Happy 2022!

Well, 2021 did not let us off the hook for an easy ending. We’ve all been sick for the last 3 weeks. No Covid, but we’ve had our fair share of congestion, fevers, chills, aches, strep throat (me and Lyndon and Beaufort and Will), and ear infections (3 of the 4 kids). It’s left me feeling like Christmas kicked me around a little, and I’m behind on a lot of dreaming, planning, and prep that’s usually done in December. We’re just now taking down our tree and decor, and we are all slowly climbing out of the trenches of sickness we’ve been in.

So here I sit, January 1st, the day after my birthday, setting my goals and making a plan. And this year, I’m doing it differently.

I kept hearing about the 12 Week Year and decided to pick it up and start reading it in December. As I did, I felt such relief! With a 5 month old who still isn’t sleeping through the night, and me only having 1 month left of my maternity leave / sabbatical, I can ONLY look ahead to the next 12 weeks. Making a plan for much longer feels overwhelming. Much still feels unpredictable, and I’m not sure I’ll want the same things 6 months from now.

So, I’m going to implement a 12 week year, and I’ll do it over and over again this year (with 1 week between each to rest, dream, and reset a little).

This blogpost is going to be short and sweet. I’m going to share my overly-ambitious goals for the next 12 weeks, but I am ready for a challenge. If I don’t do them all, great! But I’m feeling motivated, and there’s something about knowing the finish line is only 12 weeks away that makes it more exciting.

My 12 week year : Part 1

Record 13 new episodes of Work and Play with Nancy Ray

IG: Unfollow 1000+ and post one time a week

Lose 11 pounds with Trim Healthy Mama

Re-take the Blueprint Model

Close up my NRP Website & Blog 😢

Complete The Home Reset (On sale now through January - HIGHLY recommend)

Finish reading the 12 Week Year

Read the Self Driven Child

Read The Psychology of Money

Complete an 8 week Contentment Challenge

•••

Have you ever tried a 12 week year? Or do you share your goals on your blog? I’d love to read them or your thoughts on my new way of goal setting this year - leave a link or your thoughts in the comments!

I think we are all trying to figure out what to do with 2021.

Should I even set goals when the world seems so unpredictable?

I’ve been wrestling with this question, sitting in the confusion and loss and lessons learned of 2020, feeling an incredible lack of motivation.

Today I don’t have a big long blogpost about goals and motivation and how to do all the things in 2021. But I do have some encouragement, and a few things I’m choosing to focus on in 2021.

The Lord woke me up this morning at 5:30am, and gave me these verses I want to share with you. They were everything I needed to read this New Years Day:

The source of revelation-knowledge is found as you fall down in surrender before the Lord. Don’t expect to see the Shekinah glory until the Lord sees your true humility.

Go ahead and make all the plans you want! But it’s the Lord who will ultimately direct your steps.

Before you do anything, put your trust totally in God and not in yourself.
Then every plan you make will succeed.

Psalm 15:33, 16:1,3 TPT

If we approach this year from a place of surrender and trust from the get go, we have the freedom to make plans and then trust God to direct our steps.

I also believe it’s wise to not set ourselves up for failure or disappointment by planning a ton of things that are out of our control, but rather focusing on the things that we can control, regardless of the world around us.

So according to these verses, this is what I did this morning:

1. Had a time of complete surrender before the Lord. Went completely back to neutral, again.

2. Asked Him for revelation-knowledge and guidance.

3. Told Him that I trusted Him completely.

4. Made some plans / set some goals.

A few other things that I’m choosing to do this year that I believe will be helpful coming out of 2020 and heading into 2021:

• I’m focusing more on quarterly goals than annual goals. I’m still setting goals for things I want to accomplish this year, but my direct focus will be on accomplishing things 12 weeks at a time.

• I’m choosing 3 areas of new habit-formation that will be life-giving. THOSE will be my main focus this year - not my goals.

