Goals For June 2019

Last month was a very trying month for me.  There are some things that I did not expect (like the electric going out in two of the rooms and leaving me without wifi for 3 days on Mother’s Day weekend).  I am humbled that in this country, power is a freely given, even though we must pay for it.  There are some luxuries that we as Americans do to order to afford them, and sadly this administration does not get it.  OK, that is it for my rant.  I am supposed to be talking about my goals for the month of June and that is what we are going to talk about.

What did I get done in May?

In May, on the social media side, the following happened:

Instagram:  Last month: 750 This month: 557

I have no doubt it is the photos I publish, but I have one slight problem.  While people like my photos, and it seems that I keep posting the same type of photos, I have received maybe one or two comments on them.  So, if you comment, it helps me a lot.  I am also commenting more on other people’s photos.  Generally, I am a shy, quiet person, so introverted, but as my pastor says, I have extrovert tendencies.  Interaction is the key.  Also, a tip:  to constantly get followers to interact with you, Kittens and puppies work.  I am just kidding.  My last photo of the boss cat got a lot of likes because she was sitting in her usual spot overseeing her “parents” making dinner.  No, the real tip is to follow the person who follows you.  You may not be interested in what they do, but it helps to support them.  It also does help to turn your personal account into a business account. You can see insights and see what works for your IG account.

Facebook: I am not tackling that as of yet.  I did get a chance to look at it from a non-grabbing traffic aspect (is Non-Grabbing a term?) and I will admit that if I want to grab a follower’s attention, I need to:

·         Get rid of the drama.  In other words, curb my issues, don’t react too much to Trump’s and other political antics, and get rid of my gaming (although that has been restricted to my Ipad).

·         Promote more of my business, but not too much.  Remember, Facebook execs do not want you to spam your readers, and I am on of those people who do not want to see an ad for ½ of Paparazzi Jewelry. I love the pieces (who can beat $5 jewelry), but I do not want the same ad popping up every 5 minutes or more.  Even Jesus took a rest, and you should too.  If I know how I feel about the same ad, then I need to rest about my business as well.

o   Tip: Talk about something related to your business that can be a takeaway tip.  For instance, talk about what types of jewelry goes with each other.  In my case, I would be talking about types of invitations to help when inviting guests to the wedding or a good size number of guest to invite when your venue is small.  This may turn viewers into buyers.  Do not always offer a product.  Let the post bring in the buyers.

This is something that I want to tackle starting next month.  This does not mean I am friending anyone it means I am adding followers.

Pinterest

I can always use more followers, but what I have notice is what I am not posting enough of, my blogs.  Just like Instagram, this is something that I need to work on, and this case, it brings more people to my blog posts and my Etsy site.  I have been mostly repining other people’s pins.  While that is a good thing for them, it is not good for me.  I am finding better photos by taking some of my own or using the ones that I purchased with a commercial license or free and the original photographer said I can use them.

Twitter: 1,679 (May) added 2 more for June (1,680).  I am going to work on posting my blog posts on Twitter and hopefully I have the same results as I did with Instagram.  At one time, Twitter was my go to, until the a few years ago, mojo when “No Go”.  Now that I am building up traffic again, I do need to work on all of them in some compacity and Twitter is no exception

YouTube:  I gained 5 new followers, with no new videos for the whole month of May.  I did put out a video on Instagram stories to see how I liked it.  It is good for short bursts of video, but for long ones, it is YouTube. I have a Vimeo account, but I have not made any videos on it in the 5+ years I had the account.

In June, the goal is at least two videos. 

Finally LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is the business Facebook, even though Facebook now has a legitimate Facebook business area, this is the first social media made for business people.  I do not talk about it much because it is supposed to be more professional than Facebook.  I have 363 connections.  LinkedIn does not call them followers or friends. Each connection is supposed to allow you to ask for business, sell your product, or apply for a job.  If that connection does not have a need for you business or product, or hiring in your expertise, they may know of someone who does or have a need.  LinkedIn is supposed to be a place to network.

I have been mostly lurking on LinkedIn.  When I first got the account, I was engaging so much.  Now I barely get on because the way I have this account setup, anything I do not Twitter or Facebook, reflects back on LinkedIn.  Lately, I have noticed that the dynamics have changed.  It seems that LinkedIn does not allow it anymore. So, I am looking into my account and changing things up a bit. 

OK, I am off of social media for now.

