One of the most effective ways I have found to live intentionally is to checkin regularly with your goals. It’s one thing to say you want to become a certain way, do a specific thing or live a particular way but it’s something else entirely to actually make it happen and the only way to truly become anything is with consistency and a whole lot of willpower. I have been working on living more intentionally for a couple years now and one of the things that makes a huge difference for me is quarterly check-ins…with myself.
This years goals are centered around the word: cleanse. Cleansing myself from negativity, toxic environments, bad habits, clutter, etc. As I look back on the first 4.5 months I’m pretty proud with how much progress I have made but I’m also glad I’m doing this checkin because I realize there is more I can be doing…especially with summer approaching.
I have been much pickier about who I follow on social media, unfollowing any accounts that I feel are either negative or are too forceful about their opinions to the point that they put down anyone who does not think the same as them. I have also cut back on how much tv I watch and how often I am on social media….like a lot. It has had a wonderful effect in many aspects. 1. I spend more time with our kids 2. I have more time to sit in silence and reflect and meditate 3. I find other ways to have noise on in the background if needed such as inspiring podcast or music that brightens my day and mood.
Another big change I have made came after we spent some time in Montana over spring break. It was a big eye opener to me that I needed to slow down again. I tend to be a person who enjoys being kept busy. I love projects and crossing things off a list but if I’m not being careful I can get a little too carried away with it all which leads to me getting some pretty unrealistic expectations for myself. During that time away from “city life” (or really suburb life in our case) I was reminded how great it felt to spend some time reading each day, and walking around outside and having the house smell of fresh bread. My desire to live on a homestead where we have everything we need to survive right there on our property began to burn strong within me again. So when we came back home we started making some changes… I planted a garden, started taking about making bread, started researching what we need to get chickens (those will be coming later this year), started planning out landscape in the front yard and backyard that will allow us to spend more time outdoors and reprioritized what is most important for our kids’ education. I still make to do lists each day and I spend the morning getting the “musts” done which always includes a morning walk amongst other things, and then we do school and then while the kids play with friends after school I take 2 hours to do as much as I can on my to do list and then I spend some time reading or meditating, or painting my toenails or anything that just feels “fun” to me. It has made a huge difference in my mental health and I love teaching the kids life skills such as cooking, gardening, harvesting and baking and watching them get excited about it with me. That’s when I really know we’re on the right path that we need to be on during this phase of life.
One other way I have started to cleanse my life is the literal kind. I have been going through closets and cabinets and even our garage to declutter. I love the feeling of giving new life to items that have just been sitting at our house not being put to use for months and months if not longer and now someone else gets to get all excited about their new purchase and actually USE it. I get such satisfaction as I see items in my makeup drawers and in our medicine cabinet actually get finished and then thrown away because I’m just being more intentional about finishing what I have before I try a new product. That may seem like common sense to most, and really it is to me too, I know I should be doing that, but up until this point it had been hard for me to do. Like I’m actually FINISHING my candles before I buy more and that is just a huge step for me 🙂
Some things I plan on working on these next 3 months are: 1. continuing to declutter the house (I’ll up this a bunch with it being summer and no longer teaching) 2. continuing to work on our current garden AND beginning to plant some of the perimeter plants we are wanting to get in 3. spending quality time with each kid one on one over the summer 4. letting go of expectations that I have to get everything done every day but instead to be ok if I have to push some things off for another day 5. read/relax every single day. make time for it, it’s important 6. drink more water. 7. continue to only watch tv at night when the kids go to bed 8. up my scripture study time since we won’t be having the school schedule 9. less projects around the house (other than finishing what we have started) and more family adventures. 10. continue to have get togethers with friends & family that bring us joy and encouragement
I hope if you have been following since the beginning of the year when I first talked about setting yearly goals and checking in regularly to stay on top of them that you use this post as a reminder to check in with yourself. How are you doing? What have you been doing well? What changes have you seen for the better? What areas could you improve? Have you realized new goals that you want to set for yourself or any that you realize aren’t as important as you thought? Re-evaluate, re-adjust if needed and KEEP MOVING FORWARD. You got this!
xo,
Jenny
Homestead Creations 