of our media - we have so many VHS tapes still, etc).
• I want to see at least 100 students meet their AR goal each quarter of the year.
• I want to see at least 75 students meet their AR goal all four quarters of the year.
• I want at least 80% of every class to be reading at grade level by the end of the year.
• I want to end the year with all books cataloged, repaired and shelved (fewer loose ends at the end of the school year)
• I want to achieve a rhythm by October than allows for personal time for reading and crafting and other personal pursuits in the evenings and on the weekends.
• I want 100% of the third graders to pass the IRead this year, too.
• I want to develop a regular practice of prayer and encouragement for my peers.
• I want to recognize student birthdays all year.

I realize I only play a small part in some of these achievements, but I want to pray these things into being, I want to be part of the solution, I want to be an encouragement/facilitator for the teachers and the students as we pursue some of these goals.

January progress

Rather than set a lot of goals for this year, I just set one - to read more books from my "to be read" (TBR) shelves. Yes, shelves, plural.


To that end, I chose one nonfiction, one general fiction, one book for kids and one series from my shelves for each month of the year.


For January, I chose The Writer's Book of Days as my non-fiction. It's a book of writing prompts and writing advice for a year, so while I have not finished it, I am using it regularly, so I am counting that one "done."


My general fiction book for January was Deep Trouble, a book I received from the author ages ago and hadn't gotten around to reading. You can check out my review of it here. That one is also "done." 


I am on book two out of three I was behind on from the Booktown Mystery series. I finished Bookplate Special and have moved on to Chapter and Hearse. I haven't started my book for kids, The Beyonders: A World Without Heroes, yet. So, of the 6 books I picked for January, I have three done. So far so good. There's a little less than a week left in January, so I hope to be doing a lot of reading this weekend.

The year is a third over!

Hard to believe that we are already through a little more than a third of the year. One of the bloggers I follow, Christina Katz, blogged recently about her accomplishments so far this year. She encouraged her reader to do likewise. Here's mine:

1. I read 112 books from January 1 through April 30, 2010. That includes a good number of picture books, which are fast reads, but more "chunky" books, too.

2. I have maintained two blogs this year.

3. I started a new job

4. I have implemented systems to encourage my son to keep reading and keep working on the piano and they seem to be working.

5. I wrapped up the first year of Creative Writing Club at my son's school.

6. I made 31 journals for my writing club students.

7. I am 3 lessons away from completing the Apprentice course through Christian Writer's Guild.

Not as many things as I would have expected if you had asked me in January. But considering that I am working regularly outside my home now, I think this is pretty good. Feeling content with most aspects of my life, and still thinking about how I want to invest my energy and time.


So, how about you? Feeling accomplished so far this year?

The Dream Lives On

One of my goals for 2010 was to make a quilt. Then I started working and I pretty much scrapped all of my goals for the year. But my dream to make a quilt is alive again.

Thanks to U Create, I found this blog that walks readers through making your first quilt. It is easy to follow and I love the idea of creating with others. It's like a support group!

Just after finding this blog, I talked to one of the women who lead a quilting club at my son's school. As I looked wistfully at the quilts students have completed this year, she told me they quilt at the school for about 6 hours every Saturday. Six hours? Wow! And she said they have enough supplies on hand that my first quilt would be free....

I'm trying to be realistic about my commitments, but I think I might give it a try this fall. If I do, I'll post progress pictures!

New Year's Goals - How are you doing?

It's February. The year is 1/12 over. Did you set some goals for 2010? I did. How are you doing on yours? Mine? Not so hot.

I have mentioned before that I find myself needing to simplify my goals for this year - have fewer goals and break them down into doable units. I found this (free) resource the other day at Success Begins Today. The resource is a Word document that you can print onto business cards. Together, the 10 cards make up a Goal Setting Toolkit. There is a card for long term goals, another for weekly milestones, and another for taking a goal and making it measurable (so you'll know if you've met it or not). I think this is a great resource. The site also has an interesting system of using 48 minute blocks of time to get things done. You can start reading about it here.

I'd love to hear how your goals are going for the new year or how these resources from Success Begins Today can help you reach your goals.

And Reality Sets In

As I sat in my living room Friday talking to my husband about my divided focus and my penchant for starting many things and finishing few, I determined that I plan too many things to reasonably complete in the time I give myself. Tomorrow I am blogging about focus, but this weekend was a lesson in focus - in determining my highest priorities and letting go of good but unessential things.


For example, while I would love to learn to knit and crochet (in fact I have needles and yarn for both), they aren't essential. I'm going to pack the supplies away for another season in life. I am still holding out hope to make a quilt this year, but I realize that it may not happen and I am trying to be okay with that. I am going to read and read and read because books are my passion. If I focus my attention on a few key things, I can do them well rather than spread my time out and do everything "fine" or "okay" and nothing "well."



I have been hard on myself about writing and submitting and seeking publication. At the same time I realize that I am still learning. I don't want to walk away from writing, but I need to focus on what I can do right now - finish a two-year writing class this June (investing in my lessons rather than throwing them together), blogging well, and writing about things that inspire me or capture my attention no matter what I end up doing with them. 

I am going to let go of the Comment Challenge I have been doing this month. I have discovered some great blogs that I intend to follow. I have discovered a TON of books I intend to read some day. I plan to keep reading these blogs and commenting on things that speak to me. But I have discovered that I am using a lot of my limited time on that Challenge and I need to let it go.


Don't be surprised if I have to have this learning experience all over again some time soon. I am easily drawn into the next new thing, certain that I can "do it all." But for today, I am inspired by renewed focus and purpose and ready to jump in.