Other Goals

You may think that this is all I talk about.  No Sir/Madame.  These are my other goals:

1. P. Lynne Designs Website.  For some reason, I took a month off.  Not my usual depressive state, but I had things to do, people to see.  Also, I have been getting house stuff done.  When you only have so many hours of the day, and/or people and things give you limitations beyond your control, you have to take them. So, the website was put on the backburner for a bit.  So, the new goal is to have things running by the new year. (new fiscal year, that is, which starts in July).
2. Bedroom organization:  I am almost finished clearing my bedroom.  I cleared out my 3-tier long shelf for something that only holds my router/modem, my long basket with my rolls of vinyl, and my planner supplies, which are temporary until I get my craftroom set up. The new goal for this area:
1. Change out the final phase of Fall/winter/spring bed clothing (sheets and spread/comforter/blanket) for summer stuff. I have not decided what I want on my bed, but I want the ugly green comforter to get out of here.  I had it for 3 years, so it is bye-bye.
2. Clear off my dresser.
3. Get rid of the shoe rack and basket table.
4. Start hunting for bedroom furniture.  This is a purchase planned for 2020, and I need to start looking now, even though I am looking to move in the next 1-2 years.  Why?  I had this furniture since I moved out of my parent’s house in 1998, and this furniture was built in 1968 (at least that was what the previous owners of the furniture said). I want something that is a little more up-to-date.  Heck I have changed computers since this furniture was bought.  I need a budget for this purchase.
3. Product creation.  I think I have a handle on my Etsy store.  I had 2 sales in the month of May, but June needs to double the amount.  This means 4 sales.  I also need to renew one of the listings, the “Smile” in white lettering composition notebook.  I need to make some products for my website that may or may not be a product on my website who is to tell on that until I create it.  I need to do pricing for some product as well.  This means the introduction to change some placement products and finish my website.

Well, that is it for right now.  I had great response to the May 2019 goals.  My reason is not to brag that I can do this.  I am not perfect.  There are some goals that I did not meet in the month of May that I am not happy with, but you move on, you do what you can to meet and exceed those goals.  If you do not meet them, do not beat yourself up over it.  Things happen and life happens.  I am very proud of things such as meeting some social media goals, mad that I did not complete my craftroom and master bedroom, but things have not fallen around me, and if not, I will pray, ask for forgiveness, and move on.  This is the takeaway I want to give to you.

Goals for May 2019

Today, I am going to talk about my goals for this month, May 2019.

For those of you who are first-timers to my blog, I am displaying my goals as a way of being accountable with myself and to others.

Now some people do not care to hear about other people’s goals, but on this Motivation Monday, I feel that if I can work on my goals, so can you. So if this is not for you, please skip this blog.  I am finding more and more bloggers are saying that, and it is perfectly ok to skip.  Not everything I talk about on my blogs is going to be for everyone, but I try to reach the majority of people.

There is another reason:

I am not going to spend too much time on this, but, as an influencer, it is important to be able to influence people.  Influencing includes anything that I do for my individual blog, to my Instagram and other social media accounts, to anything that a sponsor wants me to do for them.  What I love about being one is when it comes to sponsored posts, I can pick and choose what I want to talk about, but at the same time, there are certain requirements I need to meet in order to be effective.  So, with that, my goals are as follows:

·         Social Media:  Instead of targeting all of my accounts at once, I decided to concentrate heavily on one account, while still working on the others.  You always need to work on these accounts if you are an influencer.  Why? Because when sponsors see your numbers, they will ask for you specifically.  You also do not have to pitch as hard to get them to see you.  This does not mean that the moment they see 1000 followers on your account, sponsors are going to immediately fall in love with you and your content.  There are other things to consider because what you have to offer still may not be a good fit for you or the sponsor.

o   Instagram.  Last Month (April): 714.  This month: 750 Up by 36 new followers.  I was working on Instagram because this social media platform is quickly growing in general.  People are starting to share more pictures.  Sponsors love it because the influencer can show their product in action, through photos and video.  By the way, I shared my first video.  It was a happy accident because it was an accident.  I am not the person who likes her cat niece hanging around craft tools in their working position.  I was working on a bookmark project, and while trying to watch out for Gizmo and loading paper into my Cricut machine.  Hit “go” on the machine and the mat went one way, the paper when another way.  I tried to hit pause and got a nasty paper jam.  It took an hour to clear it, and while doing so, I am posting to my Cricut groups about it, looking up on YouTube and Google on how to clear it.  Finally, customer service said to email and upload a video.  Well, after taking a craft knife and a small kitchen knife to it, I got the paper jam free.  Later on, I decided to upload to Instagram, and VOLIA, I got 20 likes, 10 more followers, and a comment, my first comment.  I have comments about that later on.

o   Facebook:  No change except I added one person.

o   Twitter: (April) 1,683 This month: 1,679 Humm, I lost a couple.  Just to know I am still trying to figure out both Facebook and Twitter, and they were the first social media I joined.

o   LinkedIn: (April) 358, this month: 362.  I gained 4 followers.  Consider that this is the account that I will probably work on next month.

