2018 Goals

I’m planning to share a bit more about how I pick my goals in Insta-stories today but for now, here are my actual goals for 2018! And there is a little gift for you at the end of the post! 🙂

1. Prioritize the care of my soul over accomplishments.

This is in line with my word for the year. I want to be less focused on doing. To speak candidly, we’ve had our most successful year in business and even great things personally but it hasn’t been my healthiest year emotionally. Nothing crazy but like I mentioned yesterday, I am commonly left with the nagging feeling of discontentment at what I do and I want to focus on who I’m becoming.

2. Read the Bible in a year.

Ok, so I have a whole blog post coming on this. Why I never wanted to do this and why I final am! 🙂

3. Live out the She Works His Way motto.

This goal is not a work goal. This is a family goal. The Lord has been revealing how much attention I put on my work and how little I have been investing in my family. My hope is to remember that I can grow my business while protecting my priorities.

4. Make our home a lighthouse.

Sally Clarkson used this term and it stuck in my soul. I want our home filled with giggles and grace. I want this to be a place where Tyler, Vivi and Vana and everyone who comes here feels loved and accepted. I really want the Holy Spirit to just fill this place up. Even in the last few days, with this goal in mind, I have been praying more intently and inviting the Holy Spirit to just come and take over. Y’all know I’m passionate about this if you’ve tried our House Prayers but I’m wanting to do this even more.

5. Experience a month in another city.

When Tyler and I were a year or two into marriage, we spent a month in Philly. We worked from a tiny apartment and got to enjoy the city and weekend trips to Boston, NYC and DC. We’ve wanted to do it again and this feels like a good time! We are planning to go to Charleston this time so if you have any tips for Charleston, I’d love to here!

6. Strengthen my body and relieve my feet and back issues.

I got really consistent in my workouts in 2017 but definitely need to beef ’em up and strengthen my frame. I’ve had no ab muscles for about 5 years now – the two pregnancies and two C-sections definitely played a role – and feel this is at least part of the issue with my feet and back.

7. Master budget planning and consistently stick to it.

We have been terrible when it comes to sticking with a system or our budget each month in the past. I can plan a budget at the beginning of the year but haven’t ever figured out how to keep one up. I know this will make a huge impact on the things we want to invest in in the future and can also reduce our need to work more if we are simply saving more.

8. Announcing soon!! 🙂

9. Operate a Blue Ocean strategy business based on the Lord’s leading.

Since I naively started selling our prayer journal in 2013, our industry has exploded. Over the years, I have felt overwhelmed by what felt like my business shrinking as more competition arrived, but in 2017, we really honed our direction and message and found a lot of freedom. I felt more confident in ever in what we were doing and that we had a purpose and place, not just another voice as I had felt at different times when things got saturated. We started doing things differently: We only sell paper products and will continue that even in a world that keeps telling us to create passive income, we close on Sundays, we changed our social media game. We will continue this, not to spite the world but to follow God’s vision for our company which I wholeheartedly believe, is unique and not the same as what He’s calling other businesses to do. Not because we’re special but because we all are. 🙂

10. Invest in 5 friendships really well.

I have failed in the friendship department the last few years. Being “social” on the media always gives me this false sense of deep connection so when I’ve just responded to 20 DM’s and have 3 text messages waiting for me to respond, I, unfortunately, put real friends on the back burner thinking that what I do online requires my immediate response since it is my business. In November and December, I prayed about who God wanted me to invest in in 2018 and felt Him leading me to 5 friends. When I landed on these 5, I immediately felt a weight lifted. I immediately felt like I could be a good friend if I was focusing on 5 and not trying for 10, getting overwhelmed and quitting them all.

NEED A PEP TALK ON GODLY GOAL-SETTING?

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