Facing your Fears: "Do one thing every day that scares you."- Eleanor Roosevelt

My earliest memory of my biggest fear was when I was 7 or 8 years old. I was playing in my backyard with one of my friends, Karlyn, and we were doing "under dogs" on the swing set. I had just run under the swing when Karlyn noticed I had cut my wrist and was bleeding. I hadn't noticed, until she said something. Immediately, my heart started to race, I turned white as a ghost, and my vision started to close in on me. I don't remember if I passed out or not, but the experience became a common theme anytime I saw blood or even heard people discussing an incident with blood. (Fun for me... not!)

If anyone has ever had anxiety or a huge fear, you probably understand where I'm coming from. From this point on, I did everything I could to avoid any situation facing blood, needles, etc. I can probably count the number of times this fear caused me to pass out on one hand, but each of those experiences builds on the other and makes the anxiety even worse. For example, one early morning during my sophomore year at Purdue University I had a Personal Training class. All I remember is my professor continually discussing blood and said something regarding "the blood POOLS in the muscles.." and I was out. I literally passed out, fell out of my desk, and woke up to the teacher screaming ,"Are you okay.. Sarah, are you okay?!?" Embarrassing.



I've managed to make it to 28 years old with only having to have my blood drawn one time until today. The first time went really well. A nurse came to our home to do a physical for life insurance so I was able to lay on our own couch while she performed the blood draw. I didn't pass out and had a relatively positive experience. I found out last week I would have to have my fasted blood drawn this morning. I was anxious, but knew I would have to put my big girl panties on and do it. (Ok, I might have looked like this guy.)

I drove up to the north side of Indy (about 30 minutes) to my appointment that was at 7:40am. Just a couple minutes in the waiting room and I was called back. I have never been this calm, EVER, at the doctor's office... especially knowing they are drawing my blood. I informed the nurse that I'm a "fainter" and she sat me in the chair that reclines. She propped my feet up, laid me back, and about a minute or two later was done! Wow! I did it! :)

I am so proud of myself for tackling this fear head on. This has literally caused me so much anxiety over the past 20 some years and today was the first day I feel like I'm in control. One of my goals in 2014 is to "Do one thing every day that scares you." Now that I've faced this fear, I feel there's nothing I can't do! :)

What are your biggest fears? What have you done to overcome them?

How have you conquered a huge fear in your life?

" A goal without a plan is a wish" - February Goals: (Part II)

I can't believe February has come and gone! Yippee!! I think it's even going to hit over 50 degrees today and I'm sure everyone in Indiana is as excited as I am about that! Part Two of my goals may not have gone quite as well as Part One (Fail!) It would be much easier to not blog about this and move on to the next, but I'm not going to achieve every goal perfectly every month. Life happens. I'm glad I'm reviewing these monthly because I now know what I can do better in March and the rest of 2014 :)

In Part 1, I discussed my progress in my career, wifey, and fitness goals. Part 2 is going to focus on my spiritual, personal growth, and budget goals. Let's dive right in!

Spiritual Goals



1. Attend church weekly

I only attended church one time in February. Although one is better than none it's not good enough. I have been having a mental struggle with myself every weekend when it comes to going to church. (I'm about to be super honest here so if I offend you, I apologize, I'm just being honest about my feelings.) The thought of attending mass feels like a chore. It's like something on my list I have to do and cross off before moving to the next item. I don't like that. I want my experience to be something that moves me.. makes me think about my life and how I can improve it, etc. Barry and I have been discussing this topic and know we need to make an honest commitment to our faith. I hope to make some great progress in the coming months.