Notice, I never mentioned Pinterest in this month’s report or last month’s report.  Guess what?  This is the social media account that needs no help at all.  I am also not mentioning YouTube, not for the same reason, but I want it to grow organically, mentioning the channel in my blog posts, on YouTube growth groups on Facebook, and so forth. 

I am also not mentioning my other blogs for this month.  I am still working on getting them to the WordPress platform.  I have the basic bones of the sites, such as securing them because Lord knows that I do not want another disaster like my first P. Lynne Designs website.  (May she rest in peace for the moment). This will come in the form of individual reports in the coming days.

As for My Ambiance Life, As I told you, the new address is going to be http://patriciallogan.com (please do not go to this URL as of yet), and the security is set.  As soon as I get finished with P. Lynne Designs, the new one, I will start the backend of this new site.  Hopefully, it is this week and if not, Next week.  Things got a little bit behind because of life and I was working on some bookmarks for Mother’s day.  My goals are to be completely finished and ready to roll out some posts for WP My Ambiance Life within the next couple of weeks.  I will keep this one up, which I am calling Blogger My Ambiance Life, for about a year, so that anyone who is currently subscribed to this blog can find their way over to WP My Ambiance Life.  I will have links to each blog on the other blog’s site.  So does that means I will have 6 blogs?  No, it means I will still have 3 blogs, with 3 blogs as archived (older) blog posts.

Well, that is it for today’s post.  The Takeaway for today is:

1.       Do not be afraid of telling anyone your goals for the month.  At the beginning of the post, I mentioned that not everyone will be in turn with what you are trying to achieve, and not everyone should read what your goals are.  I am making mine public in case someone is thinking about doing goal setting this way. 

2.      Do write it down somewhere is this is not public information. By the way, it is, if you know how to look up stats.  Anyone can go to a free website, such as Alexa (not the AI from Amazon) and pull up stats on a website.  Alexa is not totally free, but there are some features that require a pro account.

3.      Have some idea on why you want to keep track of your website stats (such as growing your account for fun or work-related). Do not pull up your websites and social media stats if it means nothing to you.

4.      Finally, if you do want to increase your following, you need to engage.  What do I mean? You need to do the following:

o   Post content.  Not just any content.  Post content with a purpose.  That 5-minute clip I posted of me having problems with the jammed paper was meant for a customer service rep at Cricut, but it turned into a “you can have this problem too” moment.  I will be posting more short video clips in my Instagram now that I know how to do it.

o   Answer all comments.  Let me rephrase that.  Answer all comments that make sense.  Now, all comments are going to be related to your post.  I go be the “read and move on” approach.  If someone is cursing at you and making threats of any kind, report them, ASAP.

o   Comment on almost everything you read.  Again, some content is not worth the reply.  If you enjoy that person’s post, at least say that.  It helps them to know that you at least clicked the link to read it.  I usually replay with TFS (Thanks for Sharing) or Enjoyed your post.  If I have something further to say, I will say it at that time.  If I did not enjoy it, I move on.  Also, please like it and share when you can.

o   Finally, subscribe back if someone subscribes to you, or at least check out their profile.  If they have at least 2 things in common, and they go by your values and beliefs, sub anyway.  If not, some people go by the “sub for sub” rule.

Well, I am finally finished. Have a great day, you are more then enough, and God bless you.

April 2019 Goals for Social Media

I want to increase my goals on my social media accounts.  It is almost every blogger and vlogger’s dreams.  The truth is goals are something I rarely share with my readers.  The reason is quite simple, really (in my broken British accent, which is slightly Americanized). Note:  Ah, the things that go on inside one’s head, LOL.

