We had a very enjoyable Christmastide. The biggest thing for us is that we were ALL HEALTHY the ENTIRE TIME. We prayed for weeks and weeks that we would be healthy during Christmas and God graciously answered that prayer.
Our celebrations were quiet. We had some good family time and time with grandparents. Caroline was thrilled with her gifts so that made us happy as well.
Like many people, I’ve been thinking through my goals for the new year. I came up with three. Focusing in on three is helping me decide each hour of the day how to focus my energy. My goals are:
1. Continue to deepen my walk with God
2. Lose one and a half sizes
3. Increase our gross income by 50%
That’s it. I don’t care about healthy eating, saving money, home improvements, date nights, travel, books or anything. Those are the only three things I care about. Pretty much everything I do this year will have to filter through those three. Actually, if I can achieve these three, most of the other goals I might have set would work themselves out on their own as a result.
The first one is the most easily attainable. If I seek God, He is there. If I invest in my walk with Him, He is there. The only way I can fail in this goal is not trying.
The second goal is a two part one. First, I want to lose a half a size so I can finally get back in my pre-pregnancy clothing. Yes, Caroline is SIX. Yes, I still have my pre-pregnancy clothes, a beautiful (and expensive) collection of classic clothes that I have not been able to part with and still love. Yes, I have been stuck between sizes for the past five years. Every time I’ve made progress, something comes along and I get completely set back. Barring another unforseen circumstance, there is no reason I cannot lose at least one half size. Then I would like to lose another size. I don’t care what I weigh and I don’t care what my measurements are. If I can fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes and walk into a store and buy a size X off the rack, then that’s it. And if I can get down to a size Y I’ll have a new problem because none of my clothes will fit me. I’ll cross that bridge if/when I get there.
So the second goal is doable, I think. The first part is very doable. If I don’t accomplish it, it is because I didn’t try or something significant derailed me yet again. The second part will be harder. Frankly, if I can get the first part I will be 90% happy.
My third goal is to raise our gross income by 50%. This is by far the loftiest goal and the one that will require the most effort and, frankly, sacrifice. I don’t think I would have even thought about such a goal in the past. But now that I’m feeling pretty healthy, Caroline is much more independent, and I’ve been provided an outlet (TPT primarily and online writing/blogging in general)… It seems very possible. I’ll be investing pretty much every spare minute I have in my TPT store for the next eight months to prepare for the back to school and holiday season in 2013. I’ve been encouraged by my experience so far and can see the wonderful opportunity it is. But it is not a get rich quick scheme. The people who have had good success on TPT have invested a lot of time and energy. A lot. And even if I don’t reach my lofty goal, every step I do reach toward that just improves our lives anyways. Even reaching a goal of 30% or 40% will be a great help to us.
So that’s what’s on my mind. Part of my decision to change my SallieBorrink.com focus was due to this. Reading and writing about the issue of women in the church was not benefiting our family and it was becoming an emotional drag on me. I will probably still link to some articles here since I have scads of them in my bookmarks, but I’m going to be focusing my energies in other directions.
The nice thing about focusing my other blog on learning and developing products for TPT is that it dovetails really well with our homeschooling. Writing on the women’s issue was a drain on my time and energy. I wish I had limitless time to invest in all the things that interest me, but I don’t. With this new focus I can serve my family and help my family financially at the same time.
So what goals have you set for 2013?
I still have not hit my pre-preg weight and my baby is NINE now. Oh well…I focus on the being healthy part. I might just have to be a healthy size 12/14.
I should look into the TPT more. I have tons of teaching ideas from my previous career & homeschooling. Just don’t know if I can get it OUT of my brain kind of thing. I hear you on increasing income. It is a *MUST* in our household this year as my husbands salary has been shrinking for 10 years more and more and more. I hope my freelance writing work continues to grow, but you just never know. I’ve thougt about doing something else to add to the mix, like making something by hand to sell. I have no idea. I just need more $ to survive. I’m not talking fancy vacations. I’m talking eating, paying mortgage, light bill money…
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