Intentional...the Way I Like to Live

My good friend, Robin McFarren, has asked me several times to share about my "lifeplanner"/journal way of getting and keeping my life and goals on track. I am certainly no expert, but I know it is so easy to get derailed and find yourself a long, long way from where you want to be, unless you live life intentionally. I have found the best way for me is to write my intentions, to document them to keep myself motivated and encouraged. I will share a couple things that help me---I am sure if you experiment a bit, you can design a process that will keep you focused and forward moving. As Andy Stanley says, "Direction, not intention, determines destination." Simply stated, my best intentions won't get me anywhere unless I am actively moving in the direction of those intentions. Several methods help me. I am no where near perfect on this, but I am much closer to who I want to be than I would be without them.

First is what I call my "LIFE PLANNER." I call it my brains. Truth is, I carry it everywhere, and have traveled more than an hour back to get it on an occasion when I forgot it.  For many years I used a Daytimer Brand, and kept my calendar and other pertinent lists in the same place. However, my Daytimer was very large, and was formatted in a way that I was continually trying to refine and personalize. After many changes, about 5 years ago I settled on a very homemade system that fits me fine. It works like this. 

• My iphone calendar syncs with my computer, so I always have it with me (I use the Google calendar system), and all my personal dates and business dates are in the same place so I am very unlikely to overlook anything. It has space to record places and details, and I can set an alarm that reminds me of important dates and times. Because of that, I do not have a paper calendar as part of my life planner.
• My life planner is a spiral notebook with a hardback cover with several hundred lined pages. I get the ones I use at Staples, Markings brand. They are brown or blue and have either "thoughts" or "organize" embossed on the front cover. There are pockets in the inside back where I carry pictures of my family, stamps, and miscellaneous papers that are critical at the moment. One of the pockets carries the WHO I AM IN CHRIST card that I read regularly to keep my focus. The book also has an elastic band around it to keep a grip on other papers I keep temporarily in there, like motivational thoughts I might be using for awhile, ideas I pick up,  or a few notecards or postcards for writing quick notes in spare moments. I also have post-a-notes in there to keep temporary lists.
• At the end of each year (November-December) I set goals for my next year in pertinent areas (work, personal achievement, health, spiritual life, relationships, family, the house...whatever is important to me) and these become my master lists for prioritizing actually moving forward instead of just doing the things that simply have to be done each week. I record these goals under subjects in the back pages of the book and review them weekly when I plan my week to see if there's is something I can or should add to my tasks for the week. It's exciting and motivating to cross them off with a date when they get accomplished. I also keep a list here of where things are stored and how much I have--for instance, when I put away Christmas things, I will tell myself that I have enough Christmas napkins for next year and they are gold, and that I already have enough wrapping paper and ribbon.
• The inside front cover has all my contact info and a few addresses/passwords I use frequently but forget. It has my personal mission statement, our church vision and mission statement.
• Weekly schedules command the most space in the life planner. A week's planning covers both sides of the pages of the opened book.  The pages look like this:
  

