Hello 2017

Bliadhna Mhath Ùr, Blwyddyn Newydd Dda, and Happy New Year (that's Gaelic, Welsh and of course English, yes I am still in love with Outlander and I am half welsh)

I hope you are all entering the new year filled with hope for the fabulous wonders that 2017 may bring.

I am entering the year with slight trepidation.  I have honestly had such a wonderful year in 2016, it feels like it's hard to beat.  What if 2017 doesn't live up to it and is a huge disappointment? How can anything be better than 2016!

I know I need to shift this thinking to one of expectation of a fantastic year ahead.  To get my mind in the right place I am doing the Leonie Dawson Shining Life Workbooks again.  I loved them so much last year and they have really helped me to achieve a lot of my goals in 2016. I didn't achieve every goal, but I did achieve lots and I am so pleased about that, some were big (run a Gentle Parenting Retreat) and some were small (do a puzzle) and I know that writing them down, reviewing them and scheduling really helped me to achieve them.

I was so excited to get my workbooks in the post a few days ago that  I made a little video about them:

(That's my little boy chattering away in the background!  I feel bad watching back that I don't acknowledge him, I was just concentrating so hard on what I was saying for the video!!!)

A few years ago the way I set goals for the year ahead was so different from how I do it now. I wrote down ways in which I wanted my life to change but put no thought to planning how I would make them a reality.  The goals were not specific or measurable so not only did I not really know what the goal was, but I had no way of tracking how well I was doing or how near or far away I was from achieving my goal.  

I wasn't convinced by the workbooks when my friend Vicki introduced them to me a few years ago but she persuaded me to get on board and I am so glad that I did because they have totally transformed how I set goals and plan the year ahead.

What I didn't really explain in the video is how these books are so effective, particularly the life book.
To begin with reviewing the previous year is so important, it allows you to realise and think about what went well and what didn't so you can accept it and move onto the next year free from guilt and free from trying to drag unfinished business into the new year. 

In the next part of the book you begin to think about what you want from the year ahead, how you want to feel, what you want to achieve. It allows you to really dig deep and think about how you want the year ahead to look. 

Of course last year had it's ups and downs, there were parts that were really really hard, but knowing how much I achieved makes me feel so joyful and positive about the year ahead.  We can achieve so much, us mothers, and it's so important that we make time for our own goals, our own dreams.  It can be so easy to let that little light inside of us dim as we stoke the fires in our children, but we need that spark inside to glow and grow not just for our own well being and sanity but for the sake of those around us as well; because when we are the best versions of ourselves we can nurture others better as well. 

I would really encourage you do set some goals for the year ahead, break them down into steps then schedule them into your week so they become achievable. Maybe you like the look of the Shining life workbooks, if you do, then please click my affiliate link below.  (Leonie Dawson gives all her affiliates a little bit of money for every sale made through the link.)  

I wish you all a wonderful year ahead and hope you achieve everything you set your mind to.  

Hello 2015

Today I want to share with you some of my goals for 2015 and my word of the year, I find sharing them like this useful because it gives me a sense of accountability and is also a permanent record that I can look at long after the list falls off the bathroom door!

Last year my word of the year was "organise".  "Organise" was about survival, it was about getting things done.  it helped me get through a very difficult year but left me feeling a little joyless, there isn't much joy in organising, its about discipline, management and order.  Those things don't sound much fun to me.  And they weren't.  So this year, I want to focus on finding the joy in life as well, without forgetting what I learnt this last year about how useful being organised is, arranging meetings with friends, planning fun activities to do with the boys etc.  Honestly I haven't enjoyed parenting much this last year so I am going to work hard to bring the joy back in to it, I think being organised is a big part of that but perhaps more importantly changing my mindset is going to help.  So for these reasons my word for 2015 is ENJOY!!

Enjoying life is also about reaching goals, hitting targets and I love a good list of New Years goals, and this year I did 15 for 15, (I could have done more!)

Here they are in no particular order:

