Working through hurdles

I apologize for taking an unintended break from my blog I have been focusing on several areas of my life that I have set goals for, but also have had a few other things that have popped up this month.

• I have announced my candidacy for Vice President of the Des Moines Education Association.
• We have been working on vacation plans for this summer with our family.  We are going to be going to Yellowstone. 
• Our internet service stopped working and we are in the process of getting it back up and running by the end of the week.  

Some of these things have been welcomed while others have created some headaches, but still moving forward on trying to accomplish my goals.  Once my internet service is back on I promise to do a better job with my blog the rest of 2014. 

30 Day Hustle Part 2

I am participating in the second round of Jon Acuff's 30 Day Hustle.  Last month I was able to accomplish a task in 30 days that I thought I was going to take most of 2014 thanks to the accountability group and all of you.  I am overjoyed to have already completed my Legacy Box for my family if something happens to me.  My goal for the second 30 days is something that seems much smaller but will be challenging as well.

What?  My goal for the next 30 days is the hustle to lose at least 8 pounds!  I know it may not sound like a lot but these are 8 pounds that I have been working on losing for a long time and I just continue to make excuses to why I cannot do it.  No more excuses!  I am going to lose those 8+ pounds and keep them off.

How?  I am going to continue my running program toward my long term goal of running a marathon this year.  On my days that I am not running I will work in some other form of exercise (cycling, kickboxing, yoga, etc.)   I have scheduled my running days onto my calendar and will be scheduling other physical activities in between.  I will also make smarter food and drink choices over the next 30 days.

Why?  Because I want to feel healthier and stronger.  I want to be able to be a good role model for my son and my students.  I know that having excess belly fat is bad for me beyond just how it looks and am committed to doing what I can to be able to stay active and be around for my family.

February Goal Update

The first month of 2014 is already over and has resulted in the completion of one of my goals, moving along the path toward achieving some and refining another.  Occasionally I will check in to share my progress, my struggles and changes I make in my goals this year.

Spiritual Goal: My spiritual goal is to connect with God each day through prayer, reading his Word and reflection.  

Each day I have committed myself to begin the day in prayer and have at least read though a chapter of the book of Proverbs.  My goal was to do that in addition to getting into the Word first thing in the morning.  I have realized that not being a morning person has hurt my chances of making this successful.  I am still committed to achieving my goal but am scheduling my quiet time in the Word to the evening instead of first thing in the morning.  For the month of February I will be focusing my additional study on the Book of John. 

Financial Goal:  For 2014, we are going to try to stretch ourselves and set a financial goal of paying off at least 60% of the debt that is remaining on our mortgage.  

We are working toward making this a reality.  One of the big changes we have made starting in January is that we canceled our escrow account to allow more of our money to go toward our mortgage each month while budgeting for our home owners insurance and taxes ourselves.  This change alone cut our debt free date by 2 months.  We now are currently less than 606 days away from being debt free!

Intellectual Goal: My intellectual goal will be to read the same three books at least once a month and spend time reflecting on the principles and applying them into my life. 
I was unable to accomplish this goal in January.  I did complete two of the books (The 5 Love Languages: Men's Edition and The Noticer Returns).  I only made it through a little more than a third of Thou Shall Prosper.  I have found that Thou Shall Prosper is not a book to read quickly so I am taking my time to complete the book and will finish it during the month of February and then putting it back on my bookshelf.  Out of the three books I started with I am only keeping The Noticer Returns by Andy Andrews in my 3 book diet for 2014.   Since I cannot commit to reading Thou Shall Prosper every month I will be replacing it with Teacherpreneurs: Innovative Teachers who Lead but Don't Leave by Barnett Berry.  I am also going to replace The 5 Love Languages with Fearless by Max Lucado. The reason for this second change is that I have read the 5 Love Languages several times and thought that the Men's Edition would give me something more to apply to my life, but it really was the same thing with a few side notes.

Relational Goal: I have set a relational goal of getting all documents created and organized that will help take care of my family if something would happen to me by creating a legacy box this year for them. 

This goal has already been completed.  I participated in the 30 day hustle with Jon Acuff and finished this goal within the first 30 days of January.  During the month of February I will be working toward reconnecting with some friends and will have a new official relational goal to post by the beginning of March. 

Physical Goal:  My physical goal is to run a marathon by the end of the year. 
I have worked toward accomplishing this goal by continuing the 10K training program.  By the end of February I should finish the 10K program and start my 1/2 marathon training program.