2. Nightly devotional with hubby: (5 nights a week)


This has yet to begin. Whoops! We do have a daily devotional book but I'm going to the library this weekend to find The Love Dare, a couple's devotional book that we can do together. I think this is a great way to reconnect as a couple after a long day and to continue to work on our marriage. My goal (that Barry doesn't yet know about lol) is to put the phones down in the evening and reconnect daily. I think it's so easy to just "go through the motions" day in and day out and before you know it a month, a year, or several years has just passed by in the blink of an eye. I don't want an average life or an average marriage. I want to push daily to get better in every aspect of my life and my marriage is more important than nearly anything else in my life. I can't wait to dig into this devotional with my hubby :)



Personal Growth


1. Read 2 new Leadership books a month (24 in 2014)

This month started off great in the reading department! I finished my first book in the first couple days of February called "Inside my Heart" by Robin McGraw, Dr. Phil's wife. I was ready for a change of pace from all the financial books I was reading and this was perfect. It was an easy read and was a wonderful book about her passion in life: raising her two boys.

                                                                 

I was working through a couple of other books that I just couldn't get into before I had to take them back to the library. My goal in March is to read three new books: one leadership, one on finance, and one for fun!

2. Volunteer once a month



My volunteer efforts also didn't happen in February. I had a goal to volunteer at Gleaner's at least one time every month, but the time I was set up this month, of course it snowed and they were closed. Not a great excuse, as I should have rescheduled, but I didn't. I have been in the works of volunteering at St. Christopher's in their nursery to help with the babies during the 10:30am service. I thought with all the stuff going on with our trying to have a baby, this might be helpful. Well, anyone who has struggled to conceive knows, you have good days and bad. I haven't yet been able to sign up but I am still keeping this in the back of my mind.

I would love more suggestions for volunteer ideas, especially as the weather is getting warmer! Some ideas I had were: Mini Marathon volunteering and/or dog walker at the Humane Society. Next month I'm so excited to volunteer at the Dave Ramsey event on April 24th! I will be able to watch the entire event for free just by volunteering to help set up and clean up after the event. Dave Ramsey has changed how we look at our money, debt, and what type of legacy we want to leave. This event will be amazing!





3. Make someones day, everyday.


I've learned that this goal is by far, one of the hardest and easiest. I love to go out of my way to make someone's' day better. This is as easy as giving someone a genuine smile and a "Hi, how's your day?" or giving someone a compliment. Just the other day at work I saw an older woman walking down the halls at Marquette, where I sometimes work. She had on a bright pair of snow boots that were very cute and stylist. I complimented her and she said, "Thank you! That made my day!" :)


I think my moment of the month was after finishing up a balance class at Marquette just last week. A gentlemen that I haven't seen before took my class, and sat right in the front row. . At the beginning of class he asked my name and said, "Can my balance get better if I come to class regularly?" I answered, "OF COURSE!" He was content with my answer and we started class. At the end of class, after focusing very intently on every move we did, he came up to me and said, "Do you know that you are the first person in a long time that told me I can actually get better at something." I was just silent. He continued and said," My hearing is getting bad, my eyes are getting worse, and everyday tasks seem to get more and more challenging. I have hope again that if I work hard, I will get better at my balance." That made MY day.. maybe my week :) Just another reminder that I love what I do and that I'm able to impact others lives in such a positive way.

 Budget Goals:

1. Hit our budget/debt payment goal every month.

At the end of February we hit a pivotal moment in our Debt Snowball plan. I received two emails from Sallie Mae stating a couple of my student loans had been paid in full! Now that is motivating! Sticking to a budget is very challenging, but we are working very hard to do so every month without giving up our social life or all our hobbies. February threw us a curve ball with our taxes so we did not put the full amount on our debt that we typically do. Our debt snowball is actually on hold right now as we save towards redoing our kitchen and driveway. We purchased nearly all the materials for our kitchen remodel last year, but didn't get to the project. This should be complete in a couple weeks! (I will post before and after pictures!) Our driveway has been something we have talked about replacing for over a year and this winter really did it in. It's cracked all up and down the sidewalk, porch, and actual driveway. This is money we both hate to spend, but know it needs to be done. I guess that's the fun part of being an adult ;)

I would love to hear from you all! What are you 2014 goals? Do you follow a written budget? What are you reading? What are you looking forward to this spring?