No, but seriously, let me give you a backstory. (per usual, short, but sweet)

I have been blogging for ten glorious but trying years.  I slowed down in 2015 but now I am picking back up.  I now want to make money from blogging.  For the sake of my family, I have to make money from this.  I was thinking about this a few years ago when I refused to play into the hype of disclosing how much money bloggers made in a month/year since becoming bloggers.

Lesson learned, and while I would never disclose my complete income, which is no one’s business but mine and my CPA when she does my taxes (just got them back today), I felt that I might offer a little inspiration on what programs I used in order to get to that point, where I can brag talk about it.  Someone may be struggling in that area.  So, without further ado, here are my goals for this month.  As you will see, I have listed the current total of viewers who follow me and what I want to increase the number by.

 

Instagram

Current Followers: 714

The goal for the month: 200 Needed (making it 914 followers by 4/30)

Instagram is a struggle for me.  The reason is I have a Samsung Note 4 smartphone, and a Mini IPad 3.  While that worked well in the past, I am finding that I need more memory to store pictures for the phone.  I also need a camera. Many experts say that you do not need a camera.  I can (with cooperation from Google Chrome-hate the other one) turn my desktop into a simulated phone for sharing photos from Google and my desktop on Instagram.  If you are not squeamish about diving into the back end of Google Chrome, here are the instructions:

1. On the toolbar (it says Instagram, search, a little compass symbol, etc..) right click with your mouse button.
2. Go to “inspect”. You will see HTML stuff.  Trust me, you do not need to touch it at all (Thank God)
3. Right next to Icon with the screen and arrow, you will see an icon with a big screen/little screen.  Click on it.
4. What this does is toggle it between from a full screen to looking similar to your phone screen.  It should have the plus sign (+) on it so you can add photos from your internal drive.  Keep the dialog box open while doing this.  I closed mine out, and now, either Instagram figured out what I was doing, or I have to watch the video I got it from again.

What do I place on my account:  So far, family and project pictures I am currently engaged into.

 Facebook

Current Friend/followers:  1,129 (1,063 friends and 63 followers)

Current My Ambiance Life Page: 52

Current P. Lynne Designs Page: 208

Current At Home with Tricia's Baskets page: 0

Current Simply Organized Crafts: 322

Total amount: 1,711 friends and followers

Goal:  500 no matter what they follow.

I am not so worried about my Facebook account.  It is nice and comfy, and almost just right, BUT, if I want Amazon or any other sponsor to look my way for an influencer’s account, that amount needs to be higher, much higher.  I do not have any tricks or tips on Facebook except, let go of the drama, mama. Whatever is going on in your home/work/school/church, needs to stay there. It used to be a time when the only time a person posted as to when something bad is happening in your location.  People thrived on drama.  They still do.  Do not contribute to it.

I am also confused by what Facebook considers friends vs. followers.  If you look at followers along, not too many people are following me, but when you factor in my friends and people who follow my business pages, I have a lot more than needed.  So my question that I need to find out is, “What are potential sponsors looking at, and what do I need to concentrate on.  More research needs to be conducted before I can give you the answer.

If you created your account to promote your business (and by all means, please do), note that Facebook does not take too kindly on the likes of too much promotion, or you may find yourself in Facebook jail. Yes, that is a real term.

What do I place on my account:  I post on each of my pages the current post from each blog, except P. Lynne Designs.  For that page, I post on how I am coming with the website.  Once I am finished with that, I will do the same for each blog.  By the way, each blog has a new domain name, but I will not reveal until it is time to launch it.

Twitter

Current followers: 1,683

Goal: 500

My Twitter is in the same boat as my Facebook account.  I can always use some work on it.  The truth of the matter is whenever I post to Facebook or I post to Twitter, the opposite get the post as well. I set it up like that when I first got both accounts, even though they are not owned by the same company.  I wish it was like that for Facebook and Instagram. I can post something from Instagram to Facebook, but I cannot post from Facebook to Instagram, and they are from the same company.

I treat my Twitter account like my Facebook account with a little more caution:  I still think in 140 characters.  I write the most important stuff on the post and cut out the fluff.  I was glad when Twitter stopped counting the URL as part of the post.  It makes posting better and faster. Here is another tip:  not too many Millennials have a Twitter or Facebook account. So, if you want to reach them, Try Instagram.

Linked-In

Current followers: 358

Goal: 500

The goal here is different.  Why?  Because as you see by the numbers, it is lower than Instagram.  I am not on LinkedIn as much as I should.  LinkedIn is more of a business network social media platform than the others.  When it first started, it was made for business-minded people.  You are not going to get your friends and relatives to subscribe to LinkedIn because that is not where the gossip is at unless you like hearing about Amazon and Apple’s business practices.

