Jan 31, 2018

January Progress + February PowerSheets Goals

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We don’t like imperfect starts, do we?
We want perfect right out of the gate.
But all plants grow through the dirt, and so do we.
Making a mess doesn’t mean you become one. – Cultivate

Feeling guilty about not making progress on your goals or not starting them at all?

February 1 can be your January 1!

Some guilt is good—it can spur us on to make good choices. But, there’s another kind of guilt that doesn’t help you or anyone else: imperfection guilt.

You know the feeling. You mess up and immediately go into I’m-the-worst-person-in-the-world mode thinking, Why can’t I just keep it all together? Why do I have to be so flawed? Why can’t I just do it ALL and do it all well? Why can’t I just be like so-and-so? 

Here’s the thing. We are imperfect. Me, you, all of us! And the truth is that all progress is imperfect progress. Good things grow through challenges and missteps and slow growth.

My peonies literally cannot bloom in the spring unless they go through many weeks of bitter cold in the winter. They grow little-by-little, and they grow through the dirt.

So, my friend, I propose we let go of the imperfection guilt and embrace the perfectly imperfect ground we’re standing on, right where we are. This is our GROWING ground.

Goodbye goal guilt.

Goodbye, quick fixes.

Goodbye, expecting overnight change.

Goodbye doing too much at once.

Hello little-by-little steps.

Hello trying new things (and redirecting when something isn’t working!).

Hello progress not perfection.

Hello slow rooted growth.

Hello bravery. Because it takes a lot of guts to live intentionally.

Hello knowing that our worth is not based on our performance. Who made up the rule that you had to make perfect progress on everything in January?

Hello doing this differently.

Hello what actually works.

One way to give the imperfection guilt the boot is to embrace the truth and tension of “and.”

Ready?

You can be a goal getter and embrace imperfection.

You can grow slowly and make significant progress.

You can make imperfect progress on a goal and still achieve your goal.

You can grow tomatoes in your garden and have weeds.

Are you with me here? What “and” do you need to embrace to move forward?

For me: I can do less and be more effective. More giving. More productive in the things that are important to me. More at peace.

January was a month of embracing these truths, digging into new habits, and setting out with a clearer direction. Anc clarity breeds action! I shared my Top 10 Tips for Getting Started on Your Goals, How to Get Unstuck, and in taking my own advice, I made some significant changes to how I use my time.

Here’s a recap of my January progress and what I learned:

Monthly Goals:

Seek God first. Before seeking answers or wisdom or comfort anywhere else, I tried my hardest to go to God first this month (instead of to my phone or snacks or to complaining) and I pray that continues.
— Add 2018 goal steps to the calendar. I took 30 minutes in January and added all of my goal starting steps from my PowerSheets to my iCal and my Things app. For example, doing my Cultivated Calendar prep each month (preparing for birthdays, holidays, milestones) is important to me this year to help me grow several of my 2018 goals. I created a one-hour time block on my calendar each month to do it. I also created a yearly recurring task on Things that pops up a few days before the new month to remind me what birthdays or milestones to prepare for. A little intentional forethought has already gone a long way for me!
— Memorize Study Aleph + Bet. This is one place I redirected! I realized I bit off more than I could chew with memorizing Psalm 119 and reading the Bible this year, so I’m studying it instead. This is do-able and also challenging, which keeps me motivated! More here.
— Prayer journal date. I’m trying something new with my prayer journal this year. I’m having a longer prayer date to write out my prayers for the month and pray them right then instead of waiting for times later in the month. It’s one big prayer session to kick the month off, and the two times I’ve done it so far have been fantastic! I bring my prayer journal to church every Sunday and to our Sunday afternoon Bible study, so I check in on my prayers and add new ones (and notes about answered prayers) then as well.
— Have a day “on.” So, this is new. And this was not an easy one for me at first, but I knew it was necessary. This is something that came out of feeling spread thin in December and wanting to prevent any burnout on my part for my family and my team. In helping to write new employment contracts this year, it dawned on me that I’ve never taken all of my own allotted vacation days. I’ve certainly worked hard to not grow too much at once and to have strong boundaries, which has been wonderful, but I’ve come to a place in my life where I need more (to use my word of the year) light space. So, two Friday’s a month, I’m taking a day “on”—not a traditional day off, but a day to spend intentional time with God, the kiddos, and to step away from regular work so I can be refreshed and refueled for Ari, the kids, homeschooling, and work. I’ve done it twice so far and it has been helpful. It’s certainly tricky for me though. I am trying my best not to use these days to get one more thing done or clean or organize, but to really make it about soul care and being my best for others. I’ll keep you posted on how this goes throughout the year.
— Pray over new hires. Yes, many prayers have been offered up and I’m excited to see where God leads us.
— Pray over 2019 product development. I’m writing the 2019 PowerSheets this week and have been praying over our production process. By the way, we just sold out of all of our 2018 PowerSheets this week, but more 6-month sets will be back in May to help you finish out the year.
— Finish clearing out the attic. I made progress here, but I haven’t finished. There are two more bins of old college books that I need to go through!
— Take 1 step forward on 2018 budget. My one step was identifying my “block” on this goal. What’s been causing my inaction: I haven’t had clarity on the end goal or exactly what steps need to be taken in general! More below in my February goals.
— Cultivate Calendar prep for February. Yes! You can catch the replay of my live class about this with Emily Ley here.

