November Intentions: Finishing 2017 with Your Word of the Year

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 November intentions.

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Recap of Intentions in October

Things that went well in October:

• my morning routine continued to go well in October.
• 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’m halfway through 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.
• I did declutter the storage closet. I realized that there’s a huge suitcase in there that someone gave me years ago but we will never use. We usually like to do individual carry ons when we travel, so that can be donated! There was also an older queen size bed frame that we’ve been storing and don’t need anymore. Those two things alone freed up a lot of precious space.
• Writing one blog post a week in October.
• I’m doing a weekly Facebook Live series on our decluttering process in the basement. Follow along here.
• Coaching my clients in the Decluttering Jumpstart. The progress they made from one call has been inspiring!
  

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Things that were more challenging:

• writing 500 words 3 times a week.
• 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.
• I haven’t made much progress in planning family chores as regular routines. Ideally I would like my two older sons to plan and make one family dinner a week and take on a few more household chores. We’ve been focused on the high school admission process for my middle son the past two months. This will be one of my family projects for November.

Your Word for 2017

Joy. Spark Joy.

Those were my words for 2017.

As 2017 draws to a close (how is that possible!) I’m suddenly aware that in the second half of 2017 I haven’t been as focused on my word. My actions and decisions haven’t been as directed by my desire for joy.

At the start of 2017 I wrote:

In 2017 I want to make decisions through the lens of joy.

In 2017 I want to do things that spark joy in me.

In 2017 I want to spark joy in other people around me.

Did I live my word in 2017? The first half of the year I was focused on growing in awareness of what brings me joy. The second half of the year has been full of logistics with back to school details and high school admission processes.

However, since there are still two more months in 2017, I want to refocus on joy and sparking joy.

I’ve been participating in a 2018 Planathon and the idea of picking a new word for 2018 was brought up. My first reaction was, “Wait! There are still two whole months left of 2017!”

I don’t want to let these last two months of 2017 pass by without keeping the focus on joy. While I’m thinking ahead to 2018, I also want to be asking myself, “How are you sparking joy in your life today, Angela? How are you sparking joy in the lives around you today?”

I went shopping yesterday and saw the fresh flowers by the entrance. I remembered that fresh flowers sparks joy, so I bought a small bouquet. They’re in front of me now and when I look at them, they make me smile.

I was listening to the School of Greatness podcast interview of Brendon Burchard and he said that he sets trigger reminders for himself. Passing through doorways triggers him to say to himself, “Bring the joy.” 

It was a reminder to me that joy isn’t passive.

We can bring the joy wherever we are, whatever we’re doing.

Joy is a mindset.

We can choose joy.

October’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 OCTOBER:

1. 7 Steps to Start Hand Lettering
2. 10 Lessons Learned After a Year of Decluttering
3. 5 Steps to Decluttering an Overwhelming Space

TOP 3 THINGS I WAS GRATEFUL FOR IN OCTOBER:

1. The beautiful Fall weather. I love the crisp, cool air.
2. The Life Coach School podcast by Brooke Castillo. This is a wonderful podcast to learn how to grow in awareness of your thoughts and how to change them. Start from the first episode!
3. Feeling more at ease on video.

Top 3 Posts and Top 3 Things I was grateful for in October #gratitude #top3 Click To Tweet
 

November 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 storage closet again. I’m thinking about moving my work desk in there.
• Work at least 15 minutes in the basement (with or without) hubby on Sunday evenings when I put in a load of laundry.
• 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.

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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 November
• Continue weekly FB live videos on Fridays on the decluttering process in the basement.
• Write 500 words at least 3 times a week
• Write one guest post for November, 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 November? Share with me in the comments – I would love to know!

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