Lara Casey's Blog, page 8

December Progress and January PowerSheets Goals

January is
a clean white sheet, newly-ironed;
an empty page;
a field of freshly-fallen snow
waiting to be mapped
by our footsteps.
– John Foster

Hello, friends! Hello, new year! Oh, how refreshing you are already! Want to make January extra refreshing—and avoid jumping ship on your new goals mid-month? Remember these two words: pace yourself. There are a lot of action steps I want to take in January, but I’m intentionally spreading them out over the year. No need to do them all at once to make great progress on a goal. Good things grow little by little, footstep by footstep.

In December, I prayed over my 2021 goals as I completed my PowerSheets prep for 2021 (I am in love with my vision board above!), we celebrated our birthdays – my 41st and Ari’s 43rd, took a quick trip to the mountains where we completed 100 miles of hiking as a family for the year, and I finished reading the Bible with friends.

On to January and a new year! Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my new 2021 goals. January’s Tending List is a breeze to make!

January Monthly Goals:
— Move forward – on new goals, decisions, and out of 2020, praise the Lord!
— Make our 2020 Lists (all first steps on my PowerSheets goals!) using one of our Legacy Journals:
– 2021 Prayer List
– Road trips for the year
– Books to read as a family this year
– Date ideas
– Scriptures to encourage my goals
– Playlists for running and the kids
— Do my time audit at work
— Plan something for our 15-year anniversary in March
— Plan solitude in the year/weeks

January Weekly Goals:
— Bring a feast of good ideas in homeschool
— Poetry + good words at dinner w/ the kids – we LOVE these 3 books: A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year, A Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, and Sing a Song of Seasons (we faithfully read this throughout the year and love starting over at January to do it all over again!).
— Surprise Ari with sweet things each week like notes left in his wallet

Goal Setting Series: My 2021 PowerSheets Goals

Welcome to the final post in the 2021 Goal Setting Series! In Part 1, we looked back at the last 10 years together (!), and all we know for sure about intentional goal setting. In Part 2, we looked back and did a treasure hunt together. Today, in Part 3, we’re looking ahead! I’m sharing my 2021 PowerSheets goals and I can’t wait to hear yours, too!

My friends!!! This is it! You’re so ready to put 2020 behind you and make room for the new! But, perhaps you’re also feeling a little hesitant. What if things are hard again? What if your goals don’t go as planned?

But… what if you’re right where you’re supposed to be to take a leap of faith and do things differently in the year ahead? Look around. The world is starting to see what you and I have long-known about goals and starting a new year well: maybe it’s not about having a list of big, shiny goals in hand. Maybe it’s about cultivating what matters right where we are, with what we have. Maybe it’s about taking just one intentional step forward, and then another. And maybe it’s about doing small things with great love and seeing those things add up over time—no perfection required.

Goals won’t change your life; knowing what matters will. Cultivated goals are simply how you get there!

As I looked ahead to 2021, I felt all of the same things you might be feeling: excitement, grief, hesitation, hope—all mingled together. It’s been a hard year. But, here’s what we both know for sure after all these years, and where I can have faith: good things grow out of hard things.

There’s no such thing as perfect progress on a goal. All progress is imperfect. And it’s okay to be scared—sometimes being nervous means something is really important to you.

It’s okay to grow slow—in fact, it’s really good.

Striving for perfection halts real progress on the things that matter.

We can’t do it all and do it all well, but we can choose to cultivate what matters.

Small steps add up and good things grow little by little—not all at once. This is good news!

I flew through the PowerSheets Prep, got right up to the point of writing my goals, and I paused. What if these are the wrong goals? What if I don’t have enough energy for them after this year? What if I fail? And then I laughed at myself, thinking of all the times we’ve talked about these very things together!

Goal Setting Series: 2020 Year in Review

Friends, is it just me, or do you feel like running through the streets shouting for joy!? We made it!

I often say, “There’s nothing magical about January 1st.” But not this year.

I got you a trophy for making it through 2020! Well deserved.

This year-like-no-other is coming to a close, and I think we’re all going to celebrate more than ever! As we turn the page on 2020, there is something profoundly energizing about a new year ahead. It may not be perfect, or go just as planned (lesson of 2020), but it doesn’t have to. We’re here. We made it. We’ve grown. And we’re not going back!

