Discipline | My word for 2018 | Personal
We all know January and the new year is full of resolutions, goals, and new beginnings. Before graduating college, I thought new year resolutions were pretty dumb. I just thought people made ridiculous goals for themselves that they would probably never achieve, and also thought what is so different about a New Year or January that makes people think now they will be able to achieve those ridiculous goals.
The truth is I was mostly right! The majority of people that make new year’s resolutions just say the one big goal they want to achieve but don’t intentionally think about the steps that they have to take to get there. They wing it for a couples of weeks or months, and then give up because they feel lost, hopeless, and not driven. They fail once or twice and think it’s just time to give up, and to try again next year.
The thing is “THERE IS NOTHING MAGICAL ABOUT JANUARY” (Lara Casey) You can start a goal in February and you can still achieve it. Heck, you can start a goal in mid-September and still achieve it. There is no rule book that says you can only create goals in January if you want to complete them, and nothing that says you have to wait to next January to start again.
All of my life I have been very driven and focused. I wanted to cheer in high school so I made the varsity team my freshman year, I wanted to be Student Body President so I worked my way up the student government ladder till I was voted to be SBP, I wanted a liberal arts education so I studied so I could have a high GPA, I wanted to go to Wofford so I networked with Wofford Alum to help me get more scholarship, I wanted to be a leader in my sorority so I put countless hours till I became Vice President, I wanted to work in marketing but there wasn’t a marketing major at Wofford so I found an amazing experience at a marketing internship, I wanted to marry Taylor Leaphart so I married Taylor Leaphart, I wanted to become a wedding photographer so I researched, followed, learned, and started a wedding photography business, I wanted to graduate Cum Laude from Wofford with a double major so I studied so hard so I would be able to achieve just that. I was able to achieve all these things and those next steps came so easily to me, but after I graduated I had this feeling of Well, what’s next? All my life it had been a natural progression, but now I was thrown into a world where I had too many options and too many things that I felt like I wanted to achieve!
I honestly started to just pray. Prayed that the Lord would help direct my path, that I could stay focused on the things I needed to focus on, that he would just remind me of my priorities daily, and that I would realize that God created seasons of life for a reason.
I think God truly answered that prayer by leading me through a dark Instagram rabbit hole to Powersheets. Lara Casey’s description of a grace-filled system helping you uncover purpose-filled goals and plans to help make what matter happened just spoke to my heart! As I read more and more I found myself at a shopping cart purchasing a six-month Powersheet goal planner.
I started mid-June… Let me say that again… I started MID-JUNE my Powersheets and they truly helped me figure out what season of life I was in and what are the goals that are most important during that season. For my next six-months I chose the word fruitful to focus on. Fruitful relationships and conversation with those around me. I started to put my work down to spend time with my husband, I started to put my phone down when I was with my family, I made new friendships and reached out to other creatives, I kept up with my current friendships better, and best of all my actions had now become way more intentional! Looking back on it I truly see that I had a more purpose-filled six months. However, there were several times I beat myself up because my tending list page was not all the way completed, colored in, or checked. But guess what friends?! That’s what I love about this system it is GRACE-FILLED! It has taught me I can’t do it all but to spend time on those things that matter most to me.
It was no surprise when December rolled around my gift to myself was the one-year Powersheet goal planner. I spent probably 3 days going through the beginning worksheets, in prayer, and creating my goals for 2018. However, when it was time to choose my word for the year I felt like a lot of things could apply. After going through dictionary.com, thinking about what I wanted to focus on, and praying about what season of life I am in I chose the word discipline.
Discipline: activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training
The more I thought about discipline, the more it seemed to be perfect and resounding to the things that are a priority to me.
Discipline in my relationship with Christ: when you’re in college it is so easy to go to a bible study every week and to have people that will hold you accountable, but when you get out of college it is no longer that structured and you don’t have your friends/roommates/whomever around you to hold you accountable. I have struggled with this so I want to have discipline in reading scripture, daily devotionals, and prayer
Disciplined Healthy Lifestyle: To be honest I have never practiced self-care. I have pushed my body to its limits, skipped both breakfast and lunch multiple times, gone un-showered for a few days, put off check-ups, ate only when I had time, slept very little, didn’t take my medicine, and pushed off working out. I want to just take care of my body and my mind better and cultivate a healthier lifestyle for myself. I think a lot of times peoples goal is just to lose weight but losing weight isn’t a lifestyle to live and if you don’t reach the number you want on the scale that doesn’t make you unhealthy.
Discipline in Our Finances: Taylor and I have a budget, and do pretty well but we want to be very disciplined and regimented in it so we can save for a house, pay off student debt faster, save for travel, and give more. We know the Lord has blesses us in so many ways and we want to use the finances he gives us for his glory.
Discipline in my business: I am starting a new season where I will be working full time from home. While it is very very exciting it is also scary to me. I want to have a disciplined business schedule when I know it’s time to work and focus and when it’s time to cut off the computer and watch a movie with my husband.
For all these reasons and more, discipline is my word for 2018, and completely fits the season of life I am in right now. I can’t wait to share more about my goals for 2018 and how I am taking intentional steps to be more disciplined. Remember, there is nothing magical about January. You can start today! If you have any questions about Powersheets, goal planning, or anything I wrote in this blog feel free to reach out, and if you have a word for 2018 leave it in the comments below!
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