Do you pick a theme for the year? I don’t normally, but I have this year. My theme is: FOCUS. I love setting goals and making detailed plans, but I’ve never really sat down in the past and thought through what my theme would be for a particular year. This year is different.
AWOL
I’ve been rather AWOL on my blog for months. As you may know, I’ve been in grad school finishing up a master’s degree in counseling. Adding grad student to the many other hats I wear has kept me busy and I have not been writing on here. Although, I did write over 30 papers last semester for the 3 classes I took and was busy with my internship (hence the “no time” for the blog) I’ve had a lot of great posts composed in my head, but they never made it from there. <<sigh>> It’s the thought that counts, right?
On a serious note, that’s really what has led to my theme for the year. I need to focus in order to prioritize and use my time as God would have me to use it. If not, life will just get blurry with me trying to do too many good things, but not the best for me.
Time to Focus
Now that I’m finishing school, it’s time to take all of the pieces of my story and put them together. That’s really exciting to me. It’s all finally coming together! But, to do that, I need to focus.
- What is God calling me to focus on?
- What is my goal?
- Which direction is God leading me?
- Where is He taking me this year?
- What will that look like?
- Where does He want me to grow?
- What do I need to add and take away from my life in order to focus on His plan for me?
I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to go back to school. Although I do enjoy counseling and know it’s a calling from God, I really LOVE the coaching side too. (And truth be told, my counseling style is really like my coaching style, just focused on different types of issues. I’m a coach, what can I say?) I’m excited to see what God has in store for me in both areas though! I’m still praying about opening my big red barn coaching and counseling center. 🙂 On the counseling side, I love to focus on post-traumatic growth and resiliency. Taking the broken pieces and allowing God to make something beautiful out of them. This is where you are today……how do we move forward and allow God to use that experience……how can you grow……what future would you like to have….
Clarity…..finally
So, as I’ve begun to sort through the pieces to try to figure out what this big picture will look like, I’m getting a clearer understanding of where I’m headed. Focus tends to do that, doesn’t it?
My goals
With focus, I’ll be able to reach several of my big goals for the year. With grad school coming to an end, here are a few I’m working on. (You know that coaches are all about accountability! You’ll help keep me accountable now.)
- Transition to coaching full-time instead of part-time
- Develop more speaking topics to establish a speaking ministry for women’s events. I have a few topics now and speak at some ladies events each year, but not regularly. Honestly, I haven’t had the time to “focus” on this aspect yet and put a lot of time into it. I really love speaking though, so I’m excited about this goal!
- Get my newsletter out
- Apply for my PCC credential with the International Coach Federation (ICF)
- Begin teaching coaching class at PCCI (where I trained)
- Offer webinars with useful information to help you reach your goals and live your best life!
As you can see, I have a lot to focus on this year.
What about you?
- Do you have a theme this year? Is there something that God keeps bringing up?
- What would you like to accomplish by the end of the year? Do you have a plan to make it happen?
- Where would God have you to grow?
- What do you need to add or take away from your life in order to live out His plan for you?
I’d love to hear what your theme is for the year or what you are focusing on. Maybe it’s rest, or growth, or being a mom. Maybe it’s finishing a goal you’ve set or strengthening your marriage. It could be anything!
I know that it takes a lot of hard work sometimes to reach the goals we have or to simplify our lives. Doesn’t that sound crazy to say it’s hard work to simplify? But it really is true.
What is God calling you to do this year?
Let me know how I could pray for you. I’d love for you to pray for me as well. I’m praying to be able to finish these goals well and to truly become the woman God would have me to be in these areas.