Goal Setting Series: Celebrating 10 Years Together!

Friends! This post officially marks a decade of our annual Goal Setting Series together! 10 years! I’m a bit at a loss for words as I write to you, thinking back on how much has changed in the last decade—and the things that have remained true all those years.

One of those things that has been a constant is YOU and your kindness. You’ve encouraged me over this decade when I was the one trying to encourage you. You are generous and wonderful, friends!

Over the last 10 years, we’ve shared our fears, our hopes, our blunders, and our victories together. What a gift! I never imagined I’d be writing this series for so long—or how it would impact me personally.

There have been wild things that have happened because of this series – from a book contract to Oprah calling (true story) to a partnership with Southern Living to goals achieved and meeting people from all over the world.

But, the very best thing, above all, is how my faith has grown. Some people think goals are narrow targets that you have to strive for at the expense of everything else (which is why most people abandon them—totally unsustainable and not true!).

I’ve learned something quite different. I think we’ve learned it together. Cultivated goals are leaps of faith, believing in what we can’t yet see because they’re worth it. They’re worth the risk and faith to dream about what matters, no matter the outcome—or how life changes. Our circumstances may change; what matters remains the same. The alternative to intentional faith-filled steps forward is something you and I decided long ago we didn’t want. In fact, it wasn’t even an option: going through the motions. Aimlessly wandering through life. No, thank you. I’ll take the beautiful risk of faith any day.

A la Oprah, it feels fitting to share the 10 Things I Know For Sure from the last 10 years together!

November Progress and December PowerSheets Goals

No matter how something begins, or what happens in the middle, it’s the punctuation on the end that changes everything. Let’s put an exclamation point on this year and end it well, shall we?!

Praise the Lord for the thrill of hope this final month of the year brings. I’ve started my own PowerSheets and it feels revolutionary this year. We all need a moment to process 2020 to let it go and move forward. I have been craving this time to process and reframe my thoughts about the year.

Word by word, page by page, it’s happening. I feel the thrill of hope.

Here’s a quick look back at my November PowerSheets goals. My December goals are below, too!

Gracie watching the moon come up over the Blue Ridge Mountains and hunting for the first stars!

Rather than cross all of these out below as usual, I will simply report that I made progress on all of them and we had a wonderful month as a family. We went hiking in Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock early in the month, which was one of our favorite trips of all time. We stayed at an AirBnB that had a clearing at the top of a small mountain. We went up there with the kids each night to watch the sunset and the moon and stars appear. These are simple memories we won’t forget.

November Monthly Goals:
— Work ahead to enjoy the holidays
— Celebrate Grace turning 9
— Launch the Proverbs 31 partnership
— Prepare all for December
— Cultivate our holiday plans
— Let go of the world; hold fast to the Word

We also took an impromptu trip to the North Carolina coast in late November. It was so good for our souls!

November Weekly Goals:
— Family dance party
— Enjoy the birds
— Homeschool joy
— Hiking
— Love my parents well

November Daily Goals:
— Bible reading
— Write in my Bible
— Write the Word
— Move with joy
— Worship Him

On to December. I have 2 goals for 2020 (each with 4 mini goals under them) that are focused on growing something that matters to me in the big picture. Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead:

December Monthly Goals:
— Finish my 2020 goals – there’s still time left in the year to add that exclamation point!
— Pray over my 2021 goals
— Write the Word Worship with Proverbs 31 – JOIN US!
— Pray over our 2021 company goals
— Love people well for the Lord
— Emotionally and spiritually close this year well
— Celebrate our birthdays – my 41st and Ari’s 43rd are just 10 days apart this month. We’ve decided to do a party for our kids to celebrate, which will truly be the best celebration for us! Thinking we might rent a bounce house

Cultivate Worship—A New Online Bible Study with Proverbs 31

On January 1st this year, having no idea 2020 lay ahead, I did something intentional: I stepped away from social media and asked God to help me live numbered days.

