One of my new discoveries in 2020 was podcasts. I had always imagined podcasts as boring and monotone, but clearly I had been listening to the WRONG podcasts! Here are a few of my newfound favorites: Office Ladies with Angela Kinsey & Jenna Fischer, That Sounds Fun with Annie F. Downs and Woah, That's Good with Sadie Robertson Huff. However, one of my absolute favorites lately has been This Intentional Life with Heather Adams.  I love how Heather states in her intro "How do we prioritize what really matters and not just let life happen to us?" (which totally goes along with my WHOLEHEARTED word for the year).

This new year has made me think back to episode #4 of This Intentional Life where Heather Adams interviews Michele Cushatt. They talk about establishing a life mission statement and finding your five non-negotiables. Michele states that you use your mission statement to design your life, so you aren't constantly reacting. If you're anything like me, you probably just laughed at the thought of not just reacting during a time such as this. Michele immediately clarified that designing your life isn't about having control, but being intentional.

So how does Michele recommend finding your life mission statement? First, ask yourself - What do you want to be true of you at the end of your life? Then, determine your assets, your audiences, and your aim. Your assets are the talents in your life, everything that comes naturally to you. Your audience is the people in your life that you influence or want to influence in every aspect of your life. Then, your aim is your goals. Why do you do what you do? In the answers to those questions, you will start to find themes and those themes are most likely a part of your life mission.

This episode inspired me to develop a life mission statement of my own. It's a tad longer than a statement, so I may have to call it a paragraph. However, I believe it fits what I am aiming to accomplish during this season of my life. This statement is dynamic. As I change or enter new seasons in my life, I may have to tweak or revisit my statement. (Perhaps make it more concise!) But for now, this is it.

I will fiercely love and encourage those around me. I will consistently celebrate and fearlessly embrace opportunities and challenges that arise. God has placed me where I am for a purpose - I am the girl for the job.

So my mission statement has three sections. Each one is a different sentence. Look at how easy that is! The first is "I will fiercely love and encourage those around me." My desire behind this is that I make people around me in every aspect of my life know that they matter; they are loved not only by me, but also by their heavenly Father who has way more love than I could ever give them on my own. I want to be known as an encourager. When I was three years old, I wanted to be a cheerleader-doctor. (That is a cheerleader on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and a doctor on Tuesday and Thursday.) Those career aspirations have changed as I've gotten older, but one thing still remains - I'm a great cheerleader. I think one of my talents is to cheer people into the best person they can be, and I want that to be part of what I am remembered for.

The second sentence is "I will consistently celebrate and fearlessly embrace opportunities and challenges that arise." I want to consistently celebrate. For me, this encompasses my word of the year from last year - rejoice - finding joy even in the midst of challenges. It also includes gratitude. I will be grateful or the challenges and opportunities I am given. Then, I want to fearlessly embrace. I want to charge towards opportunities and not let fear keep me from experiencing what God has for me. I want to persevere through challenges and use them to grow. I will not let trials defeat me. I don't want to look back and regret not seizing an opportunity or not using a difficult time to better myself.

The third sentence is "God has placed me where I am for a purpose - I am the girl for the job." This sentence is more of a reminder than a goal. I am where I am because of God. He has a plan for me. He is fighting for me. I am His daughter. I am not forgotten. Nothing in my life is an accident or a coincidence. I am where I am because it's where I need to be. I will not back down. This is my chance to do what He has called me to do. (In case you didn't know, every word of this paragraph is true about you. You are a son or daughter of the One True King. He loves you and has placed you where you are for a reason.)

If you have read to this point, thank you. I'm honored that you would choose to spend your time reading my thoughts. I hope that you might choose to create your own inspired life mission statement after this blog post. (Also, please check out the podcast episode about this from This Intentional Life. They explain it better than I ever could!)

Between the start of a new year and my professional development course, it seems like goals come up in conversation frequently. What new habits do you want to start? What are you going to accomplish this year? Where do you want to be in 5 years? 10 years? 20? Who do you want to be? What do you want to be remembered for?

Goals are always something I've struggled with a little bit. I've got goals... plenty of them! I've got dreams, plans, hopes, but it's the getting to them that I usually end up coming short. There are several things that I've noticed make my goals less attainable for myself. I'm going to share some of those below and how you can avoid making these mistakes when working towards your goals in 2021.

Mistake #1: I have too many goals. Don't get me wrong. It's great to have lots of way you want to better yourself or improve your life. However, it's impossible to truly give each goal the attention it needs in order to be achieved. One thing that really forced me to accept this idea is Rachel Hollis's Start Today journal. In her journal, you take where you want to be in 10 years and narrow that down to 10 dreams that will help you get there. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE. She encourages you to focus on ONE MAIN GOAL. (That's right, one.... I know... my enneagram 7 heart can't take it!) Having one goal you are focusing in on will help you reach goals faster and stay dedicated to the one you've chosen.

