Positive Domino Effects

There's a commercial out for, I think, breakfast sandwiches or something like that where it talks about how one good decision can impact other decisions and so on and so forth. Basically it is the Domino Effect in a positive fashion - each one impacts the next and creates a chain reaction. You get me, right? :-)

Well, that's where I'm at right now - I feel like I've been able to put some real momentum into my dominoes and they are a tumbling left and right and creating a massively awesome chain reaction! And it feels AH-MAZ-ING!!! Now granted, I know that sometimes the gap between my dominoes is set too far and it momentarily derails it. But with just a little adjustment, it is back up and running again. So what have I been doing to make this happen? Keeping at my goals that I set at the beginning of the year. Plain and simple...let's do a quick goal check.

Goal #1 - Be Financially Responsible
I've been keeping up on my checkbook each week, setting a budget at the beginning of each month, getting bills paid, and have my tax appointment this weekend. So far, so good and I really, really, really like how it removes an immense amount of stress to have it all settled every week and at the beginning of the month. Removing the stress of wondering where I'm at with my funds allows me to focus on the other important things in life.

Goal #2 - Position Myself for a Work Promotion
I've been super productive at work, especially the past several weeks, and that has allowed me to get to a place that I'm not just marking urgent items off of the to-do list, but I'm actually getting to the things that are always at the bottom of the pile. Because IF I do get that promotion at the end of the year then someone else will also have to come in and do my job and I really want to leave everything in a good place for whoever that person might be. I'm also dressing the part, rocking my leadership class, and putting the pieces in place to continue my educational pursuits. I'm getting great feedback from the big guy so I feel like I'm on the right track here.

Goal #3 - Get to Goal Weight
I'm down about 11 pounds since the first of the year and have (mostly) been eating well and hitting my workouts. I had a terrible flu for a good solid week at the end of February that really took a lot out of me, but I'm pretty much fully recovered at this point and am using full effort in my workouts. Additionally, I had zero appetite while I was sick, so the flu diet paid off for me. I was a little worried about regaining the weight that I lost while sick when I started eating again, but I just had to realize that I was going to most likely bounce up a few pounds because no matter what I needed to eat especially if I wanted to get my workouts going full steam again. I did regain about 2 pounds and I'm okay with that. But the good news is that I'm below 170 for the first time in FOREVERRRRR and my clothes are really starting to fit loose. I would say I'm mostly on track with this goal, but do have minor setbacks like too much fast food as I recovered from being sick and those darn Girl Scout cookies. They are pure evil.

Goal #4 - Develop My Blog
This is the one goal that I really feel I've been failing with. But with that said, I really do feel like I'm getting to a better place to start adding that priority in a little more. I've been so focused on goals 1-3 that something had to give and this was the one. But with getting those things into a habits formed, domino effect mode I feel I can start to work on making this one a habit too. Baby steps...

As far as some of my lesser goals or intentions, I'm four books in on this year so far which is awesome since last year I think I maybe read 4 books total and the hubby and I made some great progress on things that needed maintenance around the house back in late January/early February but have stalled out recently - BUT we do have a list and are working on prioritizing it. Some of the things I'm not necessarily nailing right now are writing in a journal, getting to work on time, etc. But I'm still committed to working towards them and that's the really great thing about goals or intentions - you don't have to quit because you have a setback! You just dust yourself off and keep going and that's what I'm doing.

And you know the best thing? Having some goals in place and continuing to strive for them is helping me make even more good decisions and that makes me happy which makes me try harder and it's one of those awesome circles of positive!

QUESTION: How are your 2016 goals going so far? Have you checked in on them lately?

Integrity to Self...

I had something else entirely I wanted to write about today - running goals. But sometimes you just gotta go with the flow, right?

I was super excited to find out that I had been chosen to participate in a year-long leadership program where I work that started in January of this year. There are about 20 of us that were chosen by the Administration to be in the very first cohort of this program, and I was one of those selected! It's a huge opportunity and considering that one of my goals for 2016 is to position myself at work for a promotion, this leadership program fits very nicely with that goal. So we meet twice a month for the first 5 months, then get June and July off (I imagine we will have some homework or projects to do during this time), and then spend the final 5 months of the year meeting monthly as we are implementing everything we learned during the first half of the year. It's an exciting time, indeed!! Okay, so now that we have that background out of the way let me dive into what's on my mind: Integrity.

