Acting In Accord ~ Utilizing Lists!

This is something that has been on my mind for the last week: acting in accord.

I'm talking about actions that support your goals, whether these are short term, daily, or life-long goals.

You see, I've noticed, as I was filling out my Awesome 2015 Workbook from Leonie Dawson that a lot of my actions from last year did not support my ultimate goals.  For example, if I wanted to establish and maintain healthy boundaries, letting my family members walk all over me certainly gave the universe some very mixed messages.  Saying I wanted to lose weight more than anything, but refusing to exercise when I was on my menstrual cycle did not support my goal to lose weight.  Neither did insisting that I was going to have a clean, organized home, but then making excuses not to do it and spending entire days being lazy.

Now sure, there were extenuating circumstances that would fall in this category.  But as my boyfriend's father is fond of saying, they're still excuses.  Stop complaining and just do it.

Which is one of my goals this year: just do it.  Stop procrastinating.  Stop making excuses.  Just get up off your butt and do it.  Even if it scares the crap out of you.  Even if you don't want to do it.  Be productive!

So I've been thinking about what it is I really want out of this year, and what daily actions I could do - or change - that would support those goals.

My goals for 2015:

• Productivity.  My original word of the year was Action, but I ended up changing it to Productivity.  To me, being productive means that I get things done - no more procrastinating, no more thinking about things and theorizing about things.  The house is clean (or at least straightened up - including the litter box, which I hate to do), I've written something (doesn't matter what), I've taken some time to breathe (as in meditation, either in addition to yoga or as part of it), and I've exercised (I'll give myself some slack when I'm sore, but no longer than 1 day).  
• Meditation.  It relaxes me, let's me tune into my intuition, allows me to connect with nature, and it works as a stress-relief.  Meditation also helps me with my epilepsy and depression - both of which can cause a fogginess on "bad days" that can lead to a higher chance of a seizure (but doesn't guarantee one).  This is something I wanted to do last year but never really made it a habit.  My goal is to make it a habit this year.  Meditating should be done EVERY DAY.  
• Yoga.  I used to be extremely flexible, and since I've taken on a sedentary lifestyle, my flexibility has lessened, which is really sad!  Plus, I want to lose weight, but I'm having trouble with cardio because of a bad ankle that swells up like crazy - yoga (and walking) are pretty much the only things that don't make my ankle swell and ache.  Since I feel fantastic from yoga, and it helps with my depression, I want to make sure that I get AT LEAST 3 sessions a week, preferably every other day until I build up the strength to make it daily.  
• Book of Shadows.  I started seriously filling in my BoS last year, and I got really far!  Only problem is, as the year went by, I began to realize that I needed to modify a lot of the pages I made earlier to reflect me changing my mind or learning something new.  But I want to keep it at it!  Plus, I've started following judedirect's Book of Shadow prompts series, and it's been going great so far!  I fully intent to upload my entries here as I go.  
• Income.  I don't have any.  I want some.  I'm not really deprived of anything, but I really would like to have a little extra cash to spend on frivolous, non-necessities.  I'd like to be able to pick up a deck of tarot cards that looked really neat.  I'd like to be able to go to the crafts store and splurge on a project.  I'd like to have the money to go ahead and order that cute top from Forever21 that's all lace - just because it's cute and I don't have one.  Any stream of income will do.  
• Organized.  I always say I'm going to get organized, but then I get lazy.  This year, I really want to make more of an effort to get organized AND STAY THAT WAY.  If I see something out of place, get off my butt and put it back now rather than later.  Part of this is developing a routine and sticking to it - even when I'm not home.  This ties in with productivity.  
• Reading.  The only things I read last year were George RR Martin books.  While that is a feat, I would like to accomplish more this year.  My goal is 12 spiritual books and 12 historical Regency-themed ones.  
• Garden.  I had a container garden last year; I want to have an actual in-the-ground garden this year.  I'm determined!  And, I'm keeping my butt home this summer so that none of my plants die.  
• Writing.  I love to write.  Even when I'm not posing things online, I'm doing something creative throughout the day - BoS entries, grimoire entries, journaling, research, lists, short stories, roleplaying.  I want to really take Max Kirin's advice and make writing a daily habit.  

Okay, so now that I have an idea of my goals (and the reasons behind them), there's something that I really liked from Leonie Dawson: make a list.  I love lists!  Each goal should have a list of actionable, achievable things that help me work through my goals.  Ideally, these would be things that I could do on a daily basis, or at least on a weekly one.  

Productivity

• When I see something that needs to be done, do it RIGHT THEN.  
• Set 3 MITs (Most Important Things) to do each morning.  
• Start my day with intent.  Use this intent while doing yoga, meditation, and lighting incense.  
• Create a daily routine.  
• Surround myself with uplifting affirmations.
• If I see something out of place, clean/move it right then.  
• No procrastination!  No excuses!  Just do it!  
• Create an energetic music play list to keep me motivated while doing chores.  

Meditation

• Research different meditation styles.  
• Try each meditation style out for at least a week.  
• Create a meditation altar.  
• Develop meditation triggers (such as incense, sounds, chants, affirmations, gestures, postures, etc).  
• Frame meditation affirmations on my altar space.  
• Set my phone to remind me to meditate.  
• Journal my meditation experiences.  

Book of Shadows

• Journal everyday.  
• Follow Judedirect's weekly BoS prompts.  
• Write a new blog post (or more!) every week.  
• Edit a new blog post (or more!) every week.  
• Note: try different things - put nothing in the BoS without personal experience!  

Income

• Look for a job.  
• Look into revenue for blogging.  
• Explore Etsy shop options.  
• Read tarot out of my home/in parks.  
• Start an abundance altar.  
• Start a gratitude jar (preferably on the abundance altar).  
• Daily affirmations having to do with deserving wealth (I have a block - I don't really think I deserve to have nice things).  
• Figure out why I have the above block (journaling, shadow work, self-help books).  
• Create an abundance dream board.  
• Feng shui (there's some great tips in a book I have).  
• Start a savings jar (for a vacation).  

Organized

• Update my household notebook.  
• Add a section to the household notebook for blogging.  
• Create a daily routine.  
• No procrastination!  No excuses!  
• If I see something out of place, clean/move it right then.  
• Make cleaning a habit.  
• Reward myself for being organized.  
• Get enough sleep every night.  
• Implement tips from Do It On A Dime and similar YouTubers.   
• Declutter anything that has not been used within the past year.  

Gardening

• Go through my seeds and decide what I'll be planting this year.  
• Look up when each seeds should be started.  
• Make a garden chart of where each plant should be (with the appropriate space required).  
• Use the Garden Manager app to remind me to plant and water.  
• Prune according to the moon phase.  
• Bless seeds at Imbolc.  
• Ask Pat to borrow his hoe/plough
• Start looking for a new spade (mine broke last autumn)
• Garden bed blessing for Imbolc.  
• Garden offerings.  
• Connect with the earth.  
• Work with an earth goddess, such as Gaia.