So, if you are looking to network with LinkedIn, keep in mind that you are dealing with business people.

Blogs

My Ambiance Life

Current Follows:  9

Goal: 500

P. Lynne Designs

Current Follows: 158

Goal: 500

At Home with Tricia's Baskets

Current Follows: 9

Goal: 500

Even though all 3 have different audiences, I lumped them together, just because they are all blogs, and they belong to me.  All the goals are the same.  I am having problems with consistency at the moment, which I am having the same problem with my YouTube channel.  More on that when I get to it.

Consistency

When you have blogs, it is important that you tell your audience when they expect to have a new post.  This usually comes in the form of a newsletter.  So now you are asking yourself, “Why is she telling me this when she has a hard time keeping up with consistency?”  Consistency with blogging is different than consistency with having a YouTube or Venmo Channel, but they are one and the same.  Both blogging and vlogging take up the same time which involves planning, editing, and publishing.

What do I publish:  For P. Lynne Designs, it is about my handmade products, reviews, and tutorials.  Every once in a while, it is about my experiences as a crafter and freelance person.  At Home with Tricia's Baskets, it is about family, home life, and travel.  Sometimes it is about organizing your home, places to visit, reviews on those same places and products. Lastly, for My Ambiance Life, It is about writing, working from home, journaling, learning how to blog, and social media. 

Vlogging (Video publishing)- YouTube

Patricia L. Logan

Current Subscribers:  170

Goal: Working up to 1,000

P. Lynne Designs (no videos)

Current Subscribers: 0

Goal:  working up to 1,000

I have been vlogging for about 7 years.  At first, I did not care if a video went up or not.  That was not my goal.  Then, I started seeing what video could do for your business, and I was hooked.  I think it was a family vlog I was watching, and I was thinking to myself, “hey if they can stay consistent, so can I.” OK, different lifestyles different goals, but it does work if you let it.

I must admit that I have 2 videos waiting for me to edit and publish.  Editing is not hard, but it is time-consuming.  You have to listen to what your tone should be towards your audience, cut out the crap, separate the audio, add music, upload to YouTube (or Venmo), edit some more, including adding the description, and you are done. 

One tip I do need to add when editing:  find yourself a good editing software.  Be willing to pay for it.  For a couple of years, I wanted the editing software that was sweeping the nation, but it is only for the Mac.  I cannot think of it at the moment.  Someone told me there was a Windows version of the software, but the site only pointed to my software that had some features as the version for the Mac.  I tried Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and a couple of software that were not to my liking. Yes, in a pinch, you can edit videos in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, programs I already had on my computer.  I also had Windows Movie Maker, which also sucked.  I tried Filmore9 (not Sponsored) and loved it, but when I uploaded my first video using the software, it put this big ad in the middle of my face and covered my mouth so if a deaf person were to listen to my video, they could not.  I want to make my videos friendly to all. Yes, they could CC on the video, but If they do not have to, it should come to that.

So, now, I paid an annual fee of $39 to remove the ad from my videos, and I am happier now, then when I was editing my videos with WMM.  I still get the same features as before, so for now, I am sticking to the software.

So, these are my goals for April.  I do have affiliates, which I did not mention in this post, but maybe I will mention in my next blog post for next Friday.  

For today, I sprinkled little takeaways throughout the blog, so I hope you caught them.  Be sure to subscribe to one or all of the places you can find me.  Also, If you have any questions or comments, please list them below, as well as on some of my social media profiles.  You can also reach me at plogan721@att.net.

Until then, have a great week, and God bless you.

Motivational Monday Goal Setting 2018

Let me ask you a couple questions:  Are there any things or quests that you want to do in your lifetime?  Do you have a bucket list?  If this is you, stay tuned as I try to answer these questions personally.

I have visited this topic several times between two blogs, this one, and Simply Organized Crafts, which merged with Tricia’s Baskets to form a new blog called At Home with Tricia's Baskets.  One particular system that has to do with goal setting is called SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-based).  I wish I had transferred it from Simply Organized Crafts before taking the blog down last year.  It really had some good, valuable tips on how to manage your goals.