• I know. Unbelievably simple. But it's all I need to keep me on track. The Contacts section lists all the people I need to touch base with in any way this week--Thank you notes, sympathy cards,  etc. I have the life planner with me on Sundays, and jot names during/between services so I don't forget. The Calls section is just for phone calls with numbers, unless they are in my phone. Go/Get/See is for errands, things I need I need to pick up, places I need to go, or a specific visit I need to make. There's always a place for "Dad 1-2-3", and I x out the number every time I see him. :-) Things like groceries, gas, the bank are regular items, but stamps, a hospital visit---those are the kinds of things that need to get added or I actually will forget them. The Stuff list is for those things that HAVE to happen, but don't fit naturally and easily in another place. For instance, I write this blog, but I can procrastinate and not get it done so when I need to do one, so it gets listed here. I also do some other writing and when a project needs some work, it's the kind of thing that will show up here. Or, community/denominational irregular things. Because I am director of Clearblue Global Water Project, a non-profit raising money for clean, safe water around the world, I have regular weekly contacts and work to do for that. Those items go in the Clear Blue section. You might have an avocation or hobby of your own here. Or, you could put a project like Kitchen Redo here, and list the steps you hope to take that week. Or, if you are a very full-time volunteer at a school or church, it could be the place you put those tasks. On the opposite side, the whole page is devoted to the two main time consumers in my week---the Church, the things I need to do as lead pastor, and Home, the things I need to do as wife, mother, grandmother, and homemaker, and personal tasks.
• I create these lists every Sunday afternoon or evening with what I know I need to do, and have space to keep adding new items as they arise. I mark off each task as I accomplish it. It's very motivational to see what I have done. I rarely get everything done I have hoped for each week, and the leftovers give me the starting place for the next week.
• I keep all the pages in the book for the whole year. It keeps a very helpful record of who I have contacted and what I have done through the year. I simply paper clip the top of the current page so my week is easy to find. I skim over these pages at night so I go to bed aware of what my first tasks will be in the morning.
• I have a section near the back also clipped with a blue paper clip. It is the section where I keep the most updated information about ClearBlue finances, needs, and current projects so I will have information on the spot if I am questioned.
• I also keep a list of needs we have at the church so if anyone asks me what they might help us with I am not caught without an answer to get maximum benefit from the opportunity.
• At the end of the year I go back over my goals for evaluation, to celebrate what has been done, to plan for a new year, and to pray. 

Very simple. Perhaps not the way you would do it. But I can guarantee this--if you figure out a system and stick with it for 28 days, the time research tells us it takes to start a new habit, I promise you will find yourself happier, more fulfilled, more motivated, and accomplishing much more pretty quickly.

While we are at it, let me tell you a couple of other things that help me.
Next, there is Journaling. In the past, I have kept separate journals for my own devotional, personal thoughts. My son Jacob does it differently, and having watched him, I love his system, and am beginning it. I am using one journal starting January 1 to record personal thoughts and devotional insights and events in my life--not every day, but as I have the insight and urge to write something. My blog and Facebook page document much day to day things, but if I want to keep them for posterity, I need to also store them on my computer. Many people use computer, ipad, or some kind of portable electronic device for all journaling. That is good, too. I like the old-fashioned feel of paper in my hands. :-) This is a small journal that travels with me so I can also take sermon, book, and seminar notes in it, ending up with a spiritual journal of my year. It usually requires several journals per year.

Another book that has become indispensable to us is the budget book. Every year we get a $2.50 budget book from the family dollar store. It has a lined page per month, with a pocket for each month to store the bills as they come in. In the back I post any debts we have that it will take us awhile to pay off, such as medical bills. I also keep a running account of what we have saved specifically for vacation, etc. We learned through Dave Ramsey to tell our money  where to go, rather than to wonder where it went. :-) So, on the last couple days of a month, we go through the month's upcoming pays and list out where out money needs to go. We pay ourselves each an allowance so we don't dip into our money for paying bills, saving, and giving for personal stuff. Today I am doing it pay by pay for January. After a few months, you know exactly what needs to happen, and you discover you actually have more money than you thought when it was disappearing a dollar or two at a time. As we pay off any bill or achieve a goal, it is celebrated with big RED letters--PAID IN FULL! or DONE!

The last thing I will share is the LOSE IT app for phone and computer. I use mine on my phone, and the built in accountability and ease of following a calorie limitation that is automatically added for me as soon as I enter the food has helped me lose 49 pounds this year--just 1 pound off of my year's goal. Who knows? I might make it yet before 2014 is over! Following the discipline has become such a part of my daily routine, I have confidence I will not get out of a healthy place again. It also tracks all the other elements of health I allow, including exercise and numbers. Just google LOSE IT--it's free.

Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. ;-) Truly, the only way to get where you want to go is by intentional decisions and actions. I am looking forward to 2015. I am getting where I believe God is calling and preparing me to go.