| Saying Yes and No: 2013 |

January 30, 2013

Ok, ok, I know, we’re already a month into 2013, what am I doing posting about more goals and resolutions?

Well, the truth is, I’ve been dreaming, planning, and doing. I’ve been mulling over all of the things that have happened in the past year. (aka–getting engaged+married, planning a wedding, job searching, freelancing,shooting weddings,nannying,traveling, etc, etc….) I wasn’t even sure where to start with goals to be quite honest. I’ve been working on the new brand/site relaunch with my amazing graphic designer — also known as my wonderful hubby and the awesome Ben Carr and that has been such a big goal, that I hadn’t spent much time solidifying and writing down the things I wanted to accomplish in 2013. (PS–stay tuned, the brand/site launch is upon us!!!)

I’ve always been a huge fan of Southern Weddings magazine and have loved the passion, determination and faith of the Editor-in-Chief, Lara Casey. She has helped women make things happen, charged them up and encouraged them in beautiful ways. I hadn’t been to her blog in a few months, sadly, but finally made it over there in the last week. What I found was blog full of treasures. Treasures of goal-building, dream-finding and making things happen. She has a new years series about making things happen in 2013, and though I loved each and every one of the posts, her post about saying yes and no really identified with me. That’s what I needed to start building and achieveing my goals– a simple and well-thought list of what I will say yes to, and what I will absolutely say no to this year.

So, after one too many words, I lay out my list:

What I Will Say YES to in 2013:

1. Quiet Time
2. Husband time. Date Nights, reading time, hikes, whatever that is. But it’s a priority!
3. Reading — One book each month, please!
4. Joy. Joy. Joy.
5. Fearlessness.
6. Abundant Ambition.
6. More tea drinking –I need those antioxidants.
7. Traveling — Jeremy and I have already planned a few things, and we are dreaming big!
8. Dreaming. I never want to stop this. Dream bigger and bigger and then some.
10. De-cluttering. My desk, our room, our house, our closets, my mind, our life.
11. Organizing — we are getting closer and closer each day. Yet, it’s an everyday choice to stay organized.
12. Healthy workout mentality — Guilt, be gone. Strength and freedom, welcome!
13. Thank-you notes. I’m all about hand-written notes. It’s southern, it’s hospitable, it’s real.
14. Deepening friendships.
15. Being intentional.
16. Weakening my sweet tooth. Smoothies, please! Dessert, I love you, but we need to have a little separation.
17. Keeping in touch — this is so hard being in a different state than most of my loved ones. It’s hard living so far apart on different time zones with different schedules, but I hate not being in my friend’s/family’s lives as much just because of distance
18. Adventuring in the outdoors–I feel most at peace and full of freedom in the outdoors.
19. Increasing patience — Yes, unfortunately it’s a weakness. I’m pretty impatient with a lot of things, but I’m working on it!
20. Learning how to say no — Enough said.
21. Creating more art — painting, making collages, baking, photos for fun, whatever it is, I want more art in my life.
22. Doing small things with lots of love.

What I’ll be saying NO to IN 2013:
1. Fear — it’s crippling at times and it’s suffocating. I’m done with it.
2. Obsession — To make a long story short and save it for another day, I’m not going to obsess over working out. It’s not worth my time. I will stay healthy and active, but for the right reasons.
3. Worry – This goes along with fear, but I still need to list it. Again, a waste of precious time.
4. Anxiety – Ok, all of these go together, but they all feed on each other, and I’m nipping it in the bud.
5. Too much work – I’m going to live it up. My workday ends at 5:30 p.m. – no exceptions
6. Comparison — It’s the thief of joy, they say. And, I’m saying yes to joy, so this has got to go!
7. I’m sure there are more, but this is a good list for me to work on. Small steps!

This is just the start. I’m working hard, pursuing hard, loving and laughing this year. I’ll continue to refine my goals, set them, fail at them, write them, love them, hate them, try them and accomplish them. I’m going to make things happen in 2013.

Cheers to making things happen!

If you want to read more, visit laracasey.com/blog for some insight on goal-setting and making things happen! (Also, stay tuned, as I have some notes to share from Justin + Mary’s What’s Next Tour I attended last week!)

What will you be saying yes to this year? And no?