Before I dive into how to set your goals the easy way, which incorporates some of the tools from SMART, only in condensed form, I would love to give you my goals for the rest of the year.  We have 78 more days to make this the best year and to complete goals.  It is around this time when I start reflecting on my goals for 2018 and start planning for 2019.  I make three lists; one is for personal, one for financial, and one for business.  The financial goals are split between personal and business, which is another way to say this is my budget. I have failed my budget for every year including 2018, but the goal is to make and keep a 2019 personal and business budget.  I will go in depth with my budget goals on my At Home with Tricia's Baskets blog.

Personal goals

I am going to confess a little bit, I have not been very kind to myself lately.  This is entirely my fault.  I have let situations, people, and other things consume my well-being. Most of us do that.  It comes with the nature of the things around us.  As humans, we want what is best for others, but never ourselves.  We are supposed to, but we also cannot be our best selves if we do not take care of ourselves.  I do not get enough sleep, especially lately, and it comes with health issues of both my parents, who have entered the elderly stage in their life.  I also did not expect my nephew to still be living here, and sometimes it has come with some tense moments that have recently worked itself out. Also, there is a pet involved.  Do not read this into my complaints, but when you are used to your house being a certain way, and your life up to a point being a certain way, then you have to learn how to adjust accordingly, and the last 5 weeks, I have not adjusted as well as I should.

For that reason, I have one personal goal, take care of myself, while taking care of others.  Call it a timeout session.  Last week, I found a new place and a new relaxation technique, called floating.  It is supposed to be meditative, which I plan on using it for.  You get in a pod filled with water, which contains enough sodium to allow you to float.  Before I hear the naysayers, yes it is supposed to be therapeutic, you can clear your mind, and s a Christian, yes, I will be praying for guidance, and most of all, relax.  Some of you are asking, “why can’t you buy salt, put it in your bathtub, and float that way.  Two things; (1) the distraction of the things and people in the house and (2) we only have one tub, and if someone needs to use it, I may not have the time to float like they are instructing me too.  Besides that, I am not a swimmer, and there are people there who can help me.  I can close the lid if I want to, and the music is a nice touch.  The woman who I talked to last week was very helpful with my questions. 

Part of taking care of myself means also taking care of my finances.  It means also to say “no” which I have a hard time doing.  This is what I am focusing on for the rest of 2018.  

Business goals

Business goals are a lot harder.  Why?  Because you are taking care of something that is part of you, but it is a separate part of you.  I have not been kind to it either.  There are three parts of a business; (1) physical product or service (2) Finances, including taxes and (3) Customer service.  Let’s just say I have been neglectful in parts of all three.

Some goals I have are:

• Learn all I can.  This means any free or low-cost classes I can take to enhance the products and services, and financial service programs and resources that my business can take part in.
• Apply all I can.  Once I learn of these techniques, implement these services that have been detailed towards my business.  Provide the products in a new way that can best serve the customer.  Also, offer the best customer service to the customer so they will return to my business.  I do not want a revolving door business.
• Teach all I can.  This is in the form of classes, not only in my blogs, but I want to do some local classes too.  I can also educate the customer while servicing them.  I can also teach in my blog posts like I am doing now.

These are some of my goals for 2019 as well.  So, the goals I gave you as an example, which are also true to me, can be on-going as well.

Can I change goals?

Why of course you can, especially if you find that they are not working.  These are not plans.  Plans are different, from a Christian point of view, are changeable because I believe that God has a sense of humor, and God also laughs.  From that stance, he laughs every time you make plans, especially plans that are supposed to change your life, forever.

Goals can be broken

Do not be disappointed if you do not make your short-term goals.  Accomplish what you can of your long-term goals as well.  For instance, if you have a goal of a well-functioning craft room.  You have worked out all the details, except buying and getting rid of major pieces (i.e. furniture) and choosing the paint color.  You know where you are going to put items, You have a deadline, and everything is set to go.  All of a sudden, life gets in the way and your money has to go for other things, such as bills, and other expenses are more important than your craft room.  Do what you can to the room, and when it comes to buying everything, take the time to do it then.  This is what has happened to me.  Another thing in the goal setting plans was to take a trip with all family members to Walt Disney World. This goal was set to take place in 2010, and 8 years later, we have not gone.  I have taken a cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines since that time. I have learned to pick up both goals at a later time as well as being a first-time homeowner and being a mom to a daughter I have not giving birth to (adoption).

In these cases, never make anything big a short-term goal (less than 5 years).  Make them long-term goals (complete in 5 years or more).

