Day Five - Time Escapes Me

So as Jennifer Uhl of Change My Stars and I work through our 90 Day Goal Challenge, I am realizing how easily time and other things in my life seem to escape me. This is obviously not productive and I'm not clear yet on how to make adjustments to keep from derailing myself. Most of the tasks or items that come up that help with time consumption are necessary, albeit unexpected. I need to learn to adjust on the fly so that I am not only accomplishing those unexpected tasks, but also staying on track with my planned goals for the day.

Yesterday was Day Five and I am writing this post a day late. Seems to be a trend of late. I have only one thing to say about yesterday, organization and coordination are things that I need to work on so that I can adjust when there is an unexpected factor thrown into the mix. While I multi-task well, it seems that I hyper-focus on goals as well. This means that when a new goal or task interjects into my plan, all else goes out the window while I focus on it.

Adjustment in goals:

Find the energy and strength to push through with original goals when blindsided by life.

Until next time, what are your goals for the future and how do you plan to reach them? What are you waiting for?

Day Four - The Rabbit Hole

Day 4 of the 90 Day Goal Challenge is wrapping up. I failed to keep up with things yesterday when I wasn't feeling well and never got my post for the day. Sorry for anyone following the status of this project. Yesterday was not overly productive and ended chaos.

Today, I felt much like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Things have been a dizzying array of frustrating tasks, few of which provided me with any personal satisfaction or momentum. I spent much of my day helping a grandparent to get her bills, taxes and other things in order. This didn't leave me much time to spend on my own goals. This said, there have been some organizational tasks dealt with today and I got a few of my own financial issues pointed in the right direction. I did not, however, bring home the bacon as they say. Relative to writing goals for the day, today so far has been an "epic fail" in the words of my 14 year old daughter.

Tomorrow I plan to stay on point and follow a list, which will include a fair sized grocery shopping trip. This is a time consuming process and will take a good part of the day because I intend to do so as an avid couponer, but it will be well worth the effort and will layout the foundation for getting more done. Multiple trips to the grocery can be taxing and expensive.

So, in summary, I feel as though the day has gotten away from me and I am going to work hard to turn the remainder of the week around. Wish me luck and stay tuned.

Realizing the Hurdles

The power of accountability is unmatched when it comes to taking action. Here we are on day 2 of our 90 Day Goal Challenge. So far I have done the exercises I agreed to do and I'm working on my blog posting. I have work set up for the day and I'm fully ready to jump in. Now, if I could just get my brain and body to work with the part of my soul that is motivated to make it happen!

One thing that I'm realizing as we jump into this challenge is that I truly am the type of person that must have organization and a task list to accomplish the goal. While I love being free spirited and doing things on a whim, there is something to be said for list making. I am a 'list checker' and it is the only way I accomplish goals. This said, I'm going to develop a solid list today that I can check off regularly.

I have found that I am a very organized person, for everyone except me. I was a paralegal for many years; a job requiring organization. I have a few factors that I need to deal with in this challenge, that are only things that need to be considered, but should not be factors that stop me at all. I have adult ADD, which contributes to the many ways that I derail my own success. I know this, and I simply have to use this to my advantage when working toward my goals. I know there are positives in having ADD and I just have to utilize these creative abilities and insane need to multi-task to my advantage.

My weight, exhaustion, aches and pains and many other symptoms that make reaching my goals problematic, develop from thyroid disease. This is not a new issue to deal with, it just seems to have evolved into a bigger hill for me than in younger years. Education seems to be the best way for me to climb this mountain successfully. I will continue to learn and evolve to deal with the issues at hand.

There are a large number of hurdles related to my financial situation and I have to take them on one at a time. This begins with taking control of my work and creating a financial security for my family that will keep me from making the same mistakes that got us here.

All in all, there is a great deal to do, even in the 90 days ahead. One day at a time and a well developed plan, are the only way to get from point A to point B here. On with day 2 of this journey. I wonder how my partner in this challenge, Jennifer Uhl of Change My Stars, is doing so far today.

Every year people make New Year's resolutions that they fully intend to stick to. Unfortunately, most of us fail to keep up with these well intended sentiments and fall behind. The date is March 1, 2014 and I am going to try something a little different. I am going to make action out of intention and set some goals with another lost soul on the path of change, Jennifer Uhl of Change My Stars.

We are setting out on our 90 Day Goal Challenge and plan to take actions to make changes each day. The only requirement of our challenge is that we blog each day about our challenge. So consider this my first blog on the first day of our 90 Day Goal Challenge. While I might slip along the way, or I may find road blocks that prevent me from reaching my goals in the time allotted, I plan to diligently pursue taking action toward my goals each day. Here are my goals for this challenge:

1.  Reach a weight that makes me comfortable in my own skin.
2.  Improve my business and thus my finances.
3.  Put my truck back on the road.
4.  Finish writing and publishing one book.
5.  Put money into savings.

Anyone want to see how I do? Come on, follow me on my journey. Set a goal challenge of your own up!

Parenting Perspective

While we all love my children more than words can express, there are times when you simply have to take a step back and think about yourself for a little while. I recently went on my second date in 6 years with my husband. It was a good way to connect and to remember what we are all about. As parents who love their children and want to do the best we can for them at all times, it is easy to forget our own personality and take on the strict role of being a parent. I no longer have things that I "do in my spare time for fun." I don't seem to remember what it is that I love to do just because I want to do it. I think that this can add to the fuel of stress that is in everyday life as a parent.

So readers, this is my advice to every parent out there, whether you are a single parent, the parent of one or a parent of six children who you love dearly. Take a break. Find yourself and your partner. You will not only be doing yourself a favor, but you will also be bringing something to the table of parenthood that you might have left behind; passion. If you work for yourself and work from home, this is ten times as important. Love them enough to get some distance.

Life in a Revolution without Technology. Where would your children be???

I'm going to talk about something I rarely bring into my writing but, is always on my mind. I have recently fallen into a television series called Revolution. While the thoughts of this series, being life without power and technology, are something nobody wants to think about, I have long embraced the thought. Whether this makes me crazy or prepared I don't even venture to think, but frankly there are times when I wonder if we (our children) wouldn't have a better grounding in life if this was the circumstance. Yes, I know this make me seem perhaps a little nuts, I see a great advantage to children who don't EXPECT everything to be handed to them and those who have a sense of discovery and survival and frankly, an appreciation for what they have. What would your children be able to handle if you were not there and they had to face life without technology??

Lego Therapy

Taking advantage of the time I have with my children should be the easiest thing in the world, but that just doesn't seem to be the case most days. It's hard in the hustle of every day, even as a work at home mom, to stop and smell the Oreo's. Learning how to make the most of my time with my children while still being productive has been a real learning curve. Here is a tip I have learned from some other work at home moms that I trust. Break it all down into smaller pieces. Small bits of time with your children between projects for work mean the world to them and really help you to stay connected. Break up your day into components that your kids can rely on and you will find them to be much more responsive when you need to take time to do your work. Taking time to works of art in macaroni and Popsicle sticks can change your outlook on your work and will  make a big impact on your small fries!