goal setting – Page 5

November 3 in 30

October 31, 2011 by Carey Jane Clark

I just spent one of those weekends that makes you take a second look at your life and wonder if your priorities are completely in the right place. Not that they’re dramatically off-center, just that I wonder if there are some things I left behind along the way that I need to spend more time on–a lot more time on. It’s all very personal at the moment, and nothing I want to go public with, but it did make it a challenge to prepare my 3 in 30 post for November.

I can tell you what I’m NOT going to do. I’m not going to participate in NaNoWriMo. Much as I’d love to, it’s not the right time for me. Maybe next year. I’m not doing it with my kids this year, either, although last year’s experience was wonderful, and I heartily endorse it.

There are three reasons for this:

I’ve spent so much time in recent months concentrating on After the Snow Falls that I need to give myself a reprieve to recharge my creative juices.
We’re planning a big trip later this month. More on that really soon. I’m so excited! It’s a surprise for the kids that I’ll unveil here when I tell them.
We’re gearing up to move back to China! Again, excited beyond words, and so. much. to. do. Already reading moving blogs and advice because I’m determined to make this one less stressful!

This may require some future revision, but here are my goals at this moment:

Get my personal schedule on track. For me this means getting up before everyone else in the house, spending some devotional time, and then exercising and showering before breakfast preparations.
Begin moving preparations.
Pull off a successful birthday celebration for Sweetpea, and have a blast on our trip.

October 3 in 30, Week 3

October 16, 2011 by Carey Jane Clark

It has been a busy week and a short week because of the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday. As a result, I am behind on some of my goals:

Bible in 90 Days – (now about 96 days) and still not complete. I did work on this, but not to the degree that I did. I am about one or two days away from completing the revision of my novel, which did spill over significantly into this month. I’m looking forward to that being completely behind me. (Well, for now, at least ;)
Get our homeschool schedule back on track – Honestly, this one has me wondering if we should bother to be schedule people at all. We did well this week, a few things got neglected, but that was due to other appointments and field trips we ended up having to fit in, the short school week, and the day the kids had a tough time jumping back in after a three-day weekend. However, I know schedule is extremely important for the general happiness of at least one of my children, and this is why I persist.
Spend more one-on-one time with my children. I have been trying to fit some time alone with Sweetpea, and we just didn’t make it happen because of the family schedule. Part of my challenge here is she isn’t content with the kids of “you and me time” activities the other two are. I’ve been trying to convince her that time for just the two of us doesn’t have to mean leaving the house.

Looking forward to a week of getting things done, once this manuscript is out the door!

October 3 in 30, Week 2

October 10, 2011 by Carey Jane Clark

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! Here’s my progress on my goals for this month:

Bible in 90 Days – I did not finish the Bible in 90 Days on time. However, I am not kicking myself about it. I gained a tremendous amount from my experience reading at this pace, and if it weren’t for some exceptional circumstances, I would have finished on time. I will do it again (and finish on time) and I will continue my reading. All things considered, I’m really not that far off the goal. I am just about to start 1 Corinthians, which puts me only eight days behind. Again, considering the unscheduled events of the last 90 days, I’m okay with that.
Getting our homeschool schedule restarted – We are getting there, but I am also doing better at not getting bent out of shape if something temporarily gets waylaid.
Spending more one-on-one time with my kids. This goal was inspired by reading some of the goals of others in the 3 in 30 challenge, but also because we seem to be in a phase right now where my kids need this more. We’ve experienced a lot of change this year and some grief, and my kids are showing some signs of wear that need that one-on-one attention. Just a few minutes of conversations one-on-one with Pumpkin this month have made a world of difference for him.

Assisting me in my goal-setting efforts is my lack of internet time. It’s been a great exercise to pare down in this area. I’ve also made some goals for the next few weeks while I concentrate on work I need to do, that I dial back on blogging as well. I’m kind of proud of myself for being okay with that.

Taking Smaller Bites

September 29, 2011 by Carey Jane Clark

If you’ve been tracking my 3 in 30 posts, you will notice that I’ve been slipping farther and farther behind on my monthly goals. For September, the goals I was working on were:

Bible in 90 Days
Revision of my novel (and drafting a proposal–snuck that one in there without telling you about it)
Getting homeschool off to a good start.

You see what I’m doing, right? You probably saw it before I did. Three huge goals. No baby steps. No one day at a time stuff here. Just giant leaps of accomplishment.

Read: I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E.

Used to be, I would just skimp on sleep. But I’ve learned I really can’t function adequately as a mother, a wife–a person–on that kind of lifestyle.

I spent a bit of time this month looking over other people’s 3 in 30 goals. They’ve written things like “drink eight glasses of water a day.” You know, achievable, one-day-at-a-time type goals. Things I should be doing, but I’m not. Things I kick myself about every day.

I don’t really know how to do things on a smaller scale. Ask anyone who really knows me. But I need to learn. So wait until you see my goals for October. I hope I’ll impress you with their do-ableness. I’ve decided to take smaller bites.

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