Her left hand lifts
the white dandelion
to her mouth.
She blows air slowly from her lips.
Drifting softly,
her whisper floats down
with soft feathered seeds.
Her left hand lifts
the white dandelion
to her mouth.
She blows air slowly from her lips.
Drifting softly,
her whisper floats down
with soft feathered seeds.
Take time to consider where you are today. Have you become the person you had wanted? Are you financially in the position you desire? Are you spending your time doing the things you want? Are there changes you would like to make to make your life or your family’s life better? Do you want to see you business more profitable, or reaching larger markets?
Many of us have dreams and desires, and want to see changes happen, but fail to take the steps to make them happen. Now I am not a fan of what they call “resolutions”, but am a big believer in setting goals to make yourself and your business’ successful. Success is different for everyone, but one thing is clear success starts with determining where you want to go. Find goals that move you, goals that inspire you to move beyond where you are today.
List your goals, be clear and concise listing what you want to achieve. Make it so you easily understand where you want to go by looking at the goal. What are the things you want to achieve individually, as a company, or as a family? Consider how can I make my life and my family’s life better? Goal setting can sometimes require you to get out of your normal surroundings and allow the time to have quiet clear thoughts without the regular interruptions.
Develop an action plan for your goals. Without action, your goals are merely wishes. What steps can be taken today, this week, this month to get closer to your end goal. List these action steps into your strategy plan. Your strategy plan should be measurable allowing you to clearly see on a daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly basis how much closer you are to reaching your goals. By seeing yourself getting closer with each passing step, you will gain momentum which helps you reach your goals quicker.
The next step is sometimes the most difficult, taking the action to move from where you are now, to where you want to be with your goal. Many times we have habits, activities, and practices in our daily lives that we like, are comfortable with, and are hard to change. Some of your goals are going to require you to make changes, as indicated in your action plan. In baseball it is hard to steal second base, if you are unwilling to take your foot off of first base. Take action, follow your plan.
You are on the right track now! You know what your goals are, have developed the action plan, and are doing the steps to reach your goals. Make certain you keep your goals in front of you. Tape them on your bathroom mirror. Place them in your purse or wallet. Put them on your screensaver or phone. The point is you want to keep your eyes on the prize, because life is full of distractions. We all still have responsibilities and routines each and every day that if we are not careful, will pull us completely away from our action plan.
Success is defined different for each and every person. Reaching your goals, and seeing your life develop into the way you desire can be achieved. Following these simple and effective tips will help as you put the action to your plans.
We hope that goal setting becomes not only a year-end effort, but a regular activity in your life to make the small adjustments in your personal, business, and family life to enrich and fulfill all your dreams!
Check us out at JenGaryNewAdventures.com and follow us on Pinterest.
Safe as I cling to what I know,
Secure in what I already understand,
Beyond lay uncertainty and fear.
Uncertainty in my abilities,
Fear of the difficulties ahead,
Worry for the things I do not know.
Seeking God and His direction,
Reaching out in prayer and in His word,
Finding peace, awaiting answers.
Letting go I reach upward,
Keeping eyes focused on Him,
Soaring higher than ever imagined…
Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established. – Proverbs 16:3
Check us out at JenGaryNewAdventures.com and follow us on Pinterest.
Camping during the middle of the week,close to home and work,was a tremendous idea. A Goal we had. And we accomplished!!!
We packed the 5th wheel Tuesday night,and pulled out Wednesday, late afternoon. The whole drive to our campsite and set up time was a little less than an hour. I followed behind in my minivan so that I would have a way to get to work on Thursday and Friday. I was less than half an hour from my jobs and my husband was less than 40 minutes from his office.
Cedar Creek Campground is a Corps of Engineers campground open for the spring through fall season on Old Hickory Lake. The campground has close to sixty pads for tent camping through full sized RV’s. Our campsite was located in a beautiful, quiet area close to the lake.
We took leisurely walks. We saw wildlife and the most beautiful sunsets!
Our stay there was for only a few days.
Enough time to return home feeling rejuvenated! If you have not visited a park or camground in a while, put it on your list. You will be very glad you did!
Share a fun camping or outdoors story with us.
Check us out at JenGaryNewAdventures.com and follow us on Pinterest.
My husband and I made not only a promise to each other to work out while our son is becoming a Marine, but we also made a promise to our son to work out hard for him each day.
I sent him a letter explaining that we had a year membership at Planet Fitness which I believe I wrote about earlier. Gary and I struggled at first to figure out our best time to go.
I fought him on trying to be there and ready to work out a little bit before 5 in the a.m. I was a definite grumpy bear at first when he mentioned it. But to be honest, once we started going at that early time, I found I was happiest!