Goals and Plans

Last week I mentioned my monthly goals for 2010. Some of my other plans are

• Develop a plan for my blogs. I have a schedule right now, but I don't always feel like I am giving my best to all three at every moment. I have some resources that I want to read and I want to create a plan that is sustainable and provides a quality experience for me and for my readers. And I would like to attract more readers. Part of my planning will be to look at other platforms and resources to see what is best to help me blog into the future.
• I want to make a quilt in 2010. I have wanted to quilt for ages. This is the year I am going to do it, even if it is no bigger than a pillow. I also want to learn to knit and crochet, even if I only do it enough to make a scarf with each, although I do dream of knitting a pair of socks some day.
• Complete some half-done craft projects. I had over-enthusiastic intentions in 2009. I would like to finish some of what I started.
• Read The Chronicles of Narnia. I still have never read any of these books. I planned to read them in 2009 and never did. I am wondering if my son and I might read them as part of our summer plans while we are home during the days.
• Improve money management. I always aspire to save more and pay off things that hang over our heads. I would love to some day go back to school (when I figure out what I want to be when I grow up), but that requires planning and diligence now to make that a possibility later.

Still thinking through your 2010 goals? Share them here! I would love to hear about them.

Best Intentions

I have talked already this year about some of my goals for 2010. What I didn't mention was how I did on my goals and plans for 2009. In a word, lousy.

In 2009 I wanted to

• Journal more - at least once a week. I did not do this. At least a third of my journal is empty.
• Blog regularly - This was actually a good goal for me. Even with adding new blogs, I stayed on a good schedule.
• Send my son to private school this school year. Thanks to a lot of help, we were able to do this. It is a wonderful environment for him. While I haven't written it down, it is a goal to have him there again this fall.
• Submit 15 pieces of writing. Progress? Zero. Pathetic, really. It all comes down to fear.
• Lose 20 pounds. Everyone has goals like this. I did not do anything to make this happen.
• Cut debt in half. This did not happen either.
• Complete writing Bible study in January. I did this. It was really good. I have another one I hope to do this year.
• Finish Write is a Verb with my SIL. We did this. This was also a really good resource. We are working on Plot and Structure right now, although we took a break for NaNoWriMo and the holidays.
• Memorize 12 passages of Scripture. I started with a big one - 1 Corinthians 13 - and only made it half way through before quitting.
• Read Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia and at least half of my TBR (to be read) stash. I read Harry but that was it.
• Laugh, play, write, read, teach, learn, pray, move,listen, sing, create, hug, save, remember. I would liked to have created, wrote and saved more, but essentially this was a good list and 2009 was a great year.

I hope to do a little better with my goals for 2010, but I think it is better to have made a plan and only completed part of it than to have had no aspirations at all and lived up to them.

Dedication

One of my favorite writing resources is Christina Katz, the Writer Mama. She has authored two books - The Writer Mama and Get Known Before the Book Deal. She is a blogger who recently merged several blogs and newsletters into one.

In her January issue of her newsletter, "The Prosperous Writer," Christina asked, "Who do you dedicate your writing to in 2010?" Fascinating question. I never really thought about this. I generally write for me. That is probably one of the reasons that I don't submit my writing to anyone other than my writing mentor.

The more I thought about this, the more I realized I wanted to dedicate my writing in 2010 to my son. When I signed up for NaNoWriMo last November and endeavored to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, my seven-year-old was skeptical. When I finished, he said, "I knew you might do it." Resounding support, huh? But I would like him to see me push forward and keep making progress on this writing dream of mine. I would like him to see me work at something and have it pay off over time. I would like him to see me model perseverance, which is something we talk to him about quite a bit.

So, I dedicate my writing, and my writing goals and aspirations in 2010 to my son. May he see me work and follow through and not give up and take risks this year.

Planning Ahead

Happy 2010! I hope your New Year was happy and healthy and safe.

I love a new year. There is something about the fresh start and potential of a new year that makes me giddy. For the last couple weeks I have been brainstorming goals and plans for the new year. It is a great time to start new projects.


I made a new journal for the new year - something I did in 2007 for a class at Big Picture Scrapbooking and have kept up ever since. Each year has a different design. This year I went back to a monthly format. I divided the journal into 12 sections, one for each month. That way I can keep track of my monthly goals. In retrospect, I wish I had done something else, though. In 2008, I had a list of things for each month, so I set the monthly sections up with a couple pages each at the front of the journal. That way I could "journal" in the section after the monthly tabs without worrying about running into the next section. I didn't think that through this time. Oh well. I love how it turned out and will make the best of things.

My monthly goals are:

• Read one writing book from my stash. I have a shelf of writing books that are gathering dust. I want to concentrate on one each month this year so I can make use of the material I have at my disposal. In January I am reading A Novel Idea.
  
• Memorize a verse of scripture. For January I chose Galatians 6:4-5 from The Message.
• Submit three pieces of writing to a publisher. I have toyed with this writing thing for too long. It is time to jump in. Three is a very small number, but doable regardless of how much I am subbing or how intense my parenting load is.
• Prepare one song to sing for church. For January I chose Savior, Please. I only sing once or twice a year at church, but I love to sing. By setting a goal, I can really dig into a new song, memorize it, have it ready in case I am asked to sing. In reality, this is probably more about me making time to sing for myself rather than about performing a song at church (which makes me a nervous wreck).

I have other goals and plans, but I will save those for another blog entry. If you set some goals for yourself, post them here. I love to hear what others are working on.