Mistake #2: My goals are too big. I'm a big dreamer. I think it's great to dream huge dreams, but if you consistently place goals in your life that are all unreachable or seem that way, you are much more likely to get discouraged and quit on your goals. I am NOT saying that you should abandon all your big dreams. Keep those big dreams, but create smaller goals that will help you get there. For instance, if you want to be a Broadway star, your goal could be learning a new choreography or nailing an audition for a local company. You will get to the big dream eventually, but you will have more check points to keep you on track to get there.

Mistake #3: I don't track my goals. Sometimes you set goals and don't even realize that you've met them. When you meet a goal, you want to be able to celebrate! You've accomplished something great. It's important to recognize that you've achieved something amazing. It is especially important to track goals when you are trying to build habits. There is a huge trend that I am extremely jealous of - bullet journaling.  It's a habit tracker, a calendar, a mood board. It's whatever you want it to be, and it customized to you. Even further than that, you made it which is an achievement within itself. I do not have the artistic ability that these amazing bullet journalers do, so I track goals and habits in a regular journal. However, if you have that artistic ability, I encourage you to bullet journal to your heart's content!

Mistake #4: I forget about my goals. Life is crazy. I don't have to tell any of you that. It's easy to get distracted and accidentally abandon your goals. Maybe you get behind and before you realize it, you're so far behind it feels like you can't catch up. To prevent this from happening, find a way to put your goals in your brain daily. This could be a goal journal like the Start Today journal, a mood board, a sticky note on your bathroom mirror - any place that will force you to visually see your goal each and every day. Yet still, you may find yourself desperately behind on your goals. It's never too late to get back on the ball. Get back up and start again. Adjust your time frame for your goal, so it is still achievable. The important thing is that you get up and keep going. Don't give up.

So what are my current goals?
1. I want to read the Bible cover to cover in a year. (Spiritual)
2. I want to obtain a summer internship for 2021. (Professional)
3. I want to get all As for this semester. (Educational)
4. I want to be intentional and fully present in my relationships with people. (Personal)

 I know I know... that's more than one. I chose one for each section of my life. I've also made even more mistakes I can learn from in these! My 4th goal isn't very trackable, so we will see what happens as I work to achieve that one.

January is full of fresh starts for college students- new year, new semester, new class schedule. There is so much new going on, and many are even moving back to a different town after spending the holidays at home. January is a time to make goals and a time to get reorganized, re-centered and refocused.

So how have I taken advantage of a fresh start? I chose my word of the year. Each year I choose a word that defines my year or where I want to be at the end of the year. For 2020, my word was REJOICE. A trait within myself that I have always loved was my positivity, and at the beginning of 2020, I found that it was harder to default to the optimism that came so easily to me before. I wanted to set a goal for myself to rejoice in whatever life threw at me. I wanted to stay centered on the fact that even when life was crazy, God is still in control, and life is still good.

Well, I never could have imagined what life would end up throwing at me in 2020. COVID-19 was not expected for anyone, and its impact was far greater than we ever figured it would be. I had to move back home in March, and I stayed home for about 6 months, the longest I had been home since I graduated high school. I celebrated my 20th birthday in lock-down. I was separated from my people, and my physical touch loving heart had to resist hugging my friends. YET STILL, good things happened. I made new friends from UGA online. I spent more time with my family. I got to experience the power of social media when using it to market Ochlockonee Ridge Farms. I was able to find joy in the midst of quarantine.

However, nothing could have prepared me for the second half of 2020. In August, I received a call that I never thought I would ever receive at my age. My best friend had passed away. I had to navigate a grief that I had never experienced before. How can you rejoice when a 20 year long friendship is cut short because of death? I think I saw truly the difference between happiness and joy. I was not happy by any means; I was devastated. I miss my friend daily. However, I could have joy in knowing that my friend was with the Lord. I had to constantly remind myself that God has a plan, and God is still in control, and in that truth, I could find joy.

So here we are. It's 2021. It's a new year, a new start after a hard and difficult year. What do I want to focus on this year? This year I have selected the word, "WHOLEHEARTED." Merriam-Webster defines wholehearted as "completely and sincerely devoted, determined, and enthusiastic" and "free from all reserve or hesitation." This year, I want to be wholehearted in every aspect of my life. I want to be devoted, determined, and enthusiastic in my career, in school, in my relationship with God, in my friendships, in my sorority. I want my life to be goal-oriented.

Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people.
Colossians 3:23 ISV

So this year I will strive to be wholehearted. I will set goals, and I will meet them. I will deepen my relationships with people. I will excel in my school work. I will serve my sorority consistently. I will live life well.