Weekly Goals:
— Re-creation. Yes, progress was definitely made here. More about this goal here.
— Pray over each of our children. Yes, I’ve been praying over them out loud most mornings and evenings.
— Read Traction with Emily. Yes, we have implemented most of the book so far and are about to dig into the Process chapter to start tieing it all together. If you have employees, I can’t recommend this book enough! It has changed the way we do just about everything in our company.

Daily Goals:
— Chronological Bible reading. I am LOVING this! I decided to do this differently this year and do what’s called a “Plan with Friends” on the YouVersion Bible app. There are about a dozen of us and it has been awesome to share our thoughts with each other as we read each day. Doing this with a small intimate group has been wonderful!
— Kiss Ari. I shared a little about this here, but yes, this goal is going well and I’m so grateful for how it’s affecting not only us but our kiddos who smile so big when we kiss! Joshua has started giving me kisses too. 🙂
— #RunLiftPraise. I have exercised every day, but no weights. You’ll see an update on this one in my February goals.
— Eat clean. Yes! Every January Ari does a fast of sorts where he doesn’t eat meat or sweets as a simple way to remind him to think about God more and rely on Him for comfort. I love this fresh start in our house every January.
— Cultivate better sleep. I’ve made progress here mostly through not looking at my phone after work.

The snow melting on the pansies. These little guys are tough!

On to February! This month is a bit packed, so I spent some extra time making sure my goals were clear and do-able. I’m so grateful for my PowerSheets or I would be going into this month feeling overwhelmed already. So often what leads to overwhelm is simply the unknown, right? We have so many thoughts and to-do’s swirling around in our heads. But, when we give them a place and sort through them, the overwhelm melts as we solve problems and see what needs to be done and what doesn’t. While there’s a lot to accomplish in February, I’m feeling ready because I have a clear picture of what needs to happen. And I’m excited for lots of fun things we have planned this month, too!

Monthly Goals:
First things first. Similar to my goal to seek God first in January, my top priority for February is to spend more time with God than I do with the world.
Prayer journal date. Already done (last night)! I have a recurring task on my Things app that reminds me to prepare my prayer journal a few days before the new month.
Prayerfully hire new team members.
Start seeds indoors + garden planning. More to come here!
Write the 2019 PowerSheets. Eeeeee! So excited about this!
2017 corporate taxes completed. Okay, not so excited about this, but I am staying focused on how I will feel when this is done. That motivates me to dig in and get it off my plate. Anyone have a fun way they celebrate getting taxes done?
Pray over the plan for books. I’ve been talking about the Gracie’s Garden book for a while and there’s another book we have in mind as well. I need God’s wisdom on when to start and what direction to take with both, so my goal for February is to pray about these two projects. Prayer is an action step—one of the very best you can take. 🙂
— Set strength training plan + start. If you’ve followed for a while, you know I used to be a personal trainer. I now work out at home with the kiddos in the morning. And I made some great progress on at-home strength training in 2017 using some simple free weights. I’d like to switch it up and am considering getting one of those over-the-door exercise band things. More to come here as I uncover the plan and start!
— Identify budget steps and goals. As I mentioned in my January update above, I have been stuck on this one. I realized that I have been stuck because the vision/goal and steps haven’t been clear to me. My goal this month is to identify clear goals with Ari and steps we need to take.
— March Cultivated Calendar prep.

