January goals

Goal setting was a major thing for me last year, so I'm really excited about doing it again in 2014*. Yay!

To start me off well with my one little word - choose - I've been considering it more this month and really appreciate all it means to me at the beginning of the year. I also want to have a rough plan to my year in terms of my business with my brother, as well as think about this blog and my online presence.

:: absorb choose and all its potential as my word for 2014.

:: plan my business year with Little Brother.

:: review this blog, its content, and direction.

:: plan my Project Life approach for the year.

I am excited about my goals for January, very excited. And I'm excited about having another one little word to guide me through.

Little disclaimer:  Whilst this post is only coming out at the end January, my goals for the month have been decided in late December and I have been working towards them.

* If you'd like to know how I've addressed monthly goals in 2013 and get a few tips on how you can do it this year, you can read my monthly contribution to Fe-line here.

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You can read all my 2013 monthly goals posts here, my change :: one little word posts here, and my choose :: one little word here.

2014 in dreams and goals

I have goals for 2014. I do. And I have dreams and plans and hopes which will carry on past 2014 and into the rest of life. Some will come true, others maybe not, others yet I may forget along the way. Such is life. It all changes, always, slowly and yet so fast you can barely grab a moment.

In addition to my monthly goal setting, which I will be keeping in 2014, I also want to set goals for the year, embracing my dreams and one little word - choose. 

:: Guiva. Make our dream business a reality.

:: Run a half-marathon this Spring and run the Lisbon Half-Marathon in the Autumn.

:: Embrace my role as a godmother and finally learn how to hold a newborn. 

:: Keep in touch with dear friends.

:: Reconnect with my camera and let my lens capture what my eyes see.

:: Be happy.

As you can see, my plans for the year are a blend of dreams, goals and aspirations which are making my heart tick and my eyes smile. 

choose :: my word for 2014

Choose.

For 2014, I choose choose as the word to focus on. Life is made of choices. Simple, hard, quick, slow, spur of the moment, pondered choices that can change our path and the way we feel about our life.

Last year, as I focused on change I realised that part of the process to dealing with change is choosing how to deal with it. Sometimes, our options are limited and so will our choices be; sometimes, things will happen and we'll be left feeling we have no choice... But we do, small as it may be... We can choose to deal with it.

Last year, both my parents had health problems; that made me think of all the change that is forced upon us. The kind of change that makes you feel powerless even when your word for the year is helping you deal with it. The kind of change we have no choice over, other than be the best people we can for them and for us.

This year, I want to feel empowered by knowing there is always a choice, no matter how small. I want to choose how I deal with what comes my way. I want to choose how I speak to people, especially the ones closest to me. I want to choose how I spend my time. I want to choose to launch a business with my brother. I want to choose to enjoy life. I want to really choose by knowing I have a choice... No matter how small.

change in 2013

Having a word for the year, and that word being change, was really important for me, more so than I could have imagined when I embarked on this one little word journey. 2013 was definitely a year of change for me, some which I had been dreaming about, others which were incredibly undesirable. All of those changes required adjustments.

Change as my word gave me a much needed focus for the year. Not just to get things done but also to cope with all the change I had to just accept. Just accepting can be difficult. Just accepting was in fact the hardest lesson of this year and one of the hardest of my life. I can't say I've learned the lesson fully, but I learned to cope with the situation the best way I could.

Change as my word also gave me an appreciation for good change. Sometimes, even good change can be a little bit scary; Michael moving to Oxford was one such change. We crossed a bridge [LINK] and I'm so thankful we did.

Finally, change made the year a lot more fun! I can't wait to reveal my word for 2014 and let the year unfold once more, sometimes randomly other times with intent.

change :: December update

December was filled with good things, the kind of things that warm you up inside and make you feel happy. There was time in Portugal and family time. We were all there and that is the most priceless thing of 2013 - we were all there.

As far as my goals go, I haven't yet finished my Project Life album. I love this project and am working up a way to keep it up in 2014, but... I have a few weeks to complete of last year. I can live with that. For the rest, whilst I did manage not to check the internet in bed I didn't keep it up this year and I really want to; work in progress there. And last but not least, I absolutely did make the most of being home, oh yeah!

This was my December, fast and slow, happy and full!

a fair bit to come

Happy New Year to you all!

2014 is here and so am I, even if it hasn't quite looked like that so far. Very much like what happened last summer, I ended up taking a break from the online world and making the most of my time at home for Christmas. I think I will be making these two breaks - summer and Christmas - a regular affair; clearly, it's what works for me!

I do have a few things I'd like to share with you, past and future. I am writing and writing and will soon be posting about my views on my one little word 2013, the December update of my monthly goals, my one little word for 2014 and my goals for January (yep, doing it again!). Stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, if you'd like to know how I've addressed monthly goals in 2013 and get a few tips on how you can do it this year, you can read my monthly contribution to Fe-line here.

Back to writing... :)