• I’m acknowledging and realizing that I am in the throws of parenting young children. (This is obvious, but hang with me!) I won’t be here forever, but in this season, I am extremely limited with my time and ability to do very much work-wise. Instead of living in disappointment bc I naturally want to accomplish SO much but they demand so much of me, I’m re-shifting my mindset : THEY are my goal. Enjoying these little years IS MY GOAL! I’ll be honest: It’s hard and it’s wonderful, I’m in the thick of it, and they are demanding. But I’m listening and heeding the advice of so many mama friends, choosing joy in the midst of it, while I’m in it.

With that said, here are my goals for 2021!

2021 Goals

• Finish the school year strong (i.e. homeschooling Milly 3 days/week, preschool, etc)

• Complete Naptime Kitchen Home Reset (only available for purchase through 1/31)

• Maintain Photos Monthly

• Continue hosting the weekly Work and Play Podcast

• Join a small group at Church

• Take a few months off social media throughout the year (still praying about this: maybe 1 month a quarter? 2 months a year + my weekly time off? Not sure)

• Read 12 books

• Play piano once a week

• Have monthly Time Management planning

3 main habits I want to focus on:

1. Sleep + my morning routine.
   I have really gotten out of a good habit here. My hope is to go to bed at 9pm and get up at 5:30am, so I can have my time with the Lord, work out, and get fully dressed before my day begins. Gonna take some hard work, but I know it’ll be worth it!

2. Read more.
   Books continue to prove to be one of my most valuable investments of time. Plan to listen to more books on audible this year and read every night before going to bed.

3. Planning FUN experiences on a monthly basis!
   If there is anything I need more of this year, it’s fun! While it feels like a lot of fun has been taken away from us (concerts, plays, movies, any kind of group entertainment) I’m committing to plan family fun and evenings with friends every single month this year. Realizing it’s a necessity!

I also wanted to simply say - if you aren’t there yet, it’s okay. If you still need some time to process 2020, it’s okay. Take your time, pray through it, and know God has got you. I wrestled with this the entire month of December, and if He hadn’t woken me up at 5:30am this morning, this blogpost would not be written and my goals would not be made.

We are human, and it’s okay to take some extra time to process, pray, and think about how to wisely enter 2021.

God’s work in you is a process, not an event. It progresses not in three or four huge moments, but in ten thousand little moments of change. - Paul David Tripp

Be encouraged! And if you’re up for it, I’d love to hear your honest thoughts on 2021 in the comments.

As always, I’m so grateful you are here.

This day never gets old to me. The fresh start, the new year, the clean slate! 2020, being that it’s the mark of not only a new year but a new decade, feels like an entirely new chapter. Of course it feels that way to me especially, because I’ve closed down Nancy Ray Photography and am now looking ahead to my new rhythm and pace of life. I am FULL of expectation.

Many people have been asking, “So what’s next for you?”

I’m usually the girl with the 5 year business plan, and I can easily articulate a clear answer moving forward. But this time, I have some clarity about this year, 2020, and I know that even that can change. I’m finding my way trusting God to write my story, instead of me writing in and inviting Him along for the ride.

Here’s what I know, as of now, to be my assignment for the year ahead!

What’s Next

• Be home with the kiddos 6 days a week, and work 1 day a week. I’ll most certainly be working some on my “home” days and doing some self care on my “work” day. But it’s a new, healthier rhythm for me. I’ll have reliable childcare for 1 whole day (we’ve scaled back our nanny from 3 days a week to 1 day a week), and I’m calling those days my freedom days! Ha! I plan to work out in the middle of that day (non-negotiable), and feel free to work or get coffee with friends those days too. It’s mainly a day for me to do the things I can’t do with the kiddos around - like record podcasts and write content, and have some uninterrupted adult conversations.

• Be a present mama with the kiddos. On my home days, I’m excited to be in the thick of it with them. I want to be more invested in teaching Milly to read, in spending more one on one time with each of them. I look forward to being Mom Taxi, doing all the preschool drop offs and pick ups, taking them to swim Lessons, and helping Milly transition into Kindergarten in the fall!