We all know that quote right there, right? Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching...and that's definitely a huge part of integrity for sure!! It's absolutely important that you are doing the right thing regardless of whether anyone sees it or not. Or how about this one:

So another big piece of integrity is doing what you say you'll do, right? But one of the things this class has really gotten me to think about is integrity to MYSELF. Yes, I do pretty well in maintaining my integrity with others. I will usually do what I say I'm going to do, for the most part; but will definitely take ownership when I can't follow through on a promise or commitment of my time. I also live a right life as I don't cheat or steal and all that good stuff. But do I keep my word to myself????

When I say that I'm going to lose weight as one of my goals, am I saying that with integrity behind it because the thing I'm saying is lining up with the things I do? Or when I say I'm going to blog consistently as one of my goals, same principle - is it in alignment between say and do? Hmmmmm...definitely makes me think! And definitely makes me realize that no, I'm absolutely not living with integrity in some aspects of my life. When I set a goal and then do absolutely nothing to realize that goal I am basically removing integrity from the situation. Makes sense, no??

So basically when I say this year that I'm going to lose weight, I am really trying to put some integrity behind that by making choices that truly REFLECT that commitment to myself. Because really, a goal is a commitment, correct? And when you are committed to something you show it through your actions, right? I can't say I'm committed to my goals if I'm not proving it through my actions.

So here I am - re-committing myself to my goals on a daily basis and not just saying - but DOING!! Because talk is cheap and if all I do is say I'm going to accomplish a goal and I don't put action into it, then I'm not living with integrity. And the law of integrity says that if you live outside of integrity you will have consequences. Mainly, my word becomes less than a promise. It becomes something that is only followed through on when it is convenient and that's not the life I want to lead. I want to be someone that says what they are going to do and DOES IT. I want people to know that if I've put my mind to something, I will accomplish it. I want people to know that when I give my word - even if it is just to myself - that it MEANS something.

Question: Are you living with integrity in all areas of your life, including the promises you make to yourself? How are you taking action steps towards the commitments you have made to YOU?

2016 Goals

Remember when I mentioned that if I get overwhelmed I tend to just stick my head in the ground and quit sharing back when I talked about my One Word for 2016 (Grow)? Yeahhhhh, well, consider that as being the case these days. I had grand plans for being on top of 2016 and those are all still there, they just kind of got pushed to the back burner while I got my head knocked around by reality for a little bit. But here's the thing, especially as I start talking about my 2016 goals - just because you didn't meet a goal, doesn't mean you should throw it out the window. It just means you need to re-evaluate, adjust where needed, and get back to it. So with that, let's talk goals for a moment.

First, I am going to be quick to admit that I'm pretty good about setting goals. Working towards them? That's a whole other issue. hahaha I can set them, I can apply SMART goal setting techniques, I can come up with plans for meeting them but in the end, more often than not, I get off the beaten track and end up tossing them out the window. BUT...I'm determined to not let that happen in 2016. I'm determined to pick myself back up, dust off my britches, and get back to it if I get knocked off of the proverbial horse. Like right now...dusting myself off.

I did a lot of thinking about my goals and coming up with meaningful ones for me to work on this year...and I'm actually really excited about them and the possibilities of where they can take me!

Goal #1 - Be Financially Responsible
Ahhhhh - yes, MONEY!! It's necessary, but it sure is the bane of our existence sometimes. And it can cause so much grief if not handled appropriately. Here is it broken down:

• Set a budget monthly. My husband and I have a day calendared towards the end/beginning of each month to sit down and do a full review of how we did that month and create the plan for the next month making sure we budget for any extras like vehicle registrations, repairs of any kind, debt payoffs, etc. 
• Balance the checkbook each week to ensure nothing is getting missed and everything is hitting the account as it should be.
• Create a spending report for the month and use it as a balanced scorecard to assess if we are being financially responsible

Sure this isn't a glamorous goal and doesn't elicit all kinds of excitement like, perhaps, training for a first marathon or other life event. But this one sets the stage for everything else because if I'm spending all my time stressing about money, I won't have the energy to do the rest of what life requires.

