Q1 GOAL REVIEW

Wow. The first quarter of 2013 went fast!

How did I do on those resolutions, goals, focus I set in January?

How did you do?

As for my writing goals, Q1 was to be the quarter of learning the technicalities of self-publishing. 

As such, I revised and formatted Wielding the Sword of God and published it on Amazon as a kindle book, linking back here to my blog for print-out-able charts. I also finished up my book proposal for I am Esther in preparation for querying agents in Q2 and have begun reformatting my website CarolPetersonAuthor.com  to encourage and help promote authors and book lovers. The revamping is still in progress.

I’d love to hear from folks about what they’d like to see there in terms of reading, writing, teaching, sharing, life as it relates to words or The Word.

But I’d like to hear from you—here and now—about how you’re doing on what you’d like to accomplish in 2013. Where is God leading you? What’s on your heart? What road do you need to take to reach your destination?

Time is going to pass whether you work on your goals or not. You might as well do something so that at the end of next quarter you can say: “Yes! I did it! Onward.”

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for the time you’ve given us here on Earth and for the desire and talents to reach goals. Please encourage us, help us encourage each other and open our minds to the encouragement you send through others. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Your turn. How are you doing on your resolutions, goals and focus this year?

COURAGE TO TRY

 

　

I have a set of goals for 2013. Some are continued from last year; most are brand new. They’re all things I’m passionate about.

And they all require courage.

In fact, "courage" is my focus word for 2013. I tend to feel like a wimp most of the time. And when it comes to writing, I’m especially so. I’m passionate about what I write. I think I’m a good writer—sometimes even "great." I work hard to write quality stories, books and articles.

And then, like Frodo Baggins, I work hard to keep them secret; keep them (and me) safe. From publicity. From review. From criticism.

Which is a really silly thing to do. Since I write for my words and ideas to be read by others.

So for 2013, all of my goals—SMARTER GOALS—will be seen, reviewed, worked on—through the lens of courage. Because even though I’m afraid—especially because I’m afraid, I’ll do them anyway.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, you know our fears and you know our dreams. Please work in our hearts and minds to give us courage to work toward accomplishing our dreams. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? What dream will you work toward this year? Do you need courage or encouragement?

STARTING THE NEW YEAR

Many people make New Year’s resolutions—personal habits they want to change, adopt or abolish. Others set out goals for what they’d like to accomplish—lose weight, write a book, take a trip to Bora Bora. Others like to select a focus for the year—health, family, growth.

Whatever you want to call it, however you want to approach it, now is the time to start.

We’ll be discussing resolutions, goals and focus for 2013 later this month here on From Carol’s Quill. Why not join the fun? Start thinking or continue to think about what 2013 might look like for you. One thing you can do is reread last year’s post about setting SMARTER goals.

I’ll give you a heads’ up on one of mine. I have a resolution to focus this year on the goal of finishing up several books in process and addressing publication. To give myself more time for book writing, I’m switching to a T/TH blogging schedule.

Thanks so much for hanging out with me last year. See you every T/TH in 2013 right here.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for this brand new year. Please help us focus on you more this year and lead us in ways that will glorify you and further your plan and purpose for our lives. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Are you thinking about what you’d like to do in 2013?

Q3 GOAL REVIEW

Today’s post will be short and to the point.

Did you make goals at the beginning of 2012? We talked about making SMARTER goals in January and we reviewed our goals in March and July. It’s time for one more quarterly review. We’ve got three more months before it’ll be time to make new goals for 2013.

How are you doing?

What do you need to revise?

What do you need to change to accomplish your goals?

What’s keeping you from accomplishing them?

Now, get going!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for placing desires in our hearts. Please help us continue to pursue those desires as long as they are pleasing to you. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Leave a comment with an update on the progress of accomplishing your goals.

Q2 GOAL REVIEW

Remember ‘way back in January when you set those goals? It’s time for our second quarterly review. How are we we’re doing? Where do we still need to go? 

Take your SMARTER GOALS one at a time. Did you set out a time frame to achieve each one? Did you make forward progress? If not, why not? What do you need to do differently in order to pursue this goal during the next three months?  

Is each goal still important? If not, why not? If yes, how do you need to commit in order to get back on track? Do you need to revise the scope of any goal? How will you do so? What specific steps do you now need to take? And when?

What unexpected experiences have you had during the process of pursuing your goals?

Back in January I set three types of goals: spiritual, writing and personal. 

The spiritual goals were daily goals. I have generally been on track. That’s good news! Nothing to change or adjust or revise. Just keep hanging out each day with Jesus. But try to focus more on the experience with Him even on days when I want to rush. 

I reviewed each of my writing goals and my personal goals in the same way. A few goals have changed; some I’ve completed; a couple I’m behind on and need to revise for Q3.

