 PREFACE Discipline has been my nemesis. My brain lives in overdrive. (They have a 'name' for it now - attention deficit disorder - which, I think is completely wrong. ADD is not the deficit of focus, it's hyper-focus on a million things at once!) Which means that discipline, especially repeating tasks, is a struggle for my zippy brain. Recently, I started learning to give myself goals and build that discipline and repetition muscle. I began to use a habit tracker (I love this one) as a visual aid, and I started forming accountability groups to keep me honest and motivated. I also learned to invest in my goals: in the accountability groups I offer up a chance at a $25 gift card if you complete the challenge, but for myself personally, I have a $25 gift waiting at the end of each challenge just for me! (I'll show you my pretty red leather gloves when they get here.) The Grace & Goals serial devotional is about bringing the 30-day challenges back around to the source of our strength and motivation, our relationship with Jesus. If you choose to follow along, you'll need a few things:
Between now and Sunday, be thinking about goals you'd like to accomplish. We set three goals in our challenge group, but you can set up to six on the tracker. Wondering how to get started? Keep reading! EASY GOAL SETTING First - think BIG picture. For example, I have two main goals: 1. Be Healthy & Trim - I love horseback riding. It's a great love and passion of mine. I have a certain size saddle I want to fit into. I can't at my current size. That's why 'trim' is on my list. Healthy encompasses the rest of my life. Homesteading, parenting, daughter-ing, wife-ing, friend-ing - I want to be available and able to move and participate. 2. Write - Writing has been a passion of mine since I can remember. I've been writing stories my whole life. I'm ready to really focus on it now. I need to make it a priority. Second, identify tasks you could do to meet those goals. For my goals, I could write regularly, exercise more, eat less/better, get more sleep, drink more water. Third, break each task down in general actions. My actions would look like this: Walk (this helps me sleep better as well) Eat whole foods plant based, no snacks Get up early to write (this helps me get to bed early) Drink a gallon of water each day Finally, create a list of action items that are MEASURABLE & SPECIFIC. My specific action items, along with how I can measure 'success', look like this:
While that list seems long, I've been working on the walking, eating and snack-limiting already, so really it's just the writing topic, core exercises, and water that are new. START SMALL It's important not to overwhelm yourself. Start small. When I first began 5 months ago, my only goal was to limit my food. I did that goal for 48 days. My next goal-setting challenge was to walk and eat for health. My third goal-setting added another. And so on. Start small. Make your goals MEASURABLE. Make them 25% less than what you think you can do. Our ultimate purpose is to build the muscles of discipline and repetition. PRAY FIRST Most importantly, PRAY FIRST. Ask God what you need to work on . If you think you know, ask anyway. Read through Romans chapters 4 and 5 over the next few days (I really like The Message translation) and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you. I'm looking forward to starting our Grace & Goals study on Monday morning! See you then! If you would like to join our online challenge group, you just need a free MeWe account, and then click on this link: Rosalyn's 3 for 30 Challenge 
2 Comments
Join me here beginning Feb 5 for a new serial devotional study: Grace & Goals
|
Grace & Goals
A 30-day serial devotional to accompany the 3 for 30 Challenges. ArchivesCategories |
||
RSS Feed