For as long as I can remember, I have been a list maker. I will make lists from sun up to sun down. I write things on my list that I have already done just so I can check them off. My husband makes fun of me because I write on my list to make another list. 

But where does that get us? 

I know that I need to get the laundry done. I have to every week. It doesn't change. I see the dishes sitting in the sink. Just writing it down on a page isn't going to make me do them any quicker. I have projects around the house that can always be worked on. But writing them down just to have something to check off daily does not make me any more productive. 

What does, though, is setting goals for the day. What do I want to accomplish for the day? How I want to feel by the time I go to bed at night? What is going to help me get there? I've started to get into the habit of writing down three things that I want to work on for the day. They may be simple things, like sending out thank you notes, or they might be big things like working on my emotional health. It might be something that I can still cross off for the day, or it might be something that leads me to a bigger goal. It might even be something that I can't accomplish in a year. 

I just don't want to look back on my life and see tasks checked off one by one. I want to see a life well lived. And something more than a check mark.  

​Some of my early bujo days

That's not to say that I don't have a regular planner to keep track of my appointments and events in my life. Bullet Journaling makes it difficult to plan for the future, so I still have a Get To Work Book for the rest of my life. It is definitely serving my life right now and really what got me to start doing the big ideas for the day, as opposed to just mundane tasks. It's a great way to give your life purpose while still getting shit done. I'm not saying that I'll never make a to do list again, but they are coming fewer and farther between. Sometimes for crazy times, it'll be necessary to keep track of all I have to do. It makes it easier to just get into the action phase as opposed to being in the planning phase, which is where I get stuck a lot. Here's to getting things done.

xo
​SJ

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It started off packing bags of essentials for survivors of sex trafficking so that when they were finally able to escape, they would have something that they could call their own. 

​What followed was something that I am struggling to put into words. Mostly women but also men, coming together for a common goal. Leaders who were lead to inspire even though they were fearful of stepping up on stage. Speakers who were emotional and not afraid to be real and cry in front of almost a thousand people. Strangers helping each other as if they have been the best of friends for years. 

I have been afraid to commit myself to my business because I feel like I could not possibly be good at it. Like I could not have another voice that someone else doesn't already speak to. But I met people this weekend who saw something in me and spoke to me in a way that showed me it was completely true. 

I have always been a people pleaser and I always saw that as a negative thing. But I realized this weekend that it is exactly who I am supposed to be. I was born to make people happy. That's what truly makes me happy. Ultimately I want to help people to see the way that they can live their best life and really affect the world in a positive way. 

I have dreams and plans that have been inside me this whole time, I just needed something like this weekend to pull it out of me. 

UNusual
UNcommon
UNbreakable
UNconventional

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