 

Hubby and I spent several hours this past quarter on a road trip reevaluating my writing priorities. I was surprised to discover that my true heart for writing has returned full swing to writing for children. As a result of that insight, quite a few of my writing goals for 2012 were revised significantly. Along with new step-by-step goals and schedules to help me work toward them.  

Meanwhile, I’m praising God for the encouragement He gives to grow in faith and in the gifts He has entrusted to my care.

 

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for making us teachable. Help us see the ways you would have us grow and change. Help us, Holy Spirit, follow your leading to do so. Amen.

 

WHAT ABOUT YOU? How did you do in Q2? Are you ready to embark on tackling them in Q3?

 

1 Q GOAL REVIEW

Remember ‘way back to January and those goals you set?  It’s time for our first quarterly review—to see how we’re doing; where we still need to go. It’s time to review, revise and renew our enthusiasm.

How do we do that?

The goals we set were SMARTER GOALS Take each goal one at a time. Did you set out a time frame to achieve it? Did you make forward progress? If not, why not? What do you need to do differently in order to pursue this goal during the next three months?

Is each goal still important? If not, why not? If yes, how do you need to commit in order to get back on track? Do you need to revise the scope of any goal? How will you do so?

What unexpected experiences have you had during the process of pursuing your goals?

I set three types of goals: spiritual, writing and personal.

The spiritual goals were daily goals. I have generally been on track, except that I forgot to practice my new breath prayer: Je-sus. The good news is that I’m still generally using a breath prayer of “Thank you, Jesus.”

So, I am deleting the goal of a new breath prayer and will simply continue with my old one. For the other goals, I will continue at my present pace. 

I have reviewed each of my writing goals and my personal goals in the same way. A few goals have changed; some I’ve completed; a couple I’m behind on and need to revise for Q2.

Meanwhile, I’m praising God for the encouragement He gives to grow in faith and in the gifts He has entrusted to my care.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for making us teachable. Help us see the ways you would have us grow and change. Help us, Holy Spirit, follow your leading to do so. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? How did you do in Q1? Are you ready to embark on tackling them in Q2?

SMARTER PERSONAL GOALS

It's still January and still early enough to set goals for things we'd like to focus on in 2012.

Over the last 2 weeks I've shared my spiritual goals and my writing goals in the form of SMARTER GOALS. Keeping things simple, here are my personal goals in list form.

Please share yours...

FINANCIAL: return to working the stock market; pursue new business venture “Your Classy Bash.”

HEALTH: outlaw as much white food as possible; better meal planning. Continue regular exercise but “up the ante.” 

OUTLOOK: Be a ruby (Proverbs 30:10 “a noble wife…is worth far more than rubies”) in all areas of life.

 

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help us do the things we should do but haven’t been. Help us do better the things we have not done well. Help us do all things for your glory and according to your purpose. Amen.

 

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Do you have any personal goals you’re working on this year?

SMARTER WRITING GOALS

As promised, here are my writing goals for 2012. I have turned each one into a SMARTER GOAL, but to make things simple, here they are in list form.

Book Writing: Finish first revision of I Am Esther by June; query print magazines to build genre platform 

Online Platform: Add website content, blog 3 times a week; write for online magazines; actively look for other platform ideas

 
Speaking: Pursue SpeakingOfKidsBooks.com forum

Other: Help edit Pastor’s book, attend Spring SCBWI conference

 

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we want to be used by you. Help us be your hands and feet this year by using the gifts you’ve given to us. Let it be for your glory. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Are you a writer? What do you want to accomplish in 2012?

SMARTER SPIRITUAL GOALS

This is a follow-up to Wednesday’s post on setting SMARTER GOALS.

I have five spiritual goals this year. I’ll share the first one as a SMARTER goal.

1. BIBLE READING 

SPECIFIC: After a couple of years focusing on specific books of the bible, toward the end of 2011 I was anxious to read through the bible from Genesis to Revelation again.

I’ve done so in various ways before. Last July, I realized there is no rush. So I began at Genesis 1 and have been reading one little chapter a day since then. After 6 months, I’m all the way up to Numbers. This will take a while.   

MEASURABLE: Reading one chapter per day is measurable. In addition to the reading I also keep a notebook of questions or insights.   

For example, this morning, I read Numbers 23. Verse 10 stumped me. Balak had asked Baalam to curse the Israelites. After the talking donkey incident, Baalam sought God’s leading, saying: 

“Who can count the dust of Jacob or the number of the fourth part of Israel?” 

What’s the fourth part of Israel? That caused me to dig further. The Israelites had been divided into four camps. Balaam was saying that each camp was so large as to not be able to be counted. Multiply that times four and—wowzer—spiritually speaking! 