We us the treadmill. We work out in the 12 minute ab area (I LOVE THIS AREA!) Then we ride bikes,then lift arm and leg weights.
To pamper ourselves, we finish with a hydro massage and a tan! We switch off on these last two every other day. I really relax on the hydro massage table and I turn the pressure all the way UP. I could easily fall asleep there and stay for awhile 🙂
Then we finish off with a nice warm shower, wave good-bye to the friendly staff and head our separate ways to work!
Our goal? To push ourselves harder and harder each time. But really we want our son to see an improvement in us and be proud that we worked hard while he was. Becoming a Marine is by far the hardest and we are so proud of his commitment and determination! Go us! Go Alexander!!
Whoo Hoo! We are now brand new members at our local Mt. Juliet Planet Fitness!! This location is new to the area and recently built by my husbands company he works for.
There were so many impressive qualities. First, no making fun of anyone. “Judgment Free Zone”! The staff were very impressive, greeting us with smiles and welcome to Planet Fitness.
We began with a tour. Oh, what fun!!! Beautiful machines, all shiny and lined up neatly with a television and access to plug in to the stations on each machine. Treadmills, different step machines that I did not know existed, weight machines and workout stations that count down when it is time to move to the next machine. Plus, and I was happy to find out, I could sign up and meet a fitness trainer. I hope to list the target areas I feel I need to work on and receive goals from her to work towards.
Finally, the very exciting and relaxing area located in another area of Planet Fitness. I can feel the goosebumps……the glorious massage and tanning machines! The place I feel my husband and I have definitely earned. We have talked about this area with a dreamy look in our eyes. 😉
Our goal-work out as many times as possible for the next 13 weeks till we see our son graduate and become a Marine! And encourage him and each other with hope for a bright healthy future, loving and pushing ourselves to a healthier, stronger level, and showing our commitment to him by trying so hard to better ourselves not only physically, but mentally.
Sometimes is seems that life gets so hectic that time just passes so quickly. In fact, with all the new technology available, much of our precious spare time is now filled before we know it. This makes it so important, now as much as ever, to set goals and keep moving forward.
Keeping your eyes on the prize…
Starting out on a journey with no clear understanding of where we want to end up is certain to be full of surprises, both good and bad. Life has enough of those, whether you plan or not. Taking the time to look ahead, both short term and long term is critical to helping not only see the direction you want to travel, but in getting you there.
It is easy to forget…
Ever notice that our days are filled with ideas and thoughts that are so quickly forgotten. Writing down daily thoughts and tasks helps to keep us straight. So it works with writing down goals, and keeping them in plain site. Tape them on your mirror, put them on your tablet or smart phone. The key to remembering is seeing them often enough to keep moving in the right direction.
You are the one you need to make happy…
While it is great to encourage others on their way to achieving goals, never lose sight of what is important to you and those you love. Your goals may be somehat silly to others, or like mine just downright crazy. The fact is you need to make yourself happy. Be honest with yourself on your dreams and where you want to go. Be true to yourself. Oh yeah, and keep moving forward – Walt Disney.
G
I could try to be more creative on the title of my blogs, but it is just what it is. Our son leaves for Parris Island in 27 days and our family and friends could not be more supportive. We have been to Disney World twice since my last blog, had his graduation from high school, and went a few times to visit his Grandma and uncle in Indiana. We tried running with him and I ended up injured and looked like Tim Conway playing the part of the little old man that shuffles around on the Carol Burnett show. We still walk with him and I will get back in to running. We play the Harry Potter Clue game and watch the Clue movie which is a long-standing family tradition,we listen to and watch him play all his different video games, go to the movies and pig out on popcorn,and look at old family photos and smile remembering the great times we have had. I eagerly wait for him to share the latest Robot Chickens he has watched. I laugh harder when he tells about them, rather than actually watching one. We listen to him repeat every documentary word for word and I know he must be some kind of genius. He memorizes everything, he is interested in everything. We promise we will not cry till he leaves and we now call him a man ever since he graduated. We talk about being just the two of us and at first this kind of scared me. What the heck was I suppose to do? I have come to live for dirty clothes and dishes, running everybody everywhere,and being so rushed each day, but somehow pulling it together at the end of the day. But who cares about this now??!! What we are so excited about is making our children proud of us! Starting with us as a couple. Very strong in our love,marriage,and future and adding to our talents and changing who we are,too. So there have been some sleepless nights and long days and many many conversations on us breaking out of the rut of get up,coffee,devotions,work,supper,movie,sleep,start over again. Now the pressure is on! We have only 27 days left to really encourage each other to step out of our comfort zone and start writing, reading more, and beginning new businesses together and separately. Our big goal is to provide land for our children, become full-time RV travelers, and have a way to be together 24/7. Forever.