-xoxo-
Sarah

"People with goals succeed because they know where they are going."- February goals 2014.

February has already come and gone, but if you live in Indiana... you probably aren't too upset about! I know I can't wait for Spring and am ready to have a little warmer weather in my future. If you haven't read my 2014 goals, go ahead and read that first (2014 Goals) as this blog will be a review of how I did reaching my 2014 goals in February :)

Career goals.

1. Master my new position as a Health Fitness Specialist in Coverage with NIFS.

Yesterday marked my 90 days with NIFS! I had my 90 day review with my supervisor and she had nothing but positive remarks about my performance so far! Many of the managers had given her positive feedback along with several members of different sites I have been at so far! We set a couple professional goals over the next year and I'm excited to get to work on those including 4 blog posts of a topic of my choice (that should be easy enough as I love to blog!) and creating an incentive program for a site of my choosing. I am excited to continue to grow in this position and love what I do everyday.

2. Build my Advocare business to the Gold level by February 2014. 

This goal wasn't (yet) achieved. On the positive side, our business is at a solid Silver level (which pays on average $1,000 a month) We are consistently hitting this level every two weeks in our business nearly effortlessly. An amazing part of Advocare is that you are paid for work you may have done yesterday, last month, or last year! Although we aren't at the level we want to be, I'm not quitting and will get there by helping more families reach success! 

Wifey Goals.

1. Prep all 10 of our lunches for the week every Sunday.

I nailed this goal in February! I meal prepped every Sunday all our lunches for the week along with 4 dinners. We have eaten very healthy the past month and Barry and I can both tell a big difference in how we feel. Eating healthy is a lot easier if you have your meals prepped and ready to go, along with prepared snacks for every 2-3 hours to stay on top of hunger. My goal in March is to get more creative with our meals.. you can only eat so much brown rice, chicken, and broccoli :)

                        

2. Have a house cleaning schedule and perform 20-25 min of daily cleaning

As cute and as proud as I am of my weekly cleaning schedule, this goal wasn't a huge success in February. When the week gets going and we both are busy, the daily cleaning schedule goes right out the window! My goal is to have all our cleaning and laundry done before Saturday evening so we don't have anything to do on Sundays, but lately that is pretty much all we have done! (fail) After I cleaned the house and Barry finished all laundry this Sunday, I am back on our plan this week! In March, my goal is to do 20-30 minutes of daily cleaning everyday (Wish me luck!) 

3. Reduce our spending (ex. coupons, sales, etc)

Since starting our Total Money Makeover in November 2013, we have used the envelope system which has dramatically helped us reduce our spending. Have you ever thought about how much money you spend each month eating out? What about on random trips to grab a coffee or snack? (Yikes! I challenge you to add it up)  When we realized we wanted to be Debt Free, we knew we would have to make many sacrifices to get to this goal. We now tell our money where to go instead of wondering where it went. Since going to Aldi's and Costco more, I haven't had to clip coupons either! Win Win!

I needed my envelopes to be cute this month! Makes budgeting more fun :)

Fitness Goals:

I made great strides in my fitness goals during February.  (there wasn't much else to do in this freezing cold weather! LOL) I worked out consistently, (5-6 days a week for 45 min to an hour) ate very healthy, and drank at least a gallon of water nearly everyday this month. My progress is mainly in my body fat percentage as my weight is nearly the same it was a year ago! (Get off that scale and check your body fat percentage instead!)

My body fat is around 16%-17% which is my goal.

 I could care less what the scale says when I see results like this picture below!

February 2013 on left vs March 1st, 2014 on right

My fitness goals in March are to continue to maintain these results while increasing muscle definition, especially in my arms! I have increased my weights, reduced my cardio, and been consistent taking my performance elite products from Advocare!

I'd love to hear back from you all! What goals are you rocking in 2014 and which ones are you struggling with? Let me know in the comments below and we can motivate each other!

Look for Part Two later this week :) 

XOXO- Sarah