Weekly goals:
— Write + study Gimel + Daleth (Psalms 119).
— 2 Days “on.”
— Undistracted + cultivated homeschool.
— Re-creation.
— Read Traction with Emily.
— Pray the Word.

Daily Goals:
— Chronological Bible reading.
— Soul care at night. This means spending time with my prayer journal, in the Word, preparing for the next day, or doing anything that doesn’t involve my phone. This may sound silly, but something that has helped me is turning on the digital fireplace on our Amazon firestick! Even a digital fireplace relaxes me for some reason. 🙂
— Kiss Ari.
— SLEEP.
— Pray over kiddos + family worship. Family worship is new and something that I’m excited about. I watched a video series by Donald Whitney that inspired me to give it a try. So far so great! While the kids eat breakfast in the morning, I read them a super short Bible story, we say a prayer, and then we sing a song. That’s it! It takes 10 minutes and they are loving it.

I’m getting so excited about garden planning!

Your turn! Do you have goals for February? What are you cultivating in this new month? I’ll pick one of you to send a special surprise box of goodies to from the Cultivate What Matters shop. I love sending real mail, and I love hearing your thoughts!

P.S. Did you know that 80% of the people give up on their goals by mid-February? Not us, my friends! To help us all make little-by-little progress forward, and not jump ship when we mess up along the way, we’re excited to announce that the 2nd-Annual Cultivate What Matters week starts Feb 12th! Mark your planners for a week of grace-filled goal-encouraging goodness. It was a hit last year and we can’t wait to dig in with you! Details to come.

 

46 Comments

  1. Alli on January 31, 2018 at 4:47 pm

    For almost two years now I’ve been praying through a “letter” of Ps 119 each day, praying the scripture for each person by name. Hasn’t gotten old yet. It is GOOD STUFF.

    • Lara on January 31, 2018 at 5:46 pm

      Oooooh I love that so much, Alli! What a great idea!

    • Meyuna on January 31, 2018 at 10:17 pm

      This is pretty awesome! Great idea- I’m going to try it!

  2. Emily DeArdo on January 31, 2018 at 4:55 pm

    I am really happy with my progress on my first goal–financial peace. I’m following Dave Ramsey’s baby steps and I’m almost done with my $1K emergency fund! I am really proud of myself for that. So I will finish that off in the next month and then I can move on to Baby Step Two!
    One of my goals is to cultivate my creative side, so I’ve been taking a watercolor class, and I see improvement there. It’s hard but fun hard. 🙂
    I also managed to pray with my Bible almost every day, which is a huge step forward for me, and part of my goal to get closer to God and deepen my relationship with Him!
    Did I make progress in all my goals? No. But I’m cutting myself slack and moving on!

    • Laurel on January 31, 2018 at 5:13 pm

      Hi, Emily! *waves*

      You made some great progress on your goals this month! Way to go!!

    • Rebecca on January 31, 2018 at 5:27 pm

      Emily,

      I love all the hard work you have done this month! Great job on saving the thousand dollars. I’ve always wanted to take a watercolor pencil class.

      Have a great week!

    • Lara on January 31, 2018 at 5:48 pm

      That is AWESOME, Emily!!!

  3. Julie Helterbrand on January 31, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    I’m going to do my tending list tonight, but I’m working on learning 2 languages, physical fitness, eating GOOD wholesome foods, cultivating my prayer life, and being more faithful in studying my Bible! Having my tending list this month has already helped me stay focused on what I’m wanting to grow and I’m excited about the progress I’ll make in February!

    • Lara on January 31, 2018 at 5:47 pm

      Yay, I love everything you shared, Julie!

  4. Laurel on January 31, 2018 at 5:16 pm

    I’ve started cleaning, organizing, and painting our office space in January. February is the month to complete the project (hopefully!).
    I want to work back up in my French fluency so I’ll be spending at least 15 minutes a day working on that.
    Time spent in the Word FIRST THING is also at the top of my list!

    • Lara on January 31, 2018 at 5:48 pm

      Tres bien, Laurel! : ) (I hope I spelled that right—my French may be rusty!)

  5. Rebecca on January 31, 2018 at 5:35 pm

    This month has been about getting used to having goals. I’ve never tried goal setting before so I spent the month kind of figuring everything out and how it works.

    I did make progress on my goal to figure out what I want to do after I stop homeschooling my son. I started reading a book called What Color is Your Umbrella which has been very helpful. I also wrote a resume and started an account on Linkedin. I’m also staying up to date on my Bible reading program.

