2015: Living With Intention

New Year’s tradition of resolutions and good intentions has become something of a punch line for many – how many of your New Year’s Resolutions have you stuck to? This year, I’m changing my focus from specific resolutions to just one guiding idea: living with intention.

That may sound awfully vague, but its really a summary of the life lessons I learned in 2014. It wasn’t the easiest of years- I returned to full time work for the first time since my son was born, my husband deployed to Afghanistan, I moved my horse to a dressage barn, changed the direction of my business, and my son started kindergarten. We really settled in to Texas. As many speed bumps as we faced, for the first time in years, I felt up to the challenge. There was frustration and some exasperation – but never the feeling that I just couldn’t handle it. I feel good about the goals that I met, and the ones I made progress on. I’m excited about how ready I am to knock out more of my goals in 2015.

 

So, when I say that instead of a specific resolution I plan to live with intention in 2015, I mean that I will balance how I allocate my time, energy and resource based on my priorities of self-care, family and marriage, and professional development. I already have my goals – I started a 101 in 1001 on January 1, 2014. Since most of the goals I identified in that 101 fall under those three priorities I’m simply going to choose a couple to focus on at a time.

2015 Goals

1. Complete a 5k
2. Compete at a recognized dressage show
3. Publish an e-book
4. Crochet an afghan (in progress – I have 1/3 of the blanket to go!)
5. Complete a 365 Project in an organized way
6. Horse Therapy Photography Project
7. Ride in a clinic per quarter ( Q1 scheduled for Feb with Peter Maddison-Greenwell)
8. Weekend with my husband in San Antonio
9. One local food experience per month with my family
10. Hit my 40 lbs lost goal

More than a dream

A goal is a dream with a plan.

I am a planner, so I never have any shortage of goals. But this year, I’m making a deliberate choice to focus on just a few goals and put more energy into each one instead of spreading myself so thin that nothing gets the attention it deserves (this is a chronic issue of mine).

Taking Care Of Myself

Since having my son, I have made being a caretaker the core component of who I am. I take care of my family, my friends and the random people served by the nonprofits I’ve volunteered with. Some where in all that care, I fell by the wayside – my needs, my plans, my health.

2014 began the change. I cut back on my volunteer activities – dropping the PTA, local military spouse organizations, and several smaller projects that involved my digital work for Non-Profits. I made my riding a priority because there is nothing better for my mental health than barn time and accomplishing my riding goals. I spent a good deal of time educating myself about nutrition and exercise and exploring what options worked best for me.

In 2015, I’m moving to the next step. Not only am I a priority, but I’m going to knock out some major goals that are a measurable reflection of that investment I’ve made in myself. I haven’t chosen which 5K I’ll participate in, but I’m thinking March and aiming for under 30 minutes. I’ve made my training plan – which involves cross training with PiYo, Insanity MAX:30, and trail running with my horse. Everyone who has struggled with weight loss knows that those mile stone goals on the way are an important boost to your effort and 40 lbs is the one I’m aiming for. I’m choosing to focus on that milestone for now to not get overwhelmed by the larger number.

Competing at a recognized dressage show and riding in clinics are part of both my riding goals and my own self care. Riding is something that I know I can improve and develop – it helps my confidence and helps me to maintain a more positive outlook. It really is my therapy. I’ve already set Valiant and I up with regular dressage lessons and a plan to do the clinic in February, then compete in a schooling show in March and a recognized show in April.

My Family/Marriage

After last year’s deployment, 2015 will be a time of creating our new normal. The deployment happened to also be a time of tremendous change for our son – who started kindergarten, is now a competent and voracious reader, and is becoming increasingly independent. I want to help my family embrace where we’re at right now (enjoying Central Texas) by planning a long weekend to explore San Antonio and taking one day a month to try out a local food experience (Texas = food trucks + texmex + BBQ).

Completing a 365 project might not seem an obvious tie in to my family but it is a way for me to remember to focus in, to enjoy the every day moments as they happen. Some of my favorite images are the random snapshots I’ve taken while hanging out at home, but too often I save the nice camera for special events or clients. Beautiful things happen every day – photographing them helps to keep priorities in focus.

Professional Development

In a sense, it’s difficult to separate professional development from my self-care goals. We built our lives in such a way that we can afford for me to be a stay at home mom – and to be honest, my husband definitely prefers that arrangement. With me working – whether it is freelance or developing my business – we have the extra financial room to really build a nest egg, pay for my horse showing, and take regular vacations. More importantly though, I enjoy working – especially the part of my job that allows me to help bloggers and equestrian professionals see their wildest dreams as not just possible, but totally attainable.

I have big ideas for 2015 – I just soft launched Equestrian Sponsorship 101 – and it will be going public in the next few weeks. My new blogging resource – Blogging In Balance – will be going live in two weeks. Some of my goals for 2015 are in support are these efforts. I plan on publishing an e-book to go along with each of those two courses (Blogging in Balance and Eq Sponsorship 101). Both of those ebooks are already outlined and I’m shopping for a graphic designer to design the visuals. My Horse Therapy Photography Project will be my way of keeping photography strongly tied in to my professional growth. I enjoy my work with the equestrian industry. This project will celebrate the amazing things that our partnerships with horses do for us – I know I’m not the only one who considers it therapy. I hope that it serves as a reminder to the professionals in the equestrian industry why what they do is so important.

Crocheting an afghan may seem like an odd add on to my professional development goals. But at its most basic, what I do is a creative endeavor. I’ve found that the key to feeding my creativity is learning new ways to express and stretch that creativity.

Your 2015

I have big goals for this year – specific and intentional. I want to take all that positive momentum I built up in 2014 and make it work for me going forward.

What about you? Where are you headed in 2015?