• Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    I made some progress last week on my goals!  Thankful for the opportunity move forward on my goals despite a busy 2012 first quarter.  Since I have a conference for part of the week the list will be shorter.

    Here is the update on last weeks goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday
    3. Have each girl read 1 book to myself or Jake 5 days this week – the girls were sick this week
    4. Go on my Date Night with Jake (we got free movie tickets so excited to enjoy some time away together) – We gave away our free movie tickets because we had to cancel our Date Night, the kiddos got sick.  🙁 I am hoping to get it rescheduled soon.
    5. Get the girls Birthday Party Details Started

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – I did it again (victory dance).  It has helped give me more energy throughout my days too!
    2. Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday – was bad about this one, it was after 1 am one night
    3. Finish reading Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk – still working on it
    4. Read and listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).
    5. Get my Travel Visa Application Sent

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
    3. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
    4. Dinner ready by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday) – it was closer to 6 pm a couple of days
    5. Spend time re-organizing and de-cluttering the office
    6. Update Family & Friends Contact Information – glad to have this information updated 🙂

    Business Goals

    1. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
    2. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    3. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
    4. Plan new implementations for blog
    5. Start working on 2011 business taxes – gathered the information and paperwork but nothing more yet

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses – moving forward on this goal
    3. Start working on our personal 2011 taxes

    Here are my goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday
    3. Spend some time with extended family

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
    2. Read and listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday

    Business Goals

    1. Attend the Pro Ag Conference
    2. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Book: “The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room” by Stan and Jan Berenstain

    I love my kiddos, however, there are days I feel like all I do is pick up after the entire family.  It is amazing how quickly the house can get cluttered.  When you add all the kid books, toys and goodies it can become a mess in a hurry.  The girls do help pick up but the process is not always the most efficient and every so often we make a point to go through the toys and books they have to keep our home from getting cluttered with extra stuff.  We like the book  The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room by Stan & Jan Berenstain.  They have a whole series of great “character” books that our girls enjoy.  This is one of the books Mommy pulls out occasionally to read because it is good to not only remind the kids but the adults in our household that it is important to take care of the items we have.  Also, I like how they encourage the cubs to share with others.  I think it is important that we are good examples as parents first followed by teaching them through books and spending time organizing / putting away their toys with them.  What is one of your favorite Berenstain Bear books?