by kathilipp | Jul 1, 2013 | Uncategorized |
See below how to win a copy of The Me Project!
We are in the midst of s series about achieving your goals (see the first post and my to-do list at Tip # 1: Make a Monday List.)
This week I want to talk about the next most important ingredient in getting things done after making a list: Accountability.
When we find someone to hold us accountability to our goals, suddenly tasks that looked like they would take hours are broken down into minutes. Goals that have been dragging on our to do list for years suddenly are dusted off and have energy around them.
If you struggle with accountability in your own life, here are a few ways to have light – and not so light accountability in your list:
Post it on Facebook This is your lowest form of accountability. Post it on Facebook and tell people what you are working on. Somebody may – or may not – follow up. But just knowing that some random friend may ask is enough to keep most of us on task. This is good for things like getting the laundry done and finishing up a school project.
Email Someone The next lowest form of accountability, email gives you a way to reach out to people and say, “I need you to check up on me!” This is good for projects that need to be completed today. Only email people who “get” this form of accountability. This usually isn’t to taxing to the person you are asking help from – and you may be able to return the favor on the spot.
Call Someone This is great for urgent accountability – You have to send an email to someone that you don’t want to “engage” with or you need to get a project started and you don’t know where to begin. A phone call with a trusted friend is a great way to be able to brainstorm and have accountability for those hairy projects – school costumes that you don’t want to leave until the last minute, asking for accountability for doing bills for an hour (and you’ll call at the end of the hour to let them know how it goes.)
Meet Up with Someone I’m sitting in the middle of a Panera sipping iced tea with my friend Cheri. We both have big projects that we need to get started, and we knew that we if we could just get together and hash it out, we would be able to hammer it out. What we budgeted for two days of work we got done in two hours because we worked on it together.
Join a Group This is high level accountability. Think about running groups and Weight Watchers.
Home Goals
Make meal plans for the month of July (including trying two new healthy menu options)
Cook ahead two weeks of meals
Relationship Goals
Plan family party for Disney World (we are getting together to discuss our plans for our trip in November)
Plan an anniversary date with Roger
Me Goals
Walk 1 Mile, 3xs
Reread A Confident Heart (this time with a highlighter and my journal)
Business Goals
Outline future book: The Good Girl’s Guide to Breaking Bad Rules
Write three chapters for current book
God Goals
Next Names of God study
Read Chapter 1 of A Celebration of Discipline
And just for my own accountability, here is how I did on my goals last time:
Home Goals
Done Make meal plans for the month of June (including trying two new healthy menu options)
Done Research backyard shade solutions
Relationship Goals
Done Plan June Birthday parties/Father’s Day
Done Plan a date with Roger for Washington
Me Goals
Done Walk 1 Mile, 3xs (Did this every week except one…)
Done Read The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
Business Goals
Done Finish my speaker page
Done Read Podcast Launch – A Step by Step Podcasting Guide Including 15 Video Tutorials
God Goals
Done Names of God study
Done Extended Quite Time on Wednesday
Q4U: Post one thing that you want accountability for. Just one item on your list. Put it in the comments below and one of you will win a copy of The Me Project
by kathilipp | Jun 17, 2013 | Uncategorized |
I looked at my to do list and there was nothing on it but guilt, unrealistic expectations, and oh, did I mention guilt?
Why do I keep adding things to my list that have now business being there?
God has not given you more than you can handle, but there are so many times when things are on our list that have no earthly reason being there.
Why do we do it to ourselves? Here are a few things that creep into my list:
Ego Why do you think people start to ask of favor of you by buttering you up? “You are the only one who will get it right.” “We need someone with your leadership skills.” We love being the go to person for those to-do tasks. It gives us a tiny thrill to know that the teacher appreciation party won’t be the same without our homemade snicker doodles, that the meeting won’t be the same without our input, that your friend’s daughter only feels comfortable with you as a babysitter – no one else.
There is a special feeling that comes from feeling like you are the only one.
But when I do things to feel needed and special, I’m putting my value in other people’s hands, and not in God’s word, where it belongs.
Refusing to Ask for Help There are a few of us who feel that asking for help is a sign of failure – if I can’t do it myself, I have no value.
When I start to feel this way, I think of all the ways that my husband and I help each other. I’m more of a starter – I have the energy and excitement to carry new ideas and get other people on board. Roger is the one who can make a plan, stick to it, and actually get the project completed. We need to ake for help – there is almost no task that we are designed to do alone. God has formed us to need partners – whether it’s you husband, your co-worker, or your best friend.
Hesitancy to Say No When we say yes to someone’s request, we are often saying no to something that we should have on our list. If your list is filled with other people’s yeses, your life is probably filled with enough “no”s to make you miserable. People pleasing please people – just not you.
Fear Control issues are based in fear. When you can’t let go of the details, when you can’t trust others with what God has called them to, you are letting fear control your list – and your life
The things that are supposed to be on the list? Those are not too much for me – and for God. God – help me to keep only those things on my list that are on your list for me.
Tell me in the comments below what is on your list that isn’t supposed to be. One of the commenters will receive In the comments below, tell me one area where you feel God is calling you to step out of your comfort zone – or has in the past. I would love to give one reader a copy of my new book Praying God’s Word for Your Life
by kathilipp | May 13, 2013 | Uncategorized |
Join Kathi Lipp and her cohosts Mandy Arita and Liz Sagaser as they talk about all the things you are talking about:
- Marriage
- Parenting
- Sex
- Managing the Homefront
- Living the Life You Were Designed For
With a whole lotta Hope, Humor and How-To’s Kathi Lipp and the crew are bringing you the most intriguing authors, hottest topics and on point-advice to get your through your day. You’ll laugh and learn and maybe get a little inspired along the way. In partnership with MOPS International, take a break from the rest of your week and join us for the most fun you can have while unloading your dishwasher.
by kathilipp | Apr 8, 2013 | tips and ideas, Uncategorized |
I do a ton of reading. and while I write non-fiction, I like all types of books- fiction, non fiction, romance, historicals, and memoir. People often ask me what I would recommend so I compiled a short list of recent titles I’ve loved with just a little bit about each of them. Happy reading!
Lean In
The much buzzed-about book by the COO of Facebook, Sheryl forces you to look at your role as a woman in the workplace through research and case studies. Sounds dry, but trust me, it’s a fascinating read and will make each of us reevaluate our own thoughts on women in leadership – ourselves and those around us.
The Christian Mama’s Guide to Parenting a Toddler
OK so I’m so past this stage – I was reading this book for exactly two reasons:
1. I’m doing research for a book that I’m writing
2. I find Erin to be an entertaining, been-there-survived-the-Sharpie-incident kind of mom I can relate to
Erin has released four books all at the same time on the ages and stages of parenting and I find them fun, real and smart. Totally fun read (especially since I’m not in that stage anymore…)
Death Comes to Pemberly
Because Pride and Prejudice ended a whole book too early. Because I can’t get enough of Mr. Darcy. Because I have to wait until 2014 for more Downton Abbey. Jane Austin and Agatha Christie all rolled into one. Delish.
Thrift Store Saints Meeting Jesus Twenty-Five Cents at a Time
“The spirituality of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is that the poor are our teachers and we are their students.” This is from Jane Knuth, the reluctant thrift store volunteer and author of Thrift Store Saints. A collection of stories about the clients she encountered and how they changed her and the rest of the workers. Funny, smart and hopeful. I finished this book in one sitting.
Wild
I almost didn’t pick this up because it is an Oprah Pick – most of her Picks are books without a lot of hope or redemption. But this story about a woman who decides she is going to hike the west coast is smart, funny, and redeeming in parts. Anyone who has ever come to the end of herself will identify with this woman’s journey.
Those are my picks! Tell me what books I should be reading this month – if I see a trend I’ll make sure I get them read!
by kathilipp | Mar 4, 2013 | Uncategorized |
Friends – as some of you who I hang out with on Facebook know, it’s a busy week. I’m doing radio and TV interviews, (and because of the TV interviews, I look a little like Mrs. Doubtfire under my clothes – all girdles and Spanx…)
I’ve asked for prayer on Facebook, and now I ask if of you.
Pray that I would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading in my meetings, my words, and my conversations.
Pray that I would use Godly wisdom in all that I do.
And let me pray for you.
Please put in the comments below how I can be praying for you. I will. I want to lift you up as you have done for me.
Love you all. Really.
Kathi
by kathilipp | Feb 7, 2013 | Uncategorized |
We are giving away a copy of Praying God’s Word for Your Husband to one of our commenters today, so join the conversation!
It had been a 
no-good, horrible day.
My kids were not behaving how I raised them (I promise you, they were raised better than they were acting,) someone else got picked for the job I wanted, and the cat decided to use the only decent piece of furniture in our home as his new scratching post.
On days like this, I call up my mom and whine to her. Then I call up my friend Cheri, who promises to pray for me, and, for a small fee, make the cat disappear. And then I feel better.
I have about a half dozen people I could call at a moment’s notice and I know they would be praying for me. By the end of the conversation, I would have some hope, and a good laugh.
But at the end of a bad day, who does my husband have?
If there is going to be any encouragement in my husband’s life, it is a safe bet that it needs to come from me. My husband doesn’t have a bunch of people in his life that will pray over the destructive cat. If he needs prayer, if he needs encouragement, then he needs me.
SCRIPTURE
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
— 1 Thessalonians 5:11
PRAYER FOR TODAY
God, I pray that I would always be ready to pray and encourage my man. Give me your eyes to see his needs. Let me be the one to always build him up, with your strength.
encourage….
Tell me one way you can encourage your man today. We are giving away a copy of Praying God’s Word for Your Husband to one of our commenters today, so join the conversation!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!
Me Goals
Q4U: Post one thing that you want accountability for. Just one item on your list. Put it in the comments below and one of you will win a copy of The Me Project