• Turn my NRP studio into a Guest House / AirBnB. We are excited to create something we truly love, and are hoping that it will be a bit of supplemental income after the close of my business as well.

• Speak life on the platforms God has given me: my podcast, this blog, instagram, and wherever else He wants to use me. I hope to take a limited handful of speaking engagements as well, which I love! The plan now is simply to invest in what I currently have been given!

• Serve Will and support his growing career, as he has mine for the last 12 years. Of course I’ve always supported his growing career, but without NRP, I’ll have the time and capacity to do more for him, which I’m excited about. Also, His workload is about to be crazy! The timing is really sweet - God gave Him a lot more just as I closed NRP. We couldn’t have planned it like this if we tried.

• Take more pictures for ME. I’ve honestly missed that! I’ll never stop being a photographer, and it’s time for me to do what I love for no other reason than I want to.

• Get to know myself again. I’m really ready to just get to know Nancy Ray, without the “Photography” at the end. It’s been all consuming at times, and I’m looking forward to just being me.

• Strengthen my body. Since September of 2014, I have been either pregnant or breastfeeding or both! I am still breastfeeding B and I hope to as long as I can, but one thing I know: I have MISSED working out. I have MISSED running. I feel more like myself, and this year I plan to prioritize this like I never have before - for my physical health, but honestly more for my mental health. I’ve felt pretty defeated in this area if I’m honest : postpartum with Baby 3 was hard and more challenging to bounce back than my other two. I am hopeful that 2020 will be the first time in 5+ years that I’ll have my body back to myself (once B stops), and I plan to strengthen and fuel my body in a way that stretches me and gives me life!

I heard this sermon earlier this year, and the pastor talked about the “Pace of Grace.” THAT is what I’m aiming for: the pace of grace for Nancy!

So how does all of this translate into goals? Well, for the first time, I feel like my goals have little/nothing to do with work, and everything to do with my life. And that makes me excited! Some of these goals are going to be redundant of what I typed above, but that’s okay. It’s how we make the important stuff happen, isn’t it?

2020 Goals

Strengthen My Body
- Work out 3x/week
- Sign up for a Race
- Do a 30 day strengthening challenge

Spiritual Healing & Connection
- Counseling for this new chapter
- Get plugged into church

Invest in our Marriage
- Go on a Marriage Retreat
- Finish the small groups we are part of
- Monthly Date Nights

Be a nurturing mama
- Go back through Positive Parenting Solutions Course
- Read Parenting with Love & Logic
- MBST with each kid daily

Be a faithful friend
- Host 2-3 girls nights throughout the year
- Monthly coffee with a friend
- Invite friends over into our craziness

Integrate Giving Intentionally
- Host a Journey of Generosity Retreat
- Blessing Fund
- More regular check ins with accountability couples

Joyfully Manage my Home
- Clean out clothes and toys
- Renew my love for meal planning and cooking
- Manage the new AirBnB

Speak Life through the Podcast
- Release one helpful episode a week

Complete the Contentment Challenge
- As you may know, I’m hosting the Contentment Challenge which starts TODAY! I could have put “Finish the Contentment Challenge” under several of these categories, because it affects so many areas of life: Spiritual healing, Integrate Giving, Joyfully manage my home… but I decided to just make it its own goal. It’s not too late for you to join, if you’d like! Just click here to learn more.

As you know, these goals won’t gain traction until we actually put them in our calendars! So finally, here is it broken down for you this month:

January Goals

• Finish Setting up Guest House / AirBnb

• Take photos of kids and Winston

• Read You are the Girl for the Job with the Nancy Ray Book Club

• Complete Contentment Challenge: Month 1

• Have a girls getaway with my 3 best friends

• Book our Marriage Retreat

• Speak at Return to Rest (There might be one more seat if you want to come!)

Well I’d love to read your 2020 goals if you’ve shared them somewhere - leave a link in the comments! And even if you didn’t share them somewhere online, I’d love to hear: what’s the ONE goal you are most excited about this year? (I asked my husband, and he said getting better sleep!)

Happy New Year, friend!