Nuggets of information:

I love the SMART system for goal setting.  Remember to be specific about your goals.  Make them meaningful. Make sure you can attain this goal and realistic.  Finally, track your goals to see how you are coming along. Use a notebook to keep track of time. Do not get upset if you have not completed the goal but celebrate what you have done.  A tip I have is when you have complete part of the goal, turn the rest into a new goal or re-work the goal into smaller chunks.  There is a saying:  How do you eat an elephant?  One bit at a time.  Reward yourself when the whole task is completed.  Let others know about the goal and accept help when needed. 

I have one more goal that I want to mention that is personal and one that is business:  The personal one is to be more intentional with God and my faith.  The business one is to be consistent with my blogs and social media.  More on those goals in the new year, but I thought I would mention them now.

Have a blessed day, and God Bless you.

Are things tumultuous or calm right now in your life? Why do you think the energy is balanced this way?

Calm or tumultuous?
(c) 2015 p.Lynne Designs

I am not starting my March writings in the right way.  I wanted to welcome you in the only way I could, which is to have a big flashy sign that read, “Welcome to March”.  But instead, you go this writing prompt, LOL.

Ok, enough, I am in a silly mood. Welcome to March, and at BlogHer, my favorite place to find writing prompts when the mind is stuck.  This month’s theme is about “Energy”.  Tuesday’s topic has asked me if things in my life are “Tumultuous” or “Calm”?  The second part is why do I think it is that way.

At first, I had to think about that word, “tumultuous”, but it is a word that I personally do not use in my vocabulary (I need more big words in my life).  It simply means, “crazy”, “chaos”, or “screwy”.  I can say this my life is not calm.  I wish it was.  I wish my life right now is at a place where I am not up at 4:30 am writing posts because I cannot sleep.  My mind is racing, and thinking.  Here is the reason why I feel that way (that is the second part of this question)

I am have tossed myself in many directions in the past 4 years.  I have been questioning things like my faith, my life, my business, and my finances.  I have been questioning other things such as “How did I get to 50 so fast?”  “Why don’t I have a house by now?” “Why am I delaying adoption (now turned into foster care)?  “What up with my creativity lately?” “What am I afraid of when it comes to finding the right man in my life to date and marry?”  These are all the questions I have of myself.  I feel like people such as friends and family are passing me by.  I know what I want in life, but sometimes I am so confused.  I do want to succeed. 

I want to be that mom to a child whose birth mom abandoned.  Not necessary a pre-teen or a teen.  I know, I can hear people now asking me, “why not an older child?”  one of my aunts at Thanksgiving asked me that question.  I never got a chance to have a child in the formative years, and I just want to be able to teach this kid, not that I cannot teach an older child.  It is just that an older child has been trained to think a certain way, and any damage done to the child is hard to undo.  I have watched my foster sister go through that.  She was 6 when she came into my family’s lives, and I can say that she is a damaged person at 27 with 2 kids.  I try to help when I can. So do my parents, who she still calls mom and dad.

I want to be the best for God.  That means help others when I can and understanding what He wants from me, which is to obey what his word says in the bible.  He wants me to be happy.  He wants us all who believe to be happy.  I feel like sometimes I have overwhelmed myself, and that is when I have to step back a minute.  I have business, family, church, and my own person life to deal with, so my life is full, but not full enough.  I have room for other people (such as a baby and a mate) (Ohh, mate sound so Klingon-ish like). 

Yes, my life at the moment is not calm, and I doubt in the next 20 or so years it will be (especially if I am going to be 71 by the time this kid graduates).  And if any wants to know, yes I am asking for a child between 0-12 years of age.  I have my options since I am dealing with nephews and a niece ages 1,5, 7, 8, and 20.

Goals, Aspirations, and Dreams: Where Will They Take You?

Think for a moment about the following…

·         To dance on stage.

·         To make a million dollars

·         To have a family of my own

·         To walk on my own

These are all good goals.  Some of these could be considered aspirations, and still others can be dreams.   It all depends on where they carry you in life.   It also depends on your circumstances and how you arrived at this conclusion.

Let’s look at them again…

·         To dance on stage.  Maybe this person started out taking lessons at the age of 2.  It could have been ballet, jazz or tap.  It does not matter and at the age of 12, she decided that dance is where she wants to be.  So she studied hard at her craft, got a few lead roles, and at the age of 18, she got a scholarship to study dance further.  Let me stop right there for the moment.

