January is
a clean white sheet, newly-ironed;
an empty page;
a field of freshly-fallen snow
waiting to be mapped
by our footsteps.
– John Foster
Hello, friends! Hello, new year! Oh, how refreshing you are already! Want to make January extra refreshing—and avoid jumping ship on your new goals mid-month? Remember these two words: pace yourself. There are a lot of action steps I want to take in January, but I’m intentionally spreading them out over the year. No need to do them all at once to make great progress on a goal. Good things grow little by little, footstep by footstep.
In December, I prayed over my 2021 goals as I completed my PowerSheets prep for 2021 (I am in love with my vision board above!), we celebrated our birthdays – my 41st and Ari’s 43rd, took a quick trip to the mountains where we completed 100 miles of hiking as a family for the year, and I finished reading the Bible with friends.
Onto January and a new year! Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my new 2021 goals. January’s Tending List was a breeze to make!
January Monthly Goals:
— Move forward – on new goals, decisions, and out of 2020, praise the Lord!
— Make our 2020 Lists (all first steps on my PowerSheets goals!) using one of our Legacy Journals:
– 2021 Prayer List
– Road trips for the year
– Books to read as a family this year
– Date ideas
– Scriptures to encourage my goals
– Playlists for running and the kids
— Do my time audit at work
— Plan something for our 15-year anniversary in March
— Plan solitude in the year/weeks
January Weekly Goals:
— Bring a feast of good ideas in homeschool
— Poetry + good words at dinner w/ the kids – we LOVE these 3 books: A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year, A Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, and Sing a Song of Seasons (we faithfully read this throughout the year and love starting over each January!).
— Surprise Ari with sweet things each week, like notes left in his wallet 🙂
January Daily Goals:
— Bible reading with Ari and our group – we landed on a 2-year Old Testament plan that we are reading with friends on the free YouVersion Bible app. Want another great plan to start your year with? Over 100,000 people have completed my free 5-day God + Goals plan (and I recorded audio for you in the plan, too, if you’d rather listen! Enjoy!).
— Run!
— Presence – focus on 1-1 connections
— Write the Word – I’m using the Blank Write the Word journal (my second time using one!) and writing a lot of Psalm 119 to start the year. I am loving it!
Your turn! What are your first steps in this new year? What are you excited about? I’d love to hear–share in the comments below!
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11 Comments
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on January 6, 2021 at 10:34 am
Happy New Year! I love seeing your goals. Just wondering – how do you measure more abstract concepts, like your Move Forward monthly goal?
One of my daily goals this month is to establish writing in my prayer journal regularly. My small step is to keep my journal and pen at my bedside table and set a nightly alarm.
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on January 6, 2021 at 10:49 am
Love your small step and great question! Sometimes I have what reads as an abstract goal, but I have specific action steps on my to-do list. The abstract reminds me of the big picture and motivates me to do it! : )
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on January 6, 2021 at 10:34 am
My daughter started back at school in person! We were doing a kinda homeschool thing and it was not working well. So this month one of my main goals is to help her adjust to the change and get quality time with her when she comes home. While at school my goal is to snuggle and enjoy 1 on 1 time with my 2 year old son. Slowing down to start the year and praying for direction and focus for the year 2021.
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on January 6, 2021 at 10:49 am
Here’s to new rhythms! 🎉 Love it all, Jessica!
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on January 6, 2021 at 1:33 pm
I am still working on finishing my Powersheets for the year (boy quiet time is hard to come by), but I am excited to see what this year brings. I am excited to continue my Write the Bible project I started last spring as well as focus on what the Bible says about marriage. (I’m waiting for my blank WTW journal for that). A big goal of mine is to reconnect with my husband this year–and to celebrate 25 years of marriage.
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on January 6, 2021 at 6:47 pm
Wow amazing! Congrats on 25 years, Julie!!!
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on January 6, 2021 at 6:49 pm
I am writing Scripture each day on my lunch break in the Joy Write the Word as my word is joy. I am still trying to decide my reading plan for my bible but my action step is to find a plan. Love your vision board so pretty
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on January 10, 2021 at 2:13 pm
My husband and I are working on a 1000 piece puzzle that has winter birds and plants from A Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady! Didn’t know it was a book, just found the puzzle at the garden store 🙂 thanks for the tip!
This month I’m taking a break from social media, starting to read Les Miserables (a Q1 project!) and hoping to make a strong start on our finance goals by staying on budget. I love January’s fresh start too!
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on January 10, 2021 at 2:42 pm
Love the sharing of your tending list, and incorporating the Big Picture idea you commented on above in combination with a couple ongoing daily goals.
My daily Yoga practice and meditation have been a huge daily item that has a more global goal, adding this is global reminder is helpful.
Also, it is SO good to be back in my PowerSheets. I purchased my fist ever 6 month PowerSheets last year, in November that 6 month planner ran short of the year. I create a handmade insert for Dec 2020 but found that it was not as effective and I was not as active in my tending list and goals. My homemade insert would fall out of my planner and I struggled with not being able to have my sheets open to my tending list. These small gestures really impact the big picture! Grateful to have found you last year.
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on January 13, 2021 at 1:19 pm
Thank you so much for your vulnerability and sharing! I just finished reading Cultivate- and now finding all these resources to help and this wonderful community. I am feeling so much Hope.
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on January 14, 2021 at 1:34 pm
I’m SO glad you’re here, Michelle!
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