Living with Intention {February}

For me, 2016 will be all about living with intention.

Here’s the truth of it all. I don’t need to be so busy. In fact, I don’t want to be so busy! So this year, I am choosing be more intentional about the choices I make – how I choose to spend my time and making the choice to be more present in the moments I share with my family & friends.

Living a more intentional and purposeful life is a pretty broad statement, so I’ve decided to break things down into smaller goals for each month and, to keep myself on track, I’ve also decided to share my journey here on the blog (because let’s face it, it’s often so much easier to talk yourself out of doing something, than into doing something).
 

 
 

Here’s a quick recap of my goals for January and how I did following through…

{family}: Making time to spend together as a family 2-3 nights each week, in which we are fully present in each moment together. Finding something special to do as a family each and every weekend (i.e. swimming, skiing, travelling, etc.).

This was much harder than I had expected it would be. With Brady playing hockey two nights a week and my yoga two nights a week, we found ourselves running short on evenings together. Instead we decided to shift gears and take those evenings we had with Carson on our own, to really focus on some fun activities we could do with him, letting him guide the way as much as possible. It made for some really special moments together!

I absolutely loved making time for a special family activity each weekend and will continue to work this into our lives this year! Some were more simple than others – for example, our family time one weekend was simply a couple of hours skiing at our little hill here in town, but we also enjoyed a lovely trip to Banff National Park for 3 days together too. Will definitely be keeping this one up!
 
 

{home}: Clean & organize the basement.

Done & done!
 
 

{blog}: Finish the month 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule (posts done to the middle of February).

Almost there … 2 posts away from completing this goal. Will definitely keep working at this one!
 
 

{myself}: Attend a yoga class one (or more) times per week – all month long!

Not only did I see this one through, but I took it one step further and made it to two yoga classes each and every week! I’m sure that it comes as no surprise that for someone as Type A as me, this really had a huge impact on my stress levels. I think for the sake of my sanity, it’s really important that I keep this one up!
 
 

For the month of February, here’s what I will be choosing to focus on to help me live with intention:

 

{Family}: Concentrating on spending not just more time together, but quality time together through this last month has been such a great way to strengthen our bonds together as a family. I absolutely love how Carson’s sweet face just lights right up with this extra bit of undivided attention.

Carson has been our greatest joy in life. At three (nearly four), he’s one of the most kind, joyful and outgoing little boys that we know. He has this way of making friends with everyone he meets and there’s nothing he loves more than being the centre of attention for everyone in the room.

He’s also given us some of our greatest challenges in life. I mean there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with raising this little egocentric human to be a kind, caring adult that contributes his part to society.

He’s dramatic, with BIG emotions and no real way of dealing with them. My head tells me that this is a skill I need to teach him. My heart doesn’t want him to have to deal with disappointment, it doesn’t want to scale back his over-the-top, can’t-seem-to-control-himself excitement.

With a background in child psychology, I know that his tantrums, sometimes poor decisions (even when he knows better!) and need to question everything and test any and all limits are all totally “normal” at this age. But, I also know that it’s my job to teach him what’s expected of him – the kind thing to do, a better way to deal things, to be both independent and ever-questioning, while also listening and adhering to the guidelines we’ve set for him.

To be honest, it all feels very overwhelming at times. Particularly when he’s screaming about how much he hates us because he can’t have ice-cream for dinner.

Often, I find things tend to feel overwhelming when I don’t have enough information. It can be hard to problem solve with limited tools to draw from (and, never having gone through this before, our toolbox was running low). So, instead of beating our proverbial heads against the wall – trying the same old stern warnings, time-outs and threats of punishment and consequence that have come to be our go-tos, I picked up this book (which had actually been sitting on my nightstand for months).

It spoke to me so much that I devoured it in just a few days. Then, of course, I made Brady read it too. And now, we’ve been working hard to put it all into practice.

It’s been just three weeks or so, but we’re noticing some pretty huge changes in both Carson’s behaviour and choices as well as our reactions to it all. My hope for this month is to continue along with what we’ve learned.

Let’s get specific: Following the principles in this book, really focus on connecting with Carson to guide him through making good choices, even when he’s overcome by anger or excitement. *Obviously this will be a work in progress for the next 20 years or more, but we’ve got to start somewhere, right?*

 
 

{home}: Now that everything has been KonMari’d, I’d love to get back to a few reno projects from our ever-growing list!
 

Let’s get specific: Tackle the upstairs hallway.

 
 

{Blog}: I’ve been meaning to take on a video for a while now (like 6+ months), but I have to say, fear has been getting the best of me. Not really sure what exactly I’m scared of, but this has been on my blogging bucket list for a while now and I think it’s about time I knock it out.
 

Let’s get specific: Create and publish my first video tutorial.

 
 

{Myself}: I’ve LOVED making the time for yoga through January (and totally intend to continue with it)!

Through February, I’d love to add a couple of exercise days to the mix. Since running my last 1/2 marathon in November, I’ve only made the time to head out for a run a handful of times and I really miss it. I was also quite dedicated to strength training for many years, but finding making the time for it through these last six months has gotten the better of me – it’s time to dig out that muscle again!
 

Let’s get specific: Run or lift weights 2 times per week.

 
 

I know these sound like such small changes, but I swear the impact on my life has been incredible already! I cannot wait to get going with February’s goals!
 

Did you set any goals for this year? I’d love to hear how things are going!

Wishing you SUCH a lovely day!
 
 
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