·         To make a million dollars.   What drove this person to this state?  Maybe they grew up poor and saw their parents struggling to make ends meet.  Their father worked 2 or 3 jobs just to put food on the table while their mom did an occasional temp job.  That person decided that when they grow up, they were never putting their spouse and child through that situation.  Again, I am stopping for the moment.

·         To have a family of my own.   This person was an orphan and went from foster parent to foster parent only to get the wrong end of the stick.  They question themselves about why are they are not adoptable, because they see younger children being adopted.  Another situation could be that they are not able to have children and so far they are not able to get married, and at the age of 35, they wonder if that will ever happen.

·         To walk on their own.   This one is a little tougher.  Perhaps this is a person who was in a car accident and was paralyzed from the waist down.   Doctors have explained over and over again that walking is impossible now.  Still another situation could be a child who was born with cerebral palsy, and cannot run and play like the other children.  They wonder if they will ever be able to play like a normal child.

There is a difference between a dream and an impossible dream in man’s eye, but God see it differently for nothing to impossible with God.   If you look towards Him, He will see to your needs and help you towards those goals.  Let look once more at these examples:

·         To dance on stage-After graduating from college and dancing for several companies, this person was injured during a high point of her career.   A torn ligament in her right leg.   Soon after recovery, the company she danced with said that she was too old to dance.  What does she do?  She did not take up a second major in case something happened during her dancing career.   So after some prayer, she decided to take some business courses, and opened up a dance studio with the money she saved up for a rainy day.  This person took in some students, included some under-privilege students.   One day, she met with an investor.  

·         This investor also had a past.  After seeing his family struggle during his childhood, he was smart enough to get out to get a scholarship to go to college, and learn how to work in finance.  After graduation, he too got a good job, and was able to invest in the stock market and several housing projects, including taking over the building where his parents lived before they died.   The summer of 2008 came, and he found himself struggling after the recession hit.  He too found himself praying to God, which lead him to invest in the dance studio owned by the former dancer.   The two fell in love, and found out that they could not conceive, and struggled with this.   They prayed to God and this led them to adoption.  They decided to adopt special needs children, and they adopted a healthy 10 year old,

·         Who wondered not only if she will ever be adopted, but also if she will ever be able to walk, run, and play like normal children.   So, the couple and their new daughter talked to doctor after doctor, until they were able to find one who was willing to give them hope and understanding about her situation.   The couple actually found out their daughter had been abused as a baby, and through therapy she was able to do most things that normal children do.

Now miracles happen every day, but sometimes, if you want things to happen, you may need to turn to someone who can see your way through it.  It may take some time, but if God says yes, it will happen in His own time, for his time is not like ours.   We want things to happen yesterday, and humans are by nature are impatient people.  It also takes some action.  

Consider this:  If it wasn’t for the dancer being persistent and patient with her career, she could have not gotten that scholarship, which led to her dream of being on stage.   What you did not know was she was also wondering if she would ever have a family of her own.  At the age of 35, she met the investor.  If it wasn’t for the recession which caused this man to lose a million dollars, he would not have invested in the dance studio.   What you did not know was he promised himself and God that he would not work 2 or 3 jobs like his father, who did not believe in the power of prayer.  He did not know that he was also sterile, which he found out only after he married the owner of the studio.   They prayed for a baby, but got a child instead.   What you do not know was the couple tried for 5 years to have a baby and turned to adoption after doctors told them that it was impossible to try further.   This led them to the 10 year old girl who thought she was unadoptable, and unable to play like normal children.   This led to the couple finding out that their child was abused as a baby, by 2 sets of foster parents.  The baby failed to thrive at that point. It was through much prayer and patience that led them to find the root of her problem, and getting help where needed.

No matter what your problems are, or how big your dreams and goals get, God is there for the asking.  He does not have to do it, but He does because He cares for us and He loves us, for we are His children.  He will do it, but there is that time where it cannot be done, because you have not thought it through long enough.  So to ask for a million dollars depends on what you are going to do with it, asking for a dance career is the same concept.  He does not want you to blow it by gambling nor does He wants you to blow it by dancing in a strip club.  Same thing, if He thinks you will abuse a child, after have they gone through years of abuse, or abusing a spouse.  So these requests could have ended with a “no” from God.  

When it is all said and done, He also wants you to thank Him and worship Him too.   Tell others of the miracles that have happened to you, and let them know that you are His child.