Late blooms, still blooming

Continued from last post (Late Blooms).

Five: Write down your 2013 vision. 

In 2013 I am laying bricks. 

I have longed for financial stability, not just stability, but financial comfort - financial means that are beyond adequate. I have never identified the greater purpose of desiring riches. If materialism had been the stem of my desire, I would have made many different decisions regarding my education, career, and my life's purpose. 

My longing for wealth (and I use the word "wealth" with modesty) has been a base desire that is rooted in the fear of suffering or wanting for anything. That kind of desire is not healthy or productive. I think that kind of desire is actually counter productive; it's what makes a person financially reactive and reckless instead of measured.

I do not desire money for the sake of material riches. In fact, I do not want stability at the expense of being able to practice writing or at the expense of nurturing the woman I saw in my original snapshot image -- the woman who grows herself and her surroundings.

I desire financial stability for the very purpose of providing myself with the opportunities to grow the many gardens that lay dormant in me – writing, familial experiences, and further, intense exploration of the world and its places/lessons.

This year I am, for the first time, pushing the goal of prosperity to intersect with that lovely snapshot that revealed itself to me in 2006. I see myself building prosperity, and building the opportunity to grow my family’s financial wealth, but simultaneously, creating the time and space to write and to grow my writing endeavors and my family and the experiences they will deserve. I am, thoughtfully, purposefully, laying bricks.

Six: What are you saying NO to in 2013?

1) lack of belief in my ability to be prosperous and successful and authentic to my truest talents and ambitions all at once 

2) lack of focus 

3) lack of discipline

Seven: What are you saying YES to in 2013?

1) continued gratitude

2) finishing projects 

3) another child

4) writing 

5) gardening

6) my health: running and yoga

7) supporting my husband’s business endeavors

8) laying the foundation for long-term financial stability and all that comes with that

Eight: Review what you’ve written and refine.

To be completed.

Nine: Write down your 2013 goals and why you want to make them happen.

Start a savings account that is more than a "back up account" for tightness at the end of the month. Long-term financial stability means planning for the future.

Finish the book I’ve been hired to write. I owe my client a good book, and I owe it to myself to give her what I promised. 

Get pregnant. But not just yet. The year is young.

Install raised garden beds and plant them. 

Create and stick to a schedule for work, writing, family, and self. Discipline and focus don’t happen on their own.

Stay out of credit card debt and repay standing loans. Long-term financial stability means not relying on loans.

Ten: Create an inspiration board. 

Underway on Pinterest.