2015: Dreams, Themes and Goals

I like dreaming.

I prefer dreaming to reflecting probably about 95% of the time. I really only prefer reflecting when it’s masked with reminiscing about happy memories, and sentiments of ‘this should happen again’, ‘I loved this’, or ‘wow, what a great time’.

This preference is both exhilarating and debilitating, depending on the scenario I find myself in. Example; when thinking of all the possibilities 2015 can hold, this dreamer preference is pretty fantastic—There is no end to the things I can visualizing myself accomplishing in the New Year. I can try absolutely anything, succeed, and find a sense of self in the variety of futures I can imagine and place myself into… I’m basically living out everything on my Pinterest account.

While all this dreaming is simply marvellous, it is only when matched with reflecting on the year past I am able to pin point what it is I should actually be doing; where I should be focusing my time and energy, and creating a vision for what I want to see happen in the new year. This reflection needs to take into consideration all moments during the past year which were monumental to me; the good and the bad, every event that was life changing in some way.

These ‘life changing’ episodes are different for everyone. They can be the moment you realized, despite your best efforts, you still genuinely dislike olives, the times you realized your life isn’t going to continued as planned, and even the times you felt lively crafting a handmade card or playing with your cat. All these little moments give insight into what makes us feel alive, what fuels us and where our true passions are—which is where we need to spend more time channelling our energy. Start identifying them in your own life as I continue.

Now, yes, OK, playing with your cat is the best thing in the world, but let’s look a little deeper into that. Why is it fun? Is it because you weren’t doing anything all day? Is it because you were having a bad day and that quality cuddle time with your furry friend made you happy? Seek out the reasons behind the things you either enjoyed or disliked and you’ll find where to establish the focus for the New Year. In this hilarious (yet oh so true) cat situation, I enjoy fun times with my cat when I’ve been really busy and need a bit of a break. What I learn from this is my life needs to involve easy ways to take a few moments to recharge and re-energize after a long, busy day. Keeping some easy and creative projects around, like say knitting that winter scarf I’ve never started, leaves me an opportunity to knit a few rows which will de-clutter my mind and leaves me feeling like I am accomplishing something fun that I enjoy doing, but don’t always have time to do. Hanging with my cat fits into this same category, as well as reading a book or magazine.

Take a look at the rest of life’s moments that stand out as monumental from the past year and examine them for their deeper meaning. Write them out and soon you’ll find yourself easy themes to help navigate your goals for 2015.

When I look back at 2014 I realize I had a year of ups and downs, challenges, overcoming those challenges and, overall, making a lot of decisions that change the course of any plans that were once had. A few themes that stand out for me are how I thrive when I get to be creative, make beautiful things and capture their beauty the best I can, when I get to spend meaningful time with those who hold value in my life (even if it’s a short amount of time), intentionally growing my faith, and helping people in some sort of way whether in the form of travelling over seas, or helping friends with areas of need. 

Follow me on Instagram: @LoveInspiresChange

In shorter form, my themes for 2015 become:

- Creativity

- Relationships

- Faith

- Serving

- Health

A theme has more rooting to it. It creates an expression of following passions and living out the deeper callings of your life, embedded by God, to keep you moving in the direction to be His light to the world in all you do. My chosen themes, while somewhat vague, give me an amazing focal point for the New Year. Anything that doesn’t fit itself easily into one of the above themes is not going to serve me well. It’s kind of like creating a filter for yourself to live your best in 2015, which is pretty amazing.

My 2014 goals were accomplished, and I’m looking forward to growing on them and sifting all my dreams through the theme filters I’ve created to create an amazing 2015. I can already tell you a few of my goals:

- Blogging to take more of a lead role (which easily passes through every filter!)

- Baking to continue to be a focus, including collaborating and sharing my creations via my blogging platform and customers

- Take at least one workout classes (instead of just working out at home like I always do!) 

- More dedicated Faith pursuits (attend conferences, studies... you name it, I want in on it!)

So this year, as you dream, reflect, and visualize where you want to go in life, I challenge you to figure out the themes of where you thrive, and pursue all your goals and dreams with your themes shining brightly, guiding every step.

Cheers to an absolutely amazing 2015!

*Interested in setting goals? Check out my post last year on Positive Goal Setting

Excitement of the New Year

Who needs resolutions when you set goals?

I'd say I know my husband pretty well. He is a very goal oriented individual. Example: one of his favourite books is titled GOALS! Capitalization and exclamation marks not even added by me-- which is something I normally do to add emphasis. When he makes goals, I often want to be involved in the process. I mean, I started reading the book GOALS! once before. I even made it... maybe... a quarter way through. I have set personal goals before but never concrete-well-thought-out-execution-plan, kind of goals. Just things I want to accomplish in a generalized time frame.

This year is different.
This year we have BIG GOALS! (Emphasis added by me to show how truly exciting it is.)

On New Years Day we ventured to the empty coffee shop to read and have some "shoulder to shoulder" time. This is not uncommon. It's actually something we do quite often when the coffee shop is closed for a holiday. The coffee shop is such a wonderful place to be. Big windows letting in incredible light, all the delicious tea I could drink, and comfy chairs that swallow you up while you get sucked into a good book. JP arrived before I did to do work. Upon my arrival, I started into my current read, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. An incredible book that I received from on my "Christmas List" that is challenging, encouraging, inspiring, and overall a book I was highly recommending even before I finished the first chapter. Before I knew it, JP had whipped out a page titled "S.M.A.R.T Goals for 2013". Goals. For 2013. That we are making together. My heart leaped for joy and I was SO EXCITED to be able to create some goals with the goal master himself, Jon Plett.

Upon assessing our upcoming year, we set goals in a variety of areas. We didn't only "write goals", we created our Purpose Statement for each area, wrote out our Envisioned Future, set Specific Commitments to help us reach our envisioned future and-- my favourite part-- found a supporting verse for each area.

Being able to keep ourselves God centered when creating goals is the most encouraging and amazing process. To consistently keep in mind what God has created us for when writing out our year gives me so much excitement. It lets you know that they aren't really "your" plans. They are His plans. His plans don't fail. His plans come to life. His plans are more amazing than you could ever imagine.

And that is how this year is shaping up to be.
Within in the next couple of weeks I will turn 25 years old and JP and I will celebrate our third marriage anniversary. This year we plan to move and pursue passions-- how helpful that we have goals to help us accomplish all that we would love to do.

While creating these Team Goals, I created my own personal goals with the same flow-- for consistency sake and because I absolutely love how in-depth the process was. To write out my envisioned future in my marriage, pursuit of a new career, my faith life, friendships, volunteering and humanitarian work, is so encouraging. God uses each and every one of us for things more amazing than we could ever think of. If you allow yourself to search out His reasoning behind why you were created, you will be able to envision a future you originally never thought possible. This time last year, I never would have envisioned my future including the things it currently does. Sure, some things stay the same-- you want to volunteer, have a solid faith life and marriage, pursue a career you are passionate about-- but to have specific commitments, scripture to support it... Wow. Awesome.

Welcome 2013. This is a year for big change, big dreams, big blessings, and big opportunities. My door is open to you, and I am warmly inviting you in.