1. Start writing my book,

2. Re-read the Bible-in-a-year,

3. Start a smash book,

4. Complete 365 photo-a-day-challenge,

5. Read read books not Facebook,

6. Dry brush daily,

7. Turn the TV off,

8. Finish Vegan and Vegetarian Nutrition diploma,

9. Finish Child Psychology Diploma,

10. Eat nutrition,

11. Read one book per month,

12. Start drawing more,

13. Meal plan,

14. Go camping,

15. Finish wedding scrap book.  

So as a quick run down, 1. I have some ideas for a book I want to write, and would really like to make a start on it this year.  2. I have read the Bible in a year twice now, though never quite finished, so want to have another go. 3. Smash books are a bit like scrap books but smaller and less considered, I am combining this with number 4. take a photo every day of the year and put it in a smash book. 5. I spend waaaaaaaay too much time on Facebook, so trying to rectify that by reading books on my Kindle rather than looking at FB. 6. Dry brushing has so many benefits so I intend to do it daily. 7. Like FB, I spend way to much time staring zombie like at the box, so trying to do a bit less of that (I make this resolution every year) 8. I started  vegan and vegetarian nutrition diploma and a (9.) Child psychology diploma some time ago, so really want to get these finished, actually I have to get these finished because there is a deadline. 10.  Eat nutrition - so many reasons for this one, hopefully will be able to reveal some more throughout the year, basically really want to start improving my health, feeding my body with nutrition instead of empty calories. 11. (linking to number 5)  I have really lost my mojo for reading this last year so need to give it a kick up the backside by challenging myself to read one book per month, it's hard, but I am already half way through my first book, (which I will review soon) 12.  I want to get back into my art a bit more and have some plans for what to do, again hopeful will be able to start sharing soon.  13.  Linking to number 10, meal planning definitely helps me to make more healthy meals, saves time and makes life more enjoyable by having tasty meals to look forward to. 14.  We WILL go camping this year. 15. The bloody, bloody wedding scrap book, 5 years behind on it, but I still really want to finish it.  I think I might be able to face it this year, just need to smash it out instead of being so precious.

So there you have it.  I wish you all a fantastic and joy filled 2015, can't wait to share my journey with you. 

What are your goals, plans, resolutions?

Word of the year - Organise

Choosing a word of the year is not something I have done before, I normally just produce a lists of usually somewhat un-achievable new years resolutions and attempt them with a typical end result of failure and disappointment. I had heard about using a word of the year through other bloggers and thought it was a good idea, although most bloggers who do this choose words like "brave" or "mindful" or "gratitude".  These words seemed a bit airy-fairy to me and didn't appeal, I wanted something a bit more concrete which involved things I could actually do and which would have visible results.
With life being so chaotic since the birth of Biscuit, I had been having a strong desire to get my life in order, I had been wanting lists, calendars, plans and schedules.  I also felt like I wanted to get things done, weeks and months were passing without me feeling like I had achieved anything, and valuable weekends were coming and going without seeing friends, making visits or travelling anywhere.
So it didn't take too much thought to decide my word of the year - Organise.  (I also really like the look of the word because it looks a bit like the word "organic".)
So what do I intend for this word to inspire me to do?  Well essentially I want to get organised by:

• Tidying my home, creating systems for our stuff and keeping it in order, and organising and sticking to a cleaning schedule,
• Making plans for the year, organising meeting with friends and family who live further away, planning activities and holidays,
• Re-vamping my diet and health routines, cleaning up our meals and introducing weekly and daily rituals to ,my health routine,
• Being more active in  engaging Boris in fun, educational and creative activities.

I have already started putting my word into practise by starting the 21 Day Junk Food Challenge, putting together a family planner, starting a 30 day toddler challenge and a 30 day organisation challenge.  I really hope I can keep my momentum going on this one, I want to get my life together and stop it being one long blur of sleepless nights, pooey nappies and endless breastfeeding sessions! I think I will keep re-reading and referring this blog post to keep motivated. I think 2014 is going to be an exciting year of me and my family.

Do you have a word of the year, what is it?  Please share a link if you have blogged about it. 

2014 Here I Come!

Before I had children time used to go really slowly, I would be counting down the days of the week till the weekend came, weeks would pass agonisingly slowly as I would tick them off till the next school holiday and months seemed like years. When I went on a diet they would only last a few days because I just could not foresee keeping it up for a month let along any longer.  When I was pregnant with Boris it seemed like I was pregnant forever.  Time had little meaning, I barely noticed the seasons, there was little change in life.  Now time has taken on a new meaning.  Since having children it seems I can't keep up, time slips through my fingers like sand and before I know it a month has passed and I wonder what happened! My second son is two months old today!  Two months!  How did that happen? where was I and what on earth was I doing all that time?
Since having children I feel far better at envisioning achieving goals that could take months than I ever could before because it seems I can see time in  new way, it feels more physical, I can see it pass through the changes in my children, through the rapid drift from one season to the next, so as we approached the new year I started thinking about all the things I would like to change about my life and how I can go about making those changes over the coming weeks and months.
I have put together a Pinterest folder of images and links relating to some of the things I want to do and to help inspire me to get them done.  I would love it if you clicked on the image to take a look at some of my ideas.  Let me know what you think.

 

I love making New Years resolutions don't you?  It's a fresh start, anything seems possible, you have the whole year ahead of you, and let me tell you, I have made a few, so many in fact that I have had to categorise them!  My first category is Self Care, and I am beginning the year by completing the 21 Day Junk Food Challenge; no fast food, crisps, chocolate, sweets, biscuits, cakes, pastries, white bread, fizzy drinks or alcohol.  I have really pigged out this Christmas and feel like I need a bit of a cleanse.  It hasn't been a great start though, on the 1st of January I accidentally ate a packet of crisps and a bar of chocolate.  I know what you are probably thinking "how on earth could you forget!"  I guess it's because eating junk had become so habitual that it was just automatic to pick them up and eat them without thinking.  I am not giving up though.  My altered perspective on time reminds me that one day out of 21 makes little difference and it is still worth doing in spite of my lapse of awareness.  

I will share my other resolutions over the coming weeks (one is to blog once a week!) I think it will help me stick to them if I have shared them in a public arena!  Are you sharing your New Years Resolutions if you made them?  Leave a link and I will take a look.

Here's to a brilliant 2014 for everyone!