What Am I Working On...

The Leader in "Leadership Education" is "You, Not Them".  The only person that we can truly change and improve is ourselves.

So, one of the things that I try to do is set goals for myself.  I feel that as I pursue my own goals,  that this gives my kids an example to follow.  I have always felt that everyone has their own personal mission in life.  I know being a mother is the most important thing that I can do,  but I just felt that there has to be something beyond motherhood for a woman to feel a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment and purpose.  I feel that I desired to not only be a great mother to my own children,  but to be making a difference in the world and in my community.  I don't believe anyone is happy being stagnant because "The Glory of God is intelligence".  He wants us to grow and to discover our own personal purpose.  That is the whole idea behind "Leadership Education",  that each person has a mission and their education is helping them accomplish that mission.  So, the Leader in "Leadership Education" is "You, Not Them".

This past year I feel that I have discovered a big part of my personal mission.  I feel that my purpose is in strengthening home and family, not just my own but helping others have strong families.  Also,  I find purpose in preaching the gospel and in comforting the lonely.

So,  I have put myself in the scholar phase.  The scholar phase is the time for us to independently explore our missions and passions.  Now,  it is a lot harder for me as a Mom to be in the scholar phase,  but I feel that as long as I have a goal and try my best, that slowly, but surely I can accomplish my goals.  So,  here is what I am working on.

I have created a system in our family called the "SIPS" system.  This is derived from something that my Dad taught us when we were young.  Every year we would set goals as a family.  My parents love to set goals.  My Dad would always tell us that Christ grew in Wisdom, Stature, in Favor with Man and in Favor with God.  So, we would set goals in these 4 categories every new year.  I have kept this tradition,  and have wanted to use it with my own family.  So,  I created a SIPS badge program,  where during our school days the kids choose badges from these 4 categories that they can work on.  I do the same for myself so that I can set the example.  S= Spiritual, I= Intellectual, P=physical, S=Skills

Spiritual Goals:

I am working on reading through the New Testament.  I am also trying to study "My Gospel Standards", and have 1 scripture per week for my family to memorize.

Intellectual Goals: 

I call these brain badges.  I am working on my 7 Keys Certification.  This is a certification developed by Thomas Jefferson Education to help us become better mentors and proficient in the classics.  I began this a year ago.  It has taken me a long time to get through the books,  but I feel that getting this certification is a big part of my purpose.  So far I have read "The Student Whisperer",  "A Thomas Jefferson Education",  "The Phases of Learning", "Laddie", and "Little Britches".  I need to read "The Chosen", "The Fourth Turning", "A Beginners Guide to Constructing The Universe", and "Les Miserables".  So,  wish me luck.

I am also doing "Mentoring in The Classics",  It is an audio every month that I can listen to and study a different classic.  I can save these audios for later,  but they are very interesting and valuable to me.

For math, I signed up with www.mathinspirations,com,  to become a better math mentor for my kids.  So far,  I have done lesson 1 and loved it,  there are 10 lessons in total and I am so excited to pursue this math goal,  for my kids and for myself.  I actually love math but never really understood it,  but this is my chance to truly understand it and share my understanding with my kids,  so I am so excited about it.

For Writing,  I am working on blogging as you can tell, and I am working on becoming a better writer through a little book I picked up called "The Little Red Writing Book" by Brandon Royal.

Finally,  I started a Marriage, Family and Parenting Book Club with some friends and hope to be studying and reading books on these topics in order to pursue my purpose in strengthening families. Right Now I am reading "Christlike Parenting",  by Glenn Latham.

Physical Goals:

I am trying to get down to a healthy weight.  It is really hard for me to count calories,  but I am trying to wake up earlier so that I can work out for 1 hour and a half everyday.  I am also trying to cut out carbs,  mostly white flour and sugar from my diet.  Let's see if I can do this.

Skills:

As far as musical talents go,  I bought a book by "The Piano Guys"  for myself and am working on that book.  I absolutely love it.  I also need to practice hymns from the church,  because I am the relief society pianist and really need to practice. I need to try and play my violin more,  but haven't made that a priority.  I will try and practice a song to share with my ward for Christmas this year.

So,  there you have it My goals for the next 6 months.