I had just turned 40 and, in doing my PowerSheets, it all clicked. No more waiting for someday or till I had it “all together;” it was time to LIVE THIS LIFE!

Right here.
Right now.
I wanted to let go of distractions.
I wanted to make the most of what God has given me.
I wanted to cultivate the hearts of my children in new ways.
I wanted to enjoy this life, right where I am.

I wanted to do the things I’ve always wanted to do.

And that meant first stepping away from all the noise (could you use that right about now, too?) and then opening a Write the Word Worship journal. This was my way to get directly into the Bible – no fluff – and get some clarity on what God wanted for my life. It became a safe space for me to write out all my thoughts and be nourished with the living and active Word.

The world quieted around me as my pen turned living words into swoops of ink. Every word of Scripture I laid down on the page became written on my heart, too.

The day I finished the journal was the day the pandemic began closing schools and bringing us all home. As the news rattled off how our world was changing, I remembered all the scripture I had spent those weeks writing. In the midst of so much uncertainty, I knew what was certain: Him. I felt the peace that passes understanding (only God can do that). His Word changes everything.

And writing His Word illuminates this even more. There was a study done at Princeton and UCLA comparing what happened when students typed notes versus writing them by hand. Those who typed their notes didn’t retain the information, but those who hand wrote their notes had something entirely different happen. They internalized what they wrote. They captured the heart of the information, and they retained it.

What we retain, we act on—it becomes part of who we are.

As we near the finish line of this year like no other, I want to see this year through God’s lens, not mine or the world’s. I want to finish this year as I started it: focused on what matters and looking to the future with expectant hope against all odds. I want to see the good in all the hard and praise Him for it. And I want a safe space to process this year and lay down my heartaches at His feet. I want to let go and make room for the new. I want the Word. Plain and simple. Because when you let the Word into your heart, it changes you.

Let’s do this together! I’m overjoyed to invite you to the first-ever Write the Word Worship Online Bible Study with Proverbs 31!

This 21-day online study starts on November 30th and I can’t wait to do this alongside you in a beautiful and intentional journal. If you’ve done the Worship journal from Cultivate before and loved it, you’ll LOVE this. This exclusive journal has different construction, teaching inside from us and the P31 team, and… a page of tear-out scripture cards!

October Progress and November PowerSheets Goals

“If a year was tucked inside of a clock, then autumn would be the magic hour.” – Victoria Erickson

Well, friends. We’ve made it through 10 months of a wild year. The falling leaves remind us that, as everything sleeps back into the cold earth for winter, there’s something happening beneath the surface: spring is getting ready for us. After winter always comes spring. After a hard year, we’re made stronger and more ready for new things ahead.

Here’s a quick look back at my October PowerSheets goals. My November goals are below, too!

October Monthly Goals:
— Focus on what matters and let go of the rest
— Enjoy this life
— Worship at work – most definitely. A favorite memory from this month was right before our Launch, praying together over our customers.
— Prayerfully launch PowerSheets – here’s a behind-the-scenes recap of Launch Week for you!
— Prepare for the Proverbs 31 launch! (Mark your planners for November 9—the day I get to share this with you!)

October Weekly Goals:
— Family dance party / We don’t mess around. The Isaacsons can dance!

Thank you

Thank you.

In a challenging and unexpected year, you kept this small business alive. We took that gift and ran with it—for you, every woman in this community, and beyond.

When I started this company years ago, I never imagined working alongside a team of women to do work for a greater purpose, or how much it would be needed in a year like this. I created a product that I needed myself, and soon my garage was packed with PowerSheets. (There’s still a sign above the door that says “shipping department.”) 

More than a decade later, we remain a small but mighty business—one that appreciates your support more than ever. This year, your purchases have employed 13 women (and supported their families), and, by extension, dozens of our small business partners. 

You’ve helped women find hope in a year when they really needed it, just by continuing to dream. (Oh, the stories you’ve sent us of new paths, generosity multiplied, and lives changed!) THANK YOU for cultivating what matters right where you are. In a hard year, you’ve made it through so much and you’ve been a part of something good.

And so, we got you a trophy. (We’re keeping it safe in our office for you!) today, on Launch Day, we’re celebrating YOU.

