Category Archives: Life

Day 3102 – My First Three Books Read This Year – 3 Down, 297 To Go!

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Well, we’re seven days into the new year and I’m at 3 out of 300 books read. Not going to lie, I really hate seeing “you are 2 books behind on Goodreads.” But, I can look back on last year and see that it is possible.

It does feel pretty good to say I have completed 1% of my goal already. Two of the books were chosen only because of the different reading challenges I’ve started.

The first book of the year was on a display shelf at my local library. It had an interesting cover and when I picked it up, I noticed it folded open in fun ways. This fulfilled “A book that involves a bookstore or library” in the 2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge.
Book #1 – The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami

One of the first things I noticed in the 2018 Read Harder Challenge was “A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image” and this turned into the second book I read. It’s been a while since I read a comic and it felt great to do so again. It was a pretty interesting concept and I might read the next issues, but I remembered that reading too much violence isn’t good for me (and why I stopped reading comics). So we’ll see.
Book #2 – Welcome Back – Vol 1 – Help, I’m Alive by Sebela, Sawyer, Roe, and Zamudio

A little trick I picked up last year was to quicklyup my books read is by reading college commencements turned into books. They are inspirational, quick reads, that have sometimes changed my life. I suppose my definition of what makes a book a “full book” may be different, but hey. This book was “A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to” from the 2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge.
Book #3 – Now Go Out There (and get curious) by Mary Karr

Currently reading:
– Let’s Get Visible: How To Get Noticed And Sell More Books by David Gaughran – I’m reading this ebook a little every morning.
– Tribe of Mentors by Timothy Ferris – I’m working through this in the morning – I’m loving it!
– Ready Player One (Amazon Afilliate Link) by Ernest Cline – reading this one a second time because I love it so much and can’t wait for the movie!
– Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (Amazon Affiliate Link) by J. K. Rowling – reading this a bajillionth time because I’ve been meaning to reread the series.
– The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

What are you reading today?

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Day 3101 – Life And Business Change – Letting Go And Being Ok With Slow Progress

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I’m a big dreamer. At any given time, I probably have 5-10 “that would be SO cool” ideas, jobs, or books floating around. Right now, I have at least 8. But, thankfully, a few things have changed my mindset about dreams recently.

I love learning, all the time. I have pages and pages and pages (and photos and typed documents) of notes from conferences, webinars, YouTube videos, books I’ve read, and more. I felt a tremendous pressure to get these notes typed up and/or organized into my Asana so I could quickly access them. I recently read/heard/watched (seriously, I intake so much information all the time, I can’t remember….lol, maybe if I had a system….) something about how just the act of taking notes or journaling and then never looking at it again is good. The act of writing something down helps your brain to remember. I also read something about ideas, that if it’s good, it will stick. Just mentally letting go of “catching up” with my notes has given me so much relief.

I have some great ideas for Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. I know