I’ve been writing down monthly intentions or goals to help me focus in on what is important. Many of the things listed are daily habits I’m seeking to maintain or grow in. The goal is not to obtain perfection, but to make steady progress…and months when there isn’t any progress, to give myself grace and start again the next month. That is my hope for you too as you strive to implement daily/weekly/monthly habits. Here are my December intentions.
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Recap of Intentions in November
Things that went well in November:
- my morning routine continued to go well in November.
- making my bed, meal planning, and intentional movement. I’m happy to say that I think these three things have become a daily and weekly habit after months and months of setting intentions to do them. It now feels strange NOT to do them.
- writing a list of 3 things I’m grateful for every day
- I finished Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. I’ve set up my STEP Command Center, which is based off of Allen’s GTD system. I’m finally at a place to look at my household systems. STEP is especially great for processing paper piles! They offer a free webinar about their system if you’re interested in learning more.
- Writing one blog post a week in November.
- Doing one thing with each child 1:1. Most of the time it’s a simple activity, but I try to stay focused and present with them while we’re together.
- I’m doing a weekly Facebook Live series on our decluttering process in the basement. Follow along here.
- Getting together with friends during the month. It’s important for my introverted self to schedule these at least once a month!
- Coaching my clients in the Decluttering Jumpstart. The progress they made from one call has been inspiring!
Things that were more challenging:
- writing 500 words 3 times a week.
- I haven’t been doing evening reflections on my top 3 priorities for the next day. This will be a goal again for December.
- budgeting in You Need a Budget and meeting weekly with my husband. I’m still tracking my expenses in my planner, but not necessarily doing anything with those numbers! We’ve gone back and forth from YNAB to EveryDollar. Right now we’re trying EveryDollar again.
- Our two older kids made dinner twice in the month, but it hasn’t become a regularly scheduled thing yet. This is still a work in progress!
- Decluttering down in the basement has been challenging. It’s a constantly evolving space and sometimes it feel like more is coming in than going out. Continuing to work on my thoughts, mindset and communication! I think we’ll take a break from pushing on the decluttering down there for the month of December.
Simple and Purposeful Holiday Ideas
We got our Christmas tree this past weekend. It’s a live tree. We bought it from a local Christmas tree farm that brings their trees into the city. It’s a Douglas Fir about 6 feet tall.
It’s the first year where we haven’t gone as a family to pick the tree. We only brought our youngest with us. It was an experiment and our oldest commented that this was the first year that he hadn’t gone with us to get the tree. He sounded wistful, and I realized that this was one family tradition that should be continued – whether the tree is cut down by us, or bought from a lot.
We have other traditions that we’re looking forward to:
- a simple advent calendar with one scripture verse written on each card that gets turned each day. It tells the story of how “the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” (John 1.14, The Message)
- new and matching pajamas for the kids on Christmas Eve
- baking cookies and decorating them
- picking at least one thing from the World Vision Gift Catalog to gift as a family
- watching holiday movies that we watch every year
If you need some inspiration, here are posts that I’ve written in the past about clutter free gifts and traditions:
Over 25 Ideas for Experience and Homemade Christmas Gifts
How to Plan Simple, Intentional Christmas Traditions (It’s not too late!)
15 Clutter Free Gifts for Mom this Holiday
Simplify the Holidays: Christmases Past
5 Step Self Care Plan for the Holidays
What are some simple holiday traditions that you and your family share?
November’s Top 3 List:
As part of these monthly recaps and goals, I’m sharing the top 3 posts and top 3 things I was grateful for this past month.
TOP 3 POSTS IN NOVEMBER:
- Basement Clutter Tour
- 7 Steps to Start Hand Lettering
- 10 Lessons Learned After a Year of Decluttering
TOP 3 THINGS I WAS GRATEFUL FOR IN NOVEMBER:
- What Do We Do All Day – this is a great blog with lots of ideas for screen free activities for kids and parents, often with an educational bent. My youngest and I recently made a 9 Holes Game and The Tower of Hanoi.
- The 2018 Planathon with Amber McCue. This was super helpful to kick me into gear for what goals I want to set for 2018 in my business.
- Getting together with family and friends for Thanksgiving. Most even humored me and did my simple gratitude exercise before dessert!
December Intentions:
SPIRITUAL:
- Daily bible reading from The Daily Message.
- Pray for my husband, children, and loved ones daily using the scripture God has given me.
- Take at least 3 slow, deep breaths in the morning. Silent prayer and meditation for 12 minutes.
PERSONAL:
- Going out with friends at least once a month.
- Intentional movement 5 days of the week (running or HIIT video at least 2 of those days).
- Be in bed by 11pm. Sleep at least 6 hours a night, with 7 hours being ideal.
- Write down 3 things I’m grateful for daily each evening and plan my top 3 things that I need to do the next day.
HOUSEHOLD:
- Meal Plan dinner for the weeknights (get FREE Meal Planning printables)
- Declutter the holiday decorations. This is a great time to donate or throw out holiday decorations that are broken, unused, or unloved.
- Establishing family chores as routines versus sporadic assignments.
- Budget and track daily expenses with the EveryDollar app. Meet weekly with my husband, and talk about money as well as business and home stuff for the upcoming week.
WRITING & BLOGGING:
Elite Blog Academy (EBA) has been my main blogging course that I’ve been going through all year. It’s been instrumental in giving me direction and guidance every step of the way.
EBA only goes on sale once a year. If you’re interested in starting or refining your blog, the EBA Blog Structure Blueprint is a must have! You can download it immediately when you sign up for the wait list HERE.
- Post at least once a week on my blog for December
- Continue weekly FB live videos on Fridays. They may not focus as much on decluttering in the basement in December but other content will be shared!
- Write 500 words at least 3 times a week
- Write one guest post for December, featuring ideas from my eBook
- Contribute an old post on Huffington Post. I was so excited to become a contributor to Huffington Post. You can find my entries so far here.
Monthly Goals:
- Date night with hubby.
- One on one outings with each son.
PIN IT FOR LATER:
What is one monthly intention that you have for December? Share with me in the comments – I would love to know!
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I love that you do this as a family:World Vision Gift Catalog.
I want a real tree, but our apt. is way too small! But PP was thrilled to have her small tree in the living room!
Merry Christmas!