We’ll work our hardest to remind women that change is possible—that their little-by-little efforts can change generations. We’ll be the anchor that secures you to what matters and helps you live it out, no matter how the world spins around you. And we’ll plant seeds of hope and joy wherever we go, sprinkling them around like confetti.

And then, we’ll go to sleep and wake up and do it all over again—because this work is not done. There are more women who need this hope you and I have. 

Thank you. Thank you for supporting our small business. Thank you for being a part of this work alongside us.

And, against all odds, thank you for choosing hope—because every time you take a step forward on a goal that matters to you, it starts a ripple effect. It helps other women choose hope, too.

With gratitude,

Lara

P.S. Buy your 2021 PowerSheets NOW! Let’s DO this!

The post Thank you

Thank you

Thank you.

In a challenging and unexpected year, you kept this small business alive. We took that gift and ran with it—for you, every woman in this community, and beyond.

When I started this company years ago, I never imagined working alongside a team of women to do work for a greater purpose, or how much it would be needed in a year like this. I created a product that I needed myself, and soon my garage was packed with PowerSheets. (There’s still a sign above the door that says “shipping department.”) 

More than a decade later, we remain a small but mighty business—one that appreciates your support more than ever. This year, your purchases have employed 13 women (and supported their families), and, by extension, dozens of our small business partners. 

You’ve helped women find hope in a year when they really needed it, just by continuing to dream. (Oh, the stories you’ve sent us of new paths, generosity multiplied, and lives changed!) THANK YOU for cultivating what matters right where you are. In a hard year, you’ve made it through so much and you’ve been a part of something good.

And so, we got you a trophy. (We’re keeping it safe in our office for you!) today, on Launch Day, we’re celebrating YOU.

We’ll work our hardest to remind women that change is possible—that their little-by-little efforts can change generations. We’ll be the anchor that secures you to what matters and helps you live it out, no matter how the world spins around you. And we’ll plant seeds of hope and joy wherever we go, sprinkling them around like confetti.

And then, we’ll go to sleep and wake up and do it all over again—because this work is not done. There are more women who need this hope you and I have. 

Thank you. Thank you for supporting our small business. Thank you for being a part of this work alongside us.

And, against all odds, thank you for choosing hope—because every time you take a step forward on a goal that matters to you, it starts a ripple effect. It helps other women choose hope, too.

With gratitude,

Lara

P.S. Buy your 2021 PowerSheets NOW! Let’s DO this!

The post Thank you

Thank you

Thank you.

In a challenging and unexpected year, you kept this small business alive. We took that gift and ran with it—for you, every woman in this community, and beyond.

When I started this company years ago, I never imagined working alongside a team of women to do work for a greater purpose, or how much it would be needed in a year like this. I created a product that I needed myself, and soon my garage was packed with PowerSheets. (There’s still a sign above the door that says “shipping department.”) 

More than a decade later, we remain a small but mighty business—one that appreciates your support more than ever. This year, your purchases have employed 13 women (and supported their families), and, by extension, dozens of our small business partners. 

You’ve helped women find hope in a year when they really needed it, just by continuing to dream. (Oh, the stories you’ve sent us of new paths, generosity multiplied, and lives changed!) THANK YOU for cultivating what matters right where you are. In a hard year, you’ve made it through so much and you’ve been a part of something good.

And so, we got you a trophy. (We’re keeping it safe in our office for you!) today, on Launch Day, we’re celebrating YOU.

We’ll work our hardest to remind women that change is possible—that their little-by-little efforts can change generations. We’ll be the anchor that secures you to what matters and helps you live it out, no matter how the world spins around you. And we’ll plant seeds of hope and joy wherever we go, sprinkling them around like confetti.

And then, we’ll go to sleep and wake up and do it all over again—because this work is not done. There are more women who need this hope you and I have. 

Thank you. Thank you for supporting our small business. Thank you for being a part of this work alongside us.

And, against all odds, thank you for choosing hope—because every time you take a step forward on a goal that matters to you, it starts a ripple effect. It helps other women choose hope, too.

With gratitude,

Lara

P.S. Buy your 2021 PowerSheets NOW! Let’s DO this!

The post Thank you