ACHIEVABLE: One chapter a day is almost not enough. But because I have had the habit of reading scripture daily, this goal is certainly achievable. 

RELEVANT: Reading scripture is relevant to spiritual goals; even more relevant to living. 

TIME BASED: Daily reading.  

SMARTER: I will evaluate and reassess quarterly. 

Here are my other spiritual goals in shortened version: 

2. PRAYER: One benefit to a person being prayed for is that they hear how they are being lifted up to God. When someone asks for prayer, I will be more diligent about praying right then and there—with them.   

3. LIVE MY LIFE VERSE with more intention: Esther 4:14 

Perhaps you have come [I am here] to royal position [as daughter of King Jesus] for such a time as this [I can be used right now].  

4. LIVE AND GIVE WITH GRATITUDE. See my post GRATITUDE for the huge lesson learned at my daughter’s wedding. I believed myself to be a cheerful giver before, but now I’ve learned to be a CHEERFUL—exploding fireworks and flower bouquets—giver. 

5. FOCUS ON PROVERBS 

A foolish child is a father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like the constant dripping of a leaky roof. (Proverbs 19:13) 

Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. (Proverbs 21:9) 

It is better to live in the desert than to live with a quarelsome wife.  (Proverbs 21:19) 

It is better to live on the corner of a roof than to live with a quarelsome wife. (Proverbs 25:24) 

A quarelsome wife is like the constant dripping of water. (Proverbs 27:7)

A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm; (Proverbs 27:15) 

I’m not quarelsome. Really.  

But toward the end of the day, I am tired. Head-achy. Muscle achy all over. Those pains show up in my body language causing my family to sometimes imagine I’m upset, angry, annoyed.  

That’s not way I want the people I love to react to me. 

I’ll keep Proverbs in my head this year and try not to be perceived as a quarelsome wife.  Proverbs 25:24 is going on my fridge.

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Are these goals merely “to do’s”? Maybe, but they will help me focus more sharply on Jesus. I’m also changing my breath prayer this year to simply:

JE [inhale] SUS [exhale].

"Jesus." Sweet. Like Him. 

PRAYER: Help us, Jesus do what we can to focus on you. Open our minds and our hearts to your leading. Show us ways to be used by you this year—for your glory. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Do you have spiritual goals to share with us for 2012?

NEW YEAR; NEW YOU

Happy New Year. 

Sure it’s already January 4, but we can keep saying that—through January at least. 

One of the things January means for many of us is that it’s time to set goals. Those New Year’s Resolutions. Yep, I’m one of those folks. Hubby and I set them every year. We even review them quarterly; revise where needed; evaluate; adjust. 

This year I thought I’d share mine with you. And you could share them with all of us. We can discuss, review, revise, evaluate and adjust together.  

Let’s take a few weeks to do it. This week, we’ll start with a quick review of how to set goals. Next Monday, I’ll share my spiritual goals for 2012. Monday, January 16, I’ll share my writing goals for 2012. Monday, January 23, I’ll share a few personal goals and we’ll recap together. 

Then stay tuned for quarterly goal reviews at the end of March, June, September, and December. We all need encouragement and a good nagging to keep ourselves on track and accountable. I’m here for ya, baby! 

Here’s the standard advice for setting SMART and SMARTER goals—nicely set out by Stephen Covey in “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” 

Goals should be: 

SPECIFIC: No fair saying, “I want to lose weight.” A better goal is to say, “I will lose 20 pounds in 2012.” 

MEASURABLE: Know how to measure your progress. A goal to lose 20 pounds has little meaning if you don’t know your weight when you begin.  

ACHIEVABLE: A goal also has little meaning if you can’t achieve it. You probably won’t be able to lose 250 pounds in 2012; but losing 10-50 probably is achievable. 

RELEVANT: If a goal has no meaning, you have no incentive to work toward it. If you’re 6’ tall and weigh 150 pounds, then having a goal to lose more weight is irrelevant. 

TIME-BASED: Plan ahead for your progress so your review will be more meaningful each quarter. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds in 2012 you might plan to lose 5 pounds each quarter. At the end of the quarter, you can check your progress and see how you’re doing, with your time-based goal in mind.

SMARTER goals, add Evaluate and Reassess. So each quarter we’ll evaluate how we’ve done and reassess the goals and how we might plan better for the next three months.

OK, friends. Now that we have had a little review on how to set our goals, start thinking about what you’d like to accomplish in 2012. Let’s put God first. Come back next week and we'll share our spiritual goals.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for making us teachable and changeable. We want to live better lives for you. Please help us do so. Inspire us with how you’d have us change. Encourage us and help us encourage each other. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Will you commit to setting some spiritual goals for 2012? Spend the week thinking about them and come back next Monday to share.