This is by far the latest I’ve ever published a yearly goals post. It’s funny – a few years ago, I felt pressure to post my goals on January 1, on the dot, as if no one would be interested in them on the 2nd. Thankfully, I no longer feel that way (and I know that, wonderful people you are, you’re still interested in what I have to share, even a few days later than you expect!). As always, I’ve been faithfully engaged in the process of reviewing, evaluating, and dreaming with the help of my PowerSheets. I feel quite clear about the year ahead, but when it came time to write my actual goals and share them with you, I stalled. They felt disjointed, and overly complicated. That hit me hard, because I loved my 2020 goals. Though I certainly had to pivot on my execution as the year progressed, I was passionate about each one, loved how they moved me forward in the big picture, and pleased with how they turned out. It turns out 2020 goals are a tough act to follow, for me! After stewing and complaining to John all last week (and then getting derailed again by my anger and sadness over Wednesday’s events), I sat down this weekend determined. I rewrote and laid things out as plainly as possible. And I remembered what we always tell people at Cultivate, which apparently I needed to be reminded of, too: you’re allowed to change course throughout the year. Your goals don’t have to be perfect. What matters is forward movement in the right direction. I do believe these goals are moving me in the right direction, and I’m grateful to share them with you today – because sharing here is one of the key factors in

Happy New Year, friends! Isn’t it marvelous that we’re all here for another year? :) Another year to learn and grow and move closer to the people we want to be. Can I tell you a secret? Sometimes I worry that my goals aren’t big enough or different enough or important enough. Sometimes I worry that I never change, that I’m always just working on variations of the same things. And you know what? There’s some truth in that. One of the greatest blessings of my life is that I have known who I am and what I want from a young age. I have great confidence in what matters to me and what does not. You know how I’ve known my spirit age is 36 from the time of about 16? That understanding has given me the freedom to unapologetically craft the life I’ve been envisioning all along. So no, I generally don’t set goals like running a marathon, founding a charity, or selling my possessions and traveling the world at the beginning of the year. I’m not against “big” goals by any means, and if one becomes meaningful to me in the future, I will gladly take it on. It’s just that in my life, the big things are the little things. I know who I want to be at 40 and 60 and 80. I might not know all the specifics (who knew I’d end up a Southerner??), but I have the general outline — enough to continue filling it in, little by little. So here we go! Another year of adding color and dimension to this marvelous life. With that, I’m so happy to share my four 2018 focal areas… Yes, focal areas, not goals! These are my areas of focus for this year, and I’ll

Well this is something different! I’ve never written a post checking in on my yearly goals midway through the year, but I did an Instagram story yesterday sharing some of the progress I’ve made, and thought it might make a good blog post, too! To recap, I set four focal areas for 2017 with the help of my PowerSheets. I’ve chipped away at them with specific, smaller goals each month, many of which I’ve shared with you in my monthly goal updates! Much of this should sound familiar to frequent visitors :) Focal area no. 1: Become a woman of prayer Progress I’ve made: The biggest and best change we’ve made is to offer impromptu prayer at dinner and other meals instead of a standard blessing. John and I switch off days. For two people who did not grow up praying out loud, this has been a great way to get more comfortable with the practice and warm up to teaching June more about prayer as she gets older. I’ve also read several books about prayer, bought a prayer journal (though I haven’t used it yet), and bought a new Bible that I love. What I hope to accomplish in the next six months: I would really like to try out a new devotional (I have heard great things about Streams in the Desert), establish a morning rhythm of prayer, give Bill Hybels’ prayer journaling practice a try, fill out my prayer journal, and begin praying with June before bed. Focal area no. 2: Love my loved ones well Progress I’ve made: The best thing I’ve done for this goal is to institute monthly prep days. When I thought about what had stopped me in the past from doing kind and fun things for the people I love, it wasn’t

My goals for May are a curious mix of hard things I appear to be putting off (since they’ve lingered on my lists for the last few months…) and fun things I’m looking forward to enjoying. Maybe, though, the latter is just what I need to push through and accomplish the former! Hopefully, a little more time (which has been scarce lately – my Mom stayed with us for three weeks last month, and I happily chose to hang with her instead of being on my laptop!), is all I’ll need. Revisiting my goals for April: Read “Boundaries” for the NR Book Club Successfully take work trips to Atlanta and Hilton Head with my Mom and June in tow (Atlanta trip was successful, HH trip was postponed!) Prep our raised bed and plant our seedlings Assemble and hang June’s mobile (so happy I checked this off!!) Order favorite Instagram prints from 2015 Get an estimate from one more landscaping company Apply to our HOA to have a tree removed (eep) Finish our will Begin waking up at 6:30am (not so much) Begin getting ready for bed at 10pm (see above…) May goals: — Get an estimate from one more landscaping company — Apply to our HOA to have a tree removed — Finish our will (People, this is staying on the list until it is done. And then I will write a post about it.) — Master an updo from the Small Things archive (I’m thinking this one.) — Paint my toenails (I’m a little embarrassed this is actually a goal.) — Read “168 Hours” for the NR Book Club — Read two novels — Plan for and enjoy our weekend trip to Bald Head Island — Have fun with our weekend visitors – John’s parents and sister + family