The one thing about goal planning that you cannot seem to plan for is when your situation changes. How do you continue on with your goals when your life takes an unexpected turn? That is what we will be exploring today.
Why A Year of Slow?
For all of my goal planning prior to the start of the year, I felt in my bones that this would be my year of slow. And while I can joke about how change always comes into my life after I am set on something, in this case, that was very accurate.
Why did we decide on a year of slow this year? The main reason was that this past fall was full of attempting to move. We listed our home, and we put in an offer on another home.
If you have been reading here for a long time, you will know that after we moved to Maine I started to really delve into green and natural living, and like a lot of people I know, we were into urban homesteading. Making the most of the property that we had, and trying to be a bit more self-sufficient. Now, if you only know me because of homeschooling, that is totally OK – this is another side of Townsend House you will probably see more of.
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Goal Planning Changes
With a full fall of many many house showings, while simultaneously homeschooling and attempting to keep my house “show-ready” but still living there with three kids and a giant dog (plus my wonderful husband); well the challenge was real.
By Thanksgiving, we were ready to call it quits and move on. Instead of trying to sell our home, we would finally take the time to renovate and make the changes that we had been talking about for the prior 13 years of living there. This is usually when my plans take on a life of their own, which is exactly what happened.
We prepared for the holidays and put selling the house out of our minds. I decided on my word of the year because I had been so out straight. We wanted a return to normalcy. Two days after I published my year of SLOW post, we had an offer on our house. Two weeks later, we had put in an offer on a new house. It snowballed, and here we are.
Moving forward
Where does this leave us? Well, as I shared with my wonderful e-mail community, we are still moving in the right direction as far as our year of slow. The difference is that it is a little bit delayed.
I am thankful that I have the opportunity to be able to move forward in my goal planning. I am thankful that I really figured out the why behind my goals for the year. Realizing that most of my goals for 2020 are still applicable, even in a completely new home, some even more so.
January 1st is just another date on the calendar. So March 1st is my starting point for this year – and I am grateful for that. Maybe it is the same for you?
Let me help you
As we move through life’s big transitions, it can be difficult to get your rhythms and routines back into place. It is overwhelming to even think about – you should see how many boxes of books I have sitting about my house at the moment. But, just because we are going through big things in our lives does not mean that we can’t still work towards our goals, towards the lives that we want to live.
It doesn’t mean that everything has to stop indefinitely. Yes, for a time there will be struggle, but that is life. Once we are able to move through the initial discomfort, we can see the bigger picture and start to take steps in that direction.
What is Next?
For my family, we are planning on unpacking, hopefully in a timely manner. I have a feeling there will be a lot of re-arranging throughout this first year in our new home. If I can get everything out of physical view, that would be the best for my own sanity. Visual clutter is something that stresses everyone in my family out.
I am giving myself, and the kids, another week or two to get settled. Then we will be moving back into a new homeschool rhythm. One that most likely will include more outside time since the temperatures are starting to warm up a bit.
Spring is usually a very busy season for us, so I know that there will have to be some leeway given to my plans. Letting myself go with the flow will be easier when everything is in a place where it belongs, and my kids and I are spending time reading together.
How Can I Help You?
Is there something going on in your life that you are struggling with? Is there a change that you have recently been through that you need help getting through, or formulating a plan for? Please contact me here and I will work with you to get on the right track!
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