Goal #2 - Position Myself for a Work Promotion

There's a possible opportunity for me to get a promotion this year at work and it's the one I've been waiting for. I've had several other chances to do other things at work that would have brought me increased pay, but for me anyways, work is about so much more than what I take home in my paycheck. So I made the conscious decision to hang back in the intention that down the road the job I want will open up. I think it is very real that this could happen in 2016. So in order to prepare myself for that I have some objectives outlined:

• Enhance my professional appearance - I always dress nice and professional especially when I consider the campus culture, but my feeling is that I take "casual Friday" and dressing down in summer more seriously than I need to. I would rather up my game in that arena and be dressing nicer rather than dressing with the crowd. I'm not talking super fancy like suits when the work culture is skirts and sweaters; but I'm talking that I can wear a nice pair of jeans with some appropriate boots, sweater or blouse and accessories. I don't need to wear a t-shirt to work pretty much ever. Simply put.
• I've been given the opportunity to participate in a year-long leadership program at work, and I'm so excited that I was selected. It's about 22 people that were nominated by their division leadership and it's a great group of people that are most likely the future generation of movers and shakers here at the college. So I'm quite humbled to be in such an esteemed group of colleagues. So needless to say, I'm planning on totally rocking the program and getting everything I can out of it.
• Start my Bachelor's Degree program. It's been too long and I've pushed it back enough. It's time to get it done. My plan is to be in my program by summer (July/August depending on when the cohort starts). To get there I need to secure my financial aid package (this goes with the financial responsibility goal too) and clear some stuff off of the personal plate to ensure my brain is available to get back in the swing of the educational game.
• And of course, be a stellar employee that is focused on work when I'm there. I need to cut out some of the distractions and be fully present in what I'm working on.

Goal #3 - Get to Goal Weight

No really...get to goal weight and keep it off! I know that I'm one of those people that has set this goal every year for so long, but I'm not going to let that keep me from chasing it this year again. I will meet it. I will. My objectives to accomplish this:

• I set this goal with my running coach, so we are going to be working on it together...talk about accountability!
• I will track my calories even though I hate it and I will drink at least 8 cups of water a day. I will pack my lunches more often than not and I will train consistently.
• I developed a reward plan that goes into effect on February 1 so I will earn some money to help me buy new clothes as I shrink out of what I have...or just to buy fun stuff along the way like kick-ass tunes or new books.
• I have plans to add back in some lunch time walks too, but I need to move it out of the "plan to" stage and into the "doing" stage. 
• (FYI - I'm down 6 pounds since the first of the year! Woohoo!!) 

Goal #4 - Develop My Blog
Yeah this little space of mine over here that I like to so often neglect. The reality is that I enjoy blogging, I just don't want to make it my career. So I've done a lot of thinking about what that means and how I should go about blogging without it consuming my every waking moment. (Obviously, I haven't done a very good job getting this one off the ground yet in 2016...but I'm dusting myself off!!)

• Blog 3x a week minimum on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
• Develop a solid editorial calendar and stick to it as much as possible
• Set an appointment for writing content every night when I get home
• Study at least one blogging resource a week
• Attend the 2016 IDEA BlogFest!! (So excited about this one and that I get to attend as a Sweat Pink Ambassador!)
• Represent the brands that I am an ambassador for through consistent posting on social media and with appropriate blog posts

I have some other lesser goals like read more, journal more, perform maintenance around the house on a somewhat consistent schedule (like baseboard cleaning, light plate covers...things like that), check back in on my goals each month, etc. Those are more intentions of how I want to live though rather than a solid GOAL that I can measure. I also have three running specific goals that I will talk about in the near future. Stay tuned...

So there you have it - my 2016 goals! I think you can probably see that I did put some thought into these and I think they will all help me GROW this year!

QUESTION: Do you have goals set for this year? What are some of them and how are you working on achieving them?