Happy New Year!

 
Wow...hard to believe that it is 2010!  My first reaction to starting this New Year is "good riddance 2009" because...so much has happened over the year that I feel "negative" about.  There was a lot of stress with us moving twice and trying to sell/close on three properties...ahhh!  But upon reflection, we really did have a lot of good things that happened during the year and that is what I want to concentrate on and move forward with a positive feeling!  Enough said...that's my only goal for this year...to move forward with as much positive energy as I can.

On New Year's Day I spent the day catching up on my blog reading and so indulged myself in reading about everyone's holidays.  I also found it very inspiring to learn about how everyone starts their New Year...some make resolutions, some don't, some choose one word to inspire them for the entire year.  This morning I was reading Jamie Ridler's blog, she is a Professional Life Coach and her post today talks about "creating vision cards" to keep her vision throughout the year.  Following is my response to Jamie's post (no sense in my rewriting it...you know me..."better done than perfect" and I don't believe in "reinventing the wheel"):  

"My main inspiration tool is that I’m a list maker…always have been…and like you when I veer away from it…I don’t accomplish as much. I keep a really good quality leather notebook or moleskin, the small size like a 3×5 card that fits in my purse. I make a list that never ends…just continues in the book and as I finish something on the list, I check it off…very satisfying to go back a review your lists and see what was going on in your life. Sometimes these notebooks last me a couple of years. I have different ones for different tasks…such as Christmas…I have a book that has ten years of Christmas presents that I bought for my family…great for when my kids were little to remember their toys…as well as my christmas card list for each year and the “budget” for what I spent. Then I have a thick “design” blank book that I still use and it is over six years old now and I write down household designs as well as art inspirations and scrapbooking projects. Years ago when I was a CM demonstrator, I held “Dream” workshops and we actually used 8×10 albums for our goal/inspirations…my album was a “list” of course…lol…and it is a “life” goal album…aka…50/100 Things I Want to Accomplish before I die. The idea is to predecorate the pages for your “goals” and when you’ve accomplished them…scrapbook with real photos and mementos about your accomplishments. This gets pulled out every year for updating and reflecting. I guess I need to go blog about this now…lol Hope this helps…it has certainly inspired me because I’ve been so busy moving this year…I didn’t really think about making new resolutions/goals until responding to your post."

So now I thought I'd give you some "visual aides"...cause I have to have visual aides...too much text puts me to sleep and it's hard to keep my attention!  First up is a photo of all the books that I talked about in my response to Jamie's post:

The small turquoise blue book is the one I keep in my purse and it has the word "organize" engraved in the leather...you know I just had to have this...I bought it last year when my old book was getting full and would have to be replaced.  Following are a few photos of the inside pages of recent "to-do lists" that I keep as a On-Going Basis just to keep me "organized"...because if I do not write it down...then I forget it...or WORSE...I stress over "forgetting it" because I haven't written it down...lol  This way...I relax about everything because I KNOW WHERE TO LOOK WHEN I NEED TO FIND SOMETHING I THOUGHT ABOUT DOING!

SEE...things like "what to pack"...cause I don't care how "small" it may appear to anyone else...I just get more done when I write it down...and I get a real sense of accomplishment when I see the "check-marks" for all that I've done...kinda like the "gold stars" we use to get in grade-school :}
The floral clothe covered blank book was my actual "Christmas Notes" for over 10 years and it is so cool to go back now and see what the kids were into each year.  This book also became very handy when I was scrap booking our family Christmas album (great for journalizing) because "back then" we didn't take good photos...remember when you developed you film and you had 48 double prints of the kids opening gifts and half the time they were looking down or hadn't even removed the paper so you have no idea as to what they got...lol

OCD or what...OMG...I even wrote down what they got in their stockings as well as the main gifts that other family members were getting them...but "cough drops"...I'm crackin' myself up here...lol

 
This book was used each year and recorded the gifts for other family members as well...boy did I get some good deals...check out those prices!

Above is a photo of the inside of the "thick red book" that I use as a "design" book for collecting ideas on projects that I want to do...either for scrapbooks/journals or for decorating ideas for my home.  I've posted about this before when I was working on an  ATC Swap.  This book has sections for each project type that I'm gathering inspiration for. The "decorating" section has a lot of "completed" projects that I've simply covered up with "photos" of new inspiration...here you see the black photo corners where I've removed a picture so you can see my completed notes...this way I always have the measurements or whatever I need if I want to duplicate the project again.

I also "sketch" ideas and write down a lot measurements for my sewing/design projects...guess I was doing visual journals "before they were cool"...

The last book that I talk about is an 8x10 scrapbook album that I started years ago, and still use,  as my "Dream Album".  As a CM Consultant I hosted workshops for a group of lovely ladies  who I actually honored with a mini-album at Inspired 2008.

My "Dream/Goal" album is set up as a "list" of 50 (or more) things that I want to complete in my lifetime, with no set time frame for completing any one of the them.  Here's a photo of the cover page:

 
I used a uniform "design" for every page/item by using stickers for the item numbers and hand-writing my goals onto a pink/black/white blocks of card-stock. This "simple" design process helps keep your focus on completing your list/goals so that you don't get "hung-up" on the "decoration" of the pages.  However, if you have a "element" like a photo, notes, or a quote, etc. that helps you "visualize"  your dream, then be sure to include it on your original pre-decorated album page.

Once you complete your goals/dreams then you "finish" decorating your pages with photos and memorabilia of your accomplishments.

hmmm...maybe this year I will get some "custom" built-ins....sure do need all the storage I can find in my new "love shack"!

This has been a longer post than I had originally intended but I hope this was in some way helpful!  

Comments

[DH]

OMG! This is so true, I know firsthand...I am her DH.

[Flory Mariñas-Simbulan]

Great Ideas... I've made my goal setting last year, perhaps this is an indication that I should review it again and set another goals for this year. Big thanks... I'll see what I can do this time!!!

Flory