    While I did not get around to filling out the “Trending List”, I made some progress this month. 🙂

    • Lara on January 31, 2018 at 5:47 pm

      That’s wonderful! I’m excited for you, Rebecca!

  6. Liv Lemon on January 31, 2018 at 8:10 pm

    Lara, thank you so much for this buoyant post! This was my first month using the power sheets and I’m ever so grateful to have them. So many of my yearlong goals are, well, year long! Yet I usually get disappointed for not achieving them within a month’s time. Visualizing the evolution of my goals is so encouraging! One of my goals was the pray first thing when waking up, which evolved to writing out the Psalms (I just started writing 119 today!). Thank you for sharing your evolutions, and for the wonderful reminders that clarifying the visio, articulating steps forward and praying are all action steps!

  7. Amanda on January 31, 2018 at 8:34 pm

    On the taxes front – I always have a goal for how I want my taxes to be. In any given year, I want my tax return to be as close to $0 as possible (or what I owe to be as close to that as possible). So basically I reward myself for finishing my taxes because then I know how the goal worked out. Close to $0 means I get to pick a splurge off my “wish list.” Far from $0 means I get a cookie for finishing my taxes. Yes, my reward for that one is tied to performance. I get a reward for finishing either way, but the reward is better the closer I am to my goal! 🙂

    My February goals mostly involve finishing planning my garden and ordering any additional seeds, getting my current seedlings grown and trusted to the great outdoors, and developing some friendships!

  8. Alex on January 31, 2018 at 8:42 pm

    A few of my Goals are:
    Seek Truth and hmmm of grace over Lies of perfectionism and guilt
    Seek God and choose prayer first
    Cultivate Progress on 2018 budget – experiment with weekly finance roundups.
    Cultivate Meaningful Relationships through being the invitation, intentional forethought for dates, and less distracted homeschooling with my kids.
    Cultivating physical health through regular Pilates, and scheduling dentist appointments for the whole family this month.
    Cultivate Beauty through Scripture Art prints through our home – create 5 Identity in Christ prints.
    Cultivate Healthy Habits by 2x weekly house cleaning and experimenting with best use of daily planner. Try weekly planner prep time on weekends.

  9. Kelly P on January 31, 2018 at 9:09 pm

    aaahh February…we have 4 birthdays back to back to celebrate in our family…it goes by so quickly! I need to remember from experience every year the cadence of our February with this one crazy week of birthdays (beginning immediately after Valentine’s Day)..I will focus on .intentionality! Going through my goals with your series has helped tremendously. I just keep reading through my goals to make sure I am staying focused. Feb will include some sort of exercise (just begin, Kelly!!), some form of garden planning, and some forward movement with organizing some areas that make me crazy in the house. I can happily say that I have made progress on most of my other goals so that’s something! Progress not perfection I once heard from a wise gal 😉

  10. Nadia on January 31, 2018 at 9:22 pm

    This couldn’t have come at a better time. This afternoon I had a rare moment away from my two kids. I decided to go to my local coffee shop and journal. I was craving a time of reflection. In the middle of journaling about how I was stuck in a cycle of guilt and found myself desiring to set smaller more intentional goals, I decided to randomly check my email. The only email in my inbox had a subject line that read: Feeling guilty? I couldn’t believe it. I took it as a sign that God isn’t expecting me to be perfect 100% of the time. He simply wants me to grow towards and with Him. Thank you for this timely message, Lara.

  11. Mary Beth Wortham on January 31, 2018 at 9:30 pm

    One of my 2018 goals was to grow in my walk with the Lord. I wrote down “pray” as a daily goal in January & it felt so silly to me because it seemed too simple but I realized just having it written down was that gentle reminder that I needed to talk with the Lord. I have my power sheets at work and even if it was 10 am before I looked down at them, I would stop immediately and pray. I’ve written it down for February as well but I want to get in the habit of praying every morning as I start my car to drive to work. What better way to start my day?! Plus, if I’m praying in my car, I shouldn’t have too much road rage :p

  12. Kristen on January 31, 2018 at 9:54 pm

    I’ve been looking into getting started with homeschool soon, would you mind sharing what you have used?

  13. Meyuna on January 31, 2018 at 10:14 pm

    Thank you so much Mrs.Lara for this inspiring yet challenging post. Even though I learned about powersheets 6 months ago- and I am just now jumping in. Thank you for encouraging us that there is nothing special about Jan 1! So Feb 1 is my Jan 1! This month I am tending to Financial , Professional, and Spiritual development! My encouraging word/ phrase this month is …Expectancy not Expectation!
    Monthly Goals:
    – Word before the World
    – Purchase my business license
    – Save $1000 emergency fund ( shout out to Dave Ramsey!)
    – Read at least 2 books this month
    Weekly
    – Apply to at least 5 jobs
    – envelope system
    – call my sisters
    Daily
    – Read + Pray through the Word
    – Eat more veggie & fruits
    – 7 min workouts
    – Don’t forget to BREATHE!

  14. Bekah on January 31, 2018 at 10:35 pm

    This post hit me right where I’m at. I didn’t get my January goals where I wanted them, but I focused on my word of the year “growth” and the mindset of progress over perfection. Every day that I picked up my new habits even after “missing” a day has been a win in my book! Thank you for the encouragement to stay the course and grow slowly through the dirt AND make progress. Bring on February!

  15. Emily Wood on January 31, 2018 at 11:05 pm

    I took January to work through the prep work and to set my goals for the year. So February is my first tending sheet (ever)!

    MONTHLY GOALS:
    Plan a date for me and my husband.
    Buy a National Park Passport to start as a family.
    Do something special for Valentines!
    Invite someone over to the house.
    Do something intentional with each of my boys.

    WEEKLY GOALS:
    Make progress on foster care/adoption support group.
    Work on my blog.
    One on one time with each of my boys.

    DAILY GOALS:
    Complete a lesson in Discerning God’s Voice.
    Pray for my husband and each of my boys by name.
    Declutter for 15 minutes.

    PS – Lara, as you pray about the 2019 products….I have a request. Would you all consider making Powers heets for men?? I would LOVE to do Powershe eets with my husband….but pink and teal weren’t his colors. LOL

  16. Amy on February 1, 2018 at 2:07 am

    I’m SO happy to read this, January at our home has been plagued with sickness and I just haven’t been able to break open my power sheets at all. Starting over for Feb for sure! So excited to get going FINALLY!

  17. Dawn Simpson on February 1, 2018 at 7:05 am

    I haven’t really made my goals yet, but this is the closest I have ever been! I still have too many things on my list 😆 I think once I sort my brain dump and purposely set aside time for the Lord and processing, I will be able to focus 🤔

  18. Emily M Wood on February 1, 2018 at 8:46 am

    I took the month of January to do the prep work in my and to simply establish my goals for the year. So I am starting my first tending sheet (ever) TODAY!!! (Like you said…who says that you have to start on Jan. 1st?!?) This is my first time using PowerSheets and I can already tell a difference just thinking ahead. I’m looking forward to making some progress in the areas I want to cultivate!!! Thank you so much for this amazing tool!

  19. Kathy Marshall on February 1, 2018 at 9:47 am

    The word ‘grace’ is written all over my January! Things kept coming up; instead of rushing the process and writing things down to only leave undone or done for the wrong reasons, I chose to wait and start today. My goals for February include finding 3 resources for clean eating, picking one exercise routine, gathering items for date nights at home(board games, etc), praying and discussing my role in the preschool department at our church, and starting a daily Bible reading time with my son.

  20. Megan on February 1, 2018 at 9:55 am

    To continue reading the bible and praying. I am doing the chronological bible plan and read Frist5 daily (via their app) along with listening to church sermons on Saturday morning. I have always felt like I was a “good” Christian but doing these things above and holding myself accountable to do them daily has made such a shift in my heart and my soul; I feel more grounded. And I want to continue this feeling and growth this month.

  21. Linda B on February 1, 2018 at 10:47 am

    January was my first month using the planner, and it has made a huge difference in everything! Just the prep work was different from goal making all the previous years. You know, “lose weight”, “exercise more”, “write in journal”, blah blah blah. All abandoned by March, IF I even get that far.

    In looking back, I’ve realized that I didn’t make any progress in some of the goals, so I’m taking them off the list and showing myself grace!

    On my Feb list: continue to begin the day with prayer and scriptures and ending the day the same way; pray over my children everyday; pray over my failing marriage hoping for a miracle; get more sleep; practice self-care a few times a week; focus at work; make a menu every weekend and prep for a successful week of healthy eating; working (starting!) on my One Little Word project; starting yoga again; finding a new church. It’s a hefty list, but a lot of it is carried over from last month (and accomplished successfully), so I know I can make some progress in all these! Thank you for your encouragement!

  22. Ronja on February 1, 2018 at 11:46 am

    Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful goals with us! Loved every word of it and I am beyond grateful that you are sharing your goals and progress with us.
    I think for me February is about looking t my goals again and see what’s working and what’s not. And one major thing: create a weekly plan, so I know exactly when I work on my dream (build my own business) next to my full time job 🙂 I cannot wait for some clarity in this!
    xx Ronja
    http://www.sothisiswhat.com

  23. Diane Downs on February 1, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    Creating goals around budgeting can be overwhelming. There’s so much emotion! I found that the hardest part was figuring out where we wanted to go. To know that, we needed to know where we had been. Our first step was to create a report of our spending from the prior year, to see where our money (and our priorities) went. Once we were able to see the big picture numbers in black & white, we could decide going forward how we wanted them to change (or not in some cases). A tool that’s been super helpful for us is YNAB.com It’s a budgeting app that starts where you are. You enter the money you currently have, and designate where it’s going to go. There’s no projecting what future income or expenses will be. There’s no guessing. This is what I have now, and here is how I’m going to spend/save it. I love it so much, I couldn’t live without it. Good luck!

  24. Sara Baker on February 1, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    January was a bit of a slow start, but there’s nothing wrong with that and I’m super excited to get more accomplished in February.

    One of my big goals is to read the Bible through in a year. I finished up Exodus last night and am right on track….this one is making me really happy and I enjoy my nightly Bible reading in bed before lights out.

    Another goal was to explore how to take the things I love to do creatively and turn them into an extra income stream for my family. Yesterday I got hired for my first hand-lettering job for a friend’s Save the Dates and wedding invites and I’m super excited that this goal is actually playing out. February will be devoted to choosing a name for my business, praying over that and the direction I need to take with it and obviously, doing a fabulous job on her Save the Dates and getting them sent out.

    I’ll also be starting to read through Emily Ley’s A Simplified Life and working through it. I don’t plan to tackle the whole book in a month because I really want to take my time, so I plan to divide it between February and March while also doing the Simplicity Challenge.

    I’m excited for February and to see where it goes! I’ve always hated this month and the dread of it coming is like a big, gray Eeyore cloud looming over me from about mid-January until the 28th, but I’m determined to make this the year of the best February ever! Thank you for all you do and I’ll be tuning in for Cultivate What Matters week. 🙂

  25. Katie @ A Place to Dwell on February 1, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    Hi, Lara! 🙂 I always love reading your goals.

    I didn’t fill out my tending sheet in January (I usually give myself all of January to sit with the goals I am prayerfully setting, and then I jump into monthly, weekly, and daily goals in February). So, I’m excited to dig in this month! 🙂

    A few of the goals I’ll be writing in my PowerSheets this month include:
    1. Fast social media for Lent. (Both nervous and excited for this one!)
    2. At least one TV-free day each week. (Thanking my friend Emily E for this idea!)
    3. Finish reading Idols of the Heart and Faith Forward Future. I’ve been exceptionally bad about starting lots of books and not finishing them lately, so I’d like to commit to finishing these two books in February.
    4. Read and study Exodus. (I just finished Genesis.)
    5. Fast sugar for 10 days (I think I’ll do this to correspond with the beginning of Lent, but not entirely sure yet…)
    6. Continue strength training two days each week (going on five months of doing this consistently!).
    7. Work on writing my devotional.
    8. Eat more veggies!

    That’s a start anyway. There are so many things I’d like to put on the list, but I know I need to be realistic, too. Little steps forward! 🙂

    • Liv Lemon on February 2, 2018 at 4:11 pm

      Fasting from sugar – that’s such a good idea! Thank you for the Lenten inspiration, Katie.

  26. Sarah on February 1, 2018 at 2:28 pm

    Hmmm, for me the Lord has been highlighting two themes for this month: finances and friends — separately, not together! 😉 I’m so excited to (hopefully) purchase PowerSheets come May, but until then I’m using my trusty planner to begin doing what I can in taking baby steps each week to creating (and sticking to) a budget and being intentional about opening my heart and home to those who matter most, those who He has put in my path. So excited! And thankful for this inspiration! 🙂

  27. Mary Underwood on February 1, 2018 at 2:43 pm

    Some of my goals for February
    ~start organizing photos..Terry White video, Kim Klassen class
    ~Finish 2 books. Extreme Measures, and Make it Happen 🙂
    ~ continue with iColorama class
    ! send out cards and gifts to Kenny, Sarah, Erin and Josh for V-Day.
    ~keep trying pray

  28. Cara on February 2, 2018 at 8:45 am

    I am still working on my February Tending List. I added the obvious things like Bible reading and Exercise. Things that have already become habits for me. What I really want to focus on is my prayer journal. I want to do this more often so I am still finding ways to make this happen more regularly and asking myself what is preventing it from happening. These questions are good but I find I need a place to write this down so maybe that will be what I put in my prayer journal first.
    January goals that happened that I am most excited about are reading 3 books and budgeteting our finances well. It is the first full month I kept track of our spending and stuck to our budget. We had two of our vehicles come up with major issues and had it not been for the intentional Tracking, we may not have had the funds to fix them with cash. I am grateful and excited for February’s tending list! I am so excited about how the motto, “done is better than perfect” has helped me and also Imperfection still gets stuff done little by little! In the past I had a mind set that caused me to do nothing if I couldn’t do it perfectly how I intended it from the beginning. I’m getting better at making adjustments as needed because something is better than nothing at all!!

  29. Elissa Roberts on February 2, 2018 at 10:34 am

    Cultivating some FUN over here this February. January was a hard month for us and the people we love. Letting my girls plan a Valentine’s party for the family and finding ways to make even errands a little one-on-one time with each daughter. I also have a goal to finish planning a Seattle trip with my husband.

  30. Paige on February 2, 2018 at 10:38 am

    Hey Lara-

    I know you were a personal trainer, but if you (or your team) ever need any resistance band workout ideas I would love to help! We have started using them rather frequently in our gym with our athletes and general fitness clients and have found great success. Who knew such a little band could be so challenging.

    See you in March at MTH! 🙂

  31. Alvely on February 5, 2018 at 11:08 am

    Lara, I am so grateful for all you’ve written here. I have been feeling overwhelmed with a few projects I need to tackle, one which involves speaking at a local church’s military ministry conference on a topic that affects military spouses. I have never done any public speaking and have been anxious about it so when I read what you wrote about “so often what leads to overwhelm, is the simple unknown”, it motivated me to write down all of my thoughts about this and now I feel so much better! Thank you for bringing me peace and for reminding me that progress, not perfection, is the goal. I really needed to read this all today.

  32. Kara Layne on February 6, 2018 at 12:06 pm

    I absolutely love this. Such a great message and I cannot thank you enough for the constant inspiration and reminder that life and business are both so beautiful WITH the imperfections and the slow and steady growth 😉 Hugs to you and yours!

  33. Maggie on February 8, 2018 at 1:43 pm

    Hello Miss Lara! Thank you so much for your encouraging post! I actually didn’t get my February prep and Tending List done until several days in, but I’m so thankful to have this pause to look at how things are going and do a little re-start! Usually after the year gets going, things either stick or fall miserably by the wayside and I PRAISE GOD for leading me to PowerSheets! January was so neat.

    Some of my February goals follow:
    Complete, edit, and submit an article that is due
    Film several scenes for a new instructional video my brother and I are producing
    Plan and Do something special for Valentine’s Day!
    Finish memorizing Psalm 111
    Write letters to 5 specific friends
    Stay with my grandparents
    Finish one specific sewing project and do another as a gift for a March birthday

    I was also excited to finally get one of the wildcard pages printed and in the Sheets yesterday! I chose the Relationship Tending one and was thankful to find that just with a little thought and prayer, I was able to add specific tending goals to my weekly list for the month! I look forward to seeing how this works.

    Thank you again. May God bless you, your family, and your team!

  34. Anab on February 11, 2018 at 7:22 am

    Hi Lara! I just recently discovered Cultivate Planner and you and I’m so happy because I feel connected with what you do and oh my you love gardening!…I just wanted to know in advance, when do you usually release your 1 year planner? I’m keen on getting a 2019 cultivate planner. Dreaming up ways to have it on hand before jan 2019 haha, by the way because I’m from the Philippines 😊

    • Lara on February 19, 2018 at 10:00 am

      Hi, Anab! We will have the 2019 PowerSheets available, Lord willing, in October!

  35. Ezinne on December 30, 2018 at 5:41 am

    Glad I read this. I have never thought of praying over product development. I just have an idea and run off

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