Making Things Happen in 2014

I've told y'all before that I'm a huge fan of setting goals. Big, small, long-term, short-term doesn't matter I love them. 

Random fact: I'm not good at working out unless I have a goal of working toward something specific like a race, but that's a post for another day. 

The husband and I were at church yesterday when the pastor talked about how important it is to set goals and/or resolutions; "having a personal vision is a catalyst for wise decisions." I love that. If Andy Stanley agrees with me about goal setting I think I'll stick to it :)

For the past week or so I've been working through Lara Casey's 5 part series on goal setting for 2014. I'm not being dramatic when I say this stuff is game changing! I've learned so much about myself and so much about where I want to go. I've had to get honest with myself about somethings I didn't want to and open myself up to making some changes. 

I won't bore you will all of the details of all my steps. However, I will share some of the big things, not only to have somewhere to refer back to for myself, but also to maybe encourage y'all to create your own goals for 2014.  

My favorite step was creating a 2014 inspirational board on Pinterest. An excuse to spend hours on pinterest finding quotes and images I like? Sign me up! These are a few of my favorite images:

Now there are a bunch of steps from here, but you can just take me word for that. Let's just get to the good stuff:

1. Spend more time with God: This is pretty self-explanatory. More time with God daily, more time in prayer, and more time with God as a couple. I know, for me, life just works better when I make God a part of it.

2. Love and respect my husband: Truth: over the past 6 months I haven't always been a great wife. I've been selfish, stubborn, and even mean. There are many ways I can work on being a more loving and respectful wife. and I want to challenge myself to really work on this.

3. Take care of myself: Emotionally, physically, and spiritually. This looks like a good year to start working on being less negative and more positive. 

4. Be intentional with others: I want to work on being present when I'm with people I love.

5. Organize my life: I feel better when things are organized. I have organizational work to do in lots of areas.

I know I know these aren't SMART goals. They may be Attainable and Relevant, but they are also super broad and they aren't measured. The monthly goals I make will relate back to these larger goals and will be Specific, Measurable, and Time-bound. I've already got some ideas in mind for monthly goals and I can't wait to get started!

James and I also created 2014 marriage goals. We have some big goals for 2014 and hopefully our smaller monthly goals will help us get there. 

And finally, my word(s) for year:

I didn't realize how much I let fear dictate how I live until recently. So often I don't do things or don't put myself out there because I'm afraid. Afraid of failing, afraid of making a mistakes, and afraid of judgement. What do I get with allowing fear to control me? Absolutely nothing but regret!

 In the spirit of transparency: I also struggle with trusting God. I like control {just ask the husband :}. Problem with that? I want God to live my life for God and in order to do that one of us needs to give up control {hint: that would be me!}. 

This year I want to constantly remind myself to trust God without fear.

Whew! That was a lot of words. If you're still reading along major props to you! 

Here's to making things happen in 2014!