My Q2 Goals

Well, that may have been the longest 12 weeks in the history of the world, no? It’s always joked that January feels like the longest month ever but this quarter also included our first two weeks of quarantine.

To recap, I planned my goals using the 12 Week Year approach, basically fewer goals for a shorter amount of time with daily tracking. I thought I’d give a little update on the goals I shared at the beginning of the year and share my goals for the next 12 weeks. 

1. WRITE 50,000 WORDS (At first it was WORK LIKE A WRITER but I wanted it to be more specific.)

One of the main things I want to do in 2020 is WRITE. Whether it’s blog posts, books, e-books, etc, I need to shape my work time around actually working like a writer. After looking at the 12-week format, this is what I’ve decided are my goals for each week. 

• Write for a secret project weekly.
• Research for next book. 
• Publish 1 blog post.

UPDATE: I ended up writing 58,000 words even with the girls out of school at least 4 of those weeks! I am more convinced than ever that I NEVER would be anywhere close to done on the project I’m currently working on OR be prepared for another deadline I just committed to if I made a year goal for writing instead. This pushed me to make small progress each week and keep plodding along. It’s so easy to put something off but this kept me super engaged. 

2. TRANSITION VMP

We have a specific change we are planning on in the next few months as well as prepping for Kara’s maternity leave in March and cutting expenses significantly so we can continue to grow our giving. 

• Because it’s not habits, but a series of steps, I’ll update before the week exactly what the to-do is. 
• Update with Ashley and Kara.

UPDATE: This was done! Each week before the week started, I added essentially the next step to moving forward on this and we made it happen fairly seamlessly to where my other goals could stay the focus and this didn’t require a big push at any point.

3. PARENT BIBLICALLY

This might sound super basic, but it’s something I want to be more intentional about. I’ve figured out how to be a mom more biblically but now I want to figure out how to impart that to kids! 

• Watch and implement 2 course videos a week – planning on taking this in the new year with Tyler!
• Pray together daily.
• Be available – 1 hour every day with the girls, undistracted from anything.
• Spend 2 hours or less on the phone.

UPDATE: HUGE AMAZING CHANGES in this! The biggest being I finally accomplished a goal I’ve been going after for YEARS, to lower my screen time. More on that here and how you can do it too here.

4. LOSE 10 LBS.

I’m feeling the weight of the extra 15-20 pounds I’ve gained in the last two years. This is not a vanity number but something that would get me back into a healthier zone for my size. But because it’s only 12 weeks, I’m obviously not saying 20 lbs. 

• Eat a salad every day.
• Exercise 3 times a week for 45 minutes.
• Do PT exercises every day.
• Drink 70 oz of water.
• Use stand up desk 90 minutes a day every home workday. (3X)
• Enjoy one cooking night. Yes, I cook more than this but I want to spend one night doing a fun new recipe or maybe even have wine while I cook and the girls play in their rooms or watch a cartoon. 
• Eat out two meals max a week.
• Take a cold shower 3x a week.

UPDATE: Gals, I can’t even believe it but I BASICALLY hit my goal. I say basically because I lost 9 pounds in 12 weeks which has never happened before. I joke that I’ve never in my life lost weight just very slowly crept up on the scales. In reality, I’ve never lost more than a few pounds but the reality that I had 12 weeks instead of 12 months meant I KNEW each week was important. I am amazed at how easy it is to schluff off on something we KNOW we want to do just because we think we have unlimited time. 

OK!! So onto the next 12 weeks!! 

1. THRIVE IN QUARANTINE. 

I feel like this is just necessary. I don’t want to look back on this weird season and regret not slowing down when we had the opportunity. I don’t want to spend the whole time yelling at my kids or quarreling with my husband. 

Things I’m tracking to help me:

• Hangtime with the girls. This is what we call the Positive Solutions Course (going through it still but highly recommended!) call to spend 10 minutes with each child a day where they get to pick what we do. Then Tyler and I switch so we both spend time individually with the girls. They LOVE it.
• Porch time with Tyler. After I finish my work time at 4 we’ve been sitting on the porch for 20 or so minutes while the girls play in the living room and it’s been so good to connect!
• Morning Routine
• Night Routine
• Phone limit 

2. WRITE 40,000 WORDS.

I’ve got lots of writing projects still but did lower the limit a bit to be more reasonable with the whole girls home till August thing. 🙂 Tracking:

• Praying before writing 
• Research for upcoming book
• Write blog post 
• Write 3,500 words
• Post-writing to-do’s. Basically action items for the production part of these projects.

3. DEEPEN PRAYER LIFE.

🙂 I mean, it’s just so important. This might seem funny to see on my list but I’ll always want more! And there’s a good reason for that. Prayer is like our little taste of heaven on earth. Here’s what I’m tracking:

• Read about prayer 
• House Prayers as I tidy
• Pray through a page a day in prayer journal
• Pray with someone IRL – This is difficult during q-tine but I’m counting Voxer and Zooms for now!
• Pray in Insta stories or FB Live

4. GET BETTER AT SPEAKING/VIDEOS.

I always say “I’m better on paper” and that’s totally true but I do want to at least get comfortable with “speaking the words” too.

• Create a video a week 
• Go through part of Bob Goff’s speaking course
• Getting out there! I’ll be speaking at this online retreat soon. 🙂

5. GROW IN EMOTIONAL HEALTH.

This might sound odd, but I don’t just want to be well-versed in truth. I want it to impact my whole being. I want to process information and respond according to what I know to be true. Anyone else thinking about this as a goal? 

• Examen prayers nightly 
• Weekly fast (more on fasting here)
• Reread Emotionally Healthy Spirituality highlights 
• Read Untangling Emotions (20 pages a week) 

Below is a very nerdy peek into the Google doc I use for tracking my habits. Basically, I aim for an 85% or higher for each goal. This is SUCH a visual way of seeing which ones I’m not really on track to meet and what to reexamine if necessary.

There you have! Goals for the next 12 weeks! How are your goals going? Anyone else following the 12 week year?