Sunday, May 1, 2011

90 Day Goal... over

So, I couldn't go to the 90 Day Goal Finale, which has REALLY been bothering me! I remember an elder on my mission saying "you are only as good as your follow up"-- I love this. You can set goals all day long, but if you are never accountable, if you never "follow up" to see how your commitments are going - you are never truly successful! So since I could not follow up with the Goal Group - I will Follow Up with all of you!

FINANCIAL:
Attend Dave Ramsey 13 Week Seminar
Focus on Budget


How I did: **** (that is my star rating 4 out of 5 stars)
We went to the Classes and LOVED them! I learned alot and it really helped to get my mind thinking differently about money. (my "new" jeans from a Thrift Store, going on Free Dates with my man, trying to "live like no one else so I can live like no one else" as Dave says) This has been challenging. I still have not been as diligent with my budget as I would like, but I am improving. (and the stops by Target have significantly decreased!)


Spiritual:
Go to my Scriptures with a Question Each Night
Attend the Temple twice a month


How I did: ***** (five out of five)
I obviously feel REALLY GOOD about this one! I only missed a handful of days with my Question Journal so I now have an amazing Journal of questions and answers I found daily in my Scriptures. This has been Life Changing for me. I am AMAZED at the process of Kneeling in Prayer and Asking Heavenly Father what Question to ask in my Scripture Study that night. ( I have intentions of a Future Blog Post with some of those experiences) I will say that my understanding of Heavenly Father's WILLINGNESS to answer our hearts' questions has increased, my confidence in my own ability to receive Revelation on a DAILY BASIS has been reignited, and my love for the scriptures has deepened.

We also did Pretty Good at the Temple Attendance. I went 5 times, I aimed for 6 - so I fell short, but still - 5 times in 3 months is not bad!!


PHYSICAL:
Work out 5x a Week
Train for a Half Marathon
Eat TWO Veggies a Day
Eat One Treat a Week


How I did: **** (4 out of 5... sorta)
This is a HARD one to rate. I only had ONE WEEK where I DID NOT work out 5 days!! (and that was last week when my kids were sick, and having surgery and stuff!) So I TOTALLY NAILED IT! I feel SO GOOD! It has been a strange Roller Coaster at the with working out. In training for the Half Marathon I have had a LOT of knee problems. (which have included me hobbling down the road 2 miles from home crying because it hurt so bad and because I was SO angry to feel like a quiter and embarrassed because about 10 of you drove past and honked and waved and I must have looked so pathetic!!) Anyways- I am still wrestling with the Half Marathon thing... I have been in denial that this is a "real" problem, but I am starting to become aware that it is. I feel sick to my stomach that I am not running a Half next week like I planned. I feel like a quiter. I feel like a wimp. And yet, when I have run lately, I feel such an intense pain I can't continue. This is ALSO something for a future blog post...

On to the Eating Habits... this really gets about ** stars... Mostly because it was the HARDEST part of the 90 Day challenge for me. (emotionally difficult) Not very many weeks that I was 100% successful at this. And I was really trying hard!!! (my finger accidentally bumped the @ sign just now, so it looked like this !!!@... which looks like a swear word -- which is how I have felt!!) I have learned alot about my eating habits. I think I eat Treats to fill a void left by Hubbie who is gone in the evenings. I have found myself tormented by the NEED to have a handful of skittles at night, or to eat some ice cream while doing laundry alone. BUT I have noticed that the cravings have dropped SIGNIFICANTLY in these few months. And my will power has increased! And the amount of treats in our cupboards and freezer has dropped to almost non existent! Yeah! (this may be the FIRST time in our Marriage that we DON'T have ICE CREAM in our FREEZER!!) I am REVISING this to add a * (making that 3 stars!) this WAS SO HARD- I need to give myself a little more credit. We have come a LONG way-- and that was through TWO CANDY HOLIDAYS!! Valentines and Easter!!!

The Veggies... a definite IMPROVEMENT! I was not a Lunch Time Veggie Eater- and that has improved a lot. I can do better, like all things. But I feel pretty good knowing there are Celery and Peppers and Carrots in my fridge right now JUST for snacking!

MENTAL:
Learn Spanish


How I did: "ratsy be" *** (3 out of 5)
That says "very bad" in Malagasy. That is because - My Spanish is still so poor that I am THINKING IN MALAGASY! When I hear ANY foreign language my mind AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHES to MALAGASY! I have had GOOD months and BAD months with this goal. It has been challenging to Self Motivate and Self Direct with a Foreign Language... I think I need a CLASS or at least a better PROGRAM to keep me on task. I also think it was a big one to bite off, as far as time is concerned. Focusing on an hour or so at the gym each day, my daily routines, eating better, and organizing my pics, scripture study, etc doesn't leave me with a lot of FREE time for studying more... With that excuse out of the way- I will admit I could have/should have done better. I think this is the one I am most disappointed in. When I set this goal, it was with the hope that we would be moving to Puerto Rico, I think I lost some momentum when we didn't get accepted... With that excuse out of the way - I have to say--I STILL NEED TO LEARN SPANISH!!!! so-- this is going back onto the pile for the next round of 90 Day Goals.. I will just need to tweak it a little.



PERSONAL:
Organize my Pictures
Wake up at 7am
Pray Before I leave my Bedroom in the morning
5 mins of Daily Planning



How I did: **** (4 out of 5)
This SHOULD have been 5 stars. But this last month just kind of fell apart for me on some areas. (mostly the planning, which is weird since I LOVED the planning the first two months!!) I also struggled with sleep this past month, so waking up at 7 was harder... and Riley has been sleeping in so I was being lazy and waking up with her. :(
BUT UNTIL THIS MONTH- I WAS ROCKIN IT! I LOVED waking up early and getting going on my day! I loved having my days clearly planned out and felt much more successful.
The prayer thing has gone well too. It also helps me make my bed, which is nice.

The PICTURES...
This is a BIG ONE. My pictures have haunted my for YEARS! I have been overwhelmed by them. Digital Pictures are a dangerous combination of some of my biggest weaknesses! Technology and Organization! AAAGGGHHHHHHHH!! The more I tried, the worse it got! So I am HAPPY to say that I OVERCAME all of my Debilitating Anxiety about "where to start" and just dove in! I have organized hundreds of pictures, I have even downloaded pictures from my camera to my computer within days of taking them (usually I FILL my camera card with hundreds of pictures before I am willing to download them to my computer - all because I never knew how to organize them, so they were safer on the camera!!), I have labeled pictures, and even PRINTED pictures!

I think that the big victory on this is NOT the pictures themselves. (although it is wonderful!) The Victory is taking something that is TRULY MY WEAKNESS, something that HONESTLY GIVES ME ANXIETY, and something that BRINGS ME GUILT because I don't WANT to be the Mommy who DOESN'T POST PICS to facebook or my blog or ANYWHERE and the one who makes cute photo books for my kids and has memories of us in our home, AND I have LOOKED all of this in the EYE and CHANGED IT!! I tried something HARD. Something that OVERWHELMS me. And I did it. It really gives me the courage to TRY SOMETHING else!



Here is a Picture we took a week ago and now it is on my blog! I am a SUCCESS!!! P.S. this is our SECOND EVER picture of the Family where EVERYONE is LOOKING at the CAMERA!! THAT is a SUCCESS!


So- there you go. 90 Days.
It was HARD. It was WONDERFUL. It really was LIFE CHANGING.
I need a few weeks to recover, to get back to some of the things that had to be neglected at the cost of accomplishing other goals, but I am looking forward to doing it again.

I BELIEVE I CAN BE AMAZING. I believe I can DO amazing, and DIFFICULT things. And I believe I WILL ONLY DO BIG THINGS by SETTING BIG GOALS and HAVING BIG DREAMS.



8 comments:

  1. as I said, I don't do the TECHNOLOGY thing- so I have NO IDEA why the font is all HUGE for the middle of this... but it is REALLY ANNOYING ME.

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  2. Yay! Katie..you are aaaawesome! I love love loved having you as my partner. You were such a huge example and support to me. Look at all you accomplished in 90 days! Congratulations..I hope you do it again in June! xoxo

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  3. I am so inspired! I want to take your goal list and make it my own. Way to go! I think you totally deserve a ****** overall rating!

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  4. Yay! I'm glad you did so well overall! I love the 90 day goals. I think it was one of the times in my life where I felt so good about myself because I was able to be motivated about all my goals. I really need to get a kick in the rear to join next time around. Congratulations on the achievements!

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  5. Congrats Katie! I am so impressed with your goals and how well you do at them. You are motivating me to be better!

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  6. Way to go! You have made incredible progress in so many ways--what a fantastically productive 90 days!

    I just have ONE thing to say about your language learning. When I was in the MTC, the high school French I studied for 2 years kept popping into my mind. It was totally competing with the Russian. It didn't really confuse me--because let's be honest, Russian and French are nowhere near the same. But it was a little annoying to want to say something in Russian and have it pop out in French or with a French accent. What I realized was that the language part of my brain was being expanded and developing--taking what it had and adding new things--which I determined was all associated with the gift of tongues. So, while Spanish might not come naturally yet, at least you know the gift of tongues is working and allowing that part of your brain to open up and expand a little more now! :)

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  7. Awesome job Katie! 90 Day Goals is amazing. You accomplished some really amazing things! I LOVE your idea of keeping a journal of questions you ask Heavenly Father and then answers that you found in the scriptures in response. I am filing this away so I will remember to do this too.

    P.S. Thrift Store jeans are the best. I can't even remember the last time I bought jeans anywhere other than a thrift store...maybe in 2004 on clearance at American Eagle?

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  8. You did such a good job! It was so inspiring to have you as a partner! I was constantly amazed by how much you got done even though you were so busy. Made me feel like a sissy for ever complaining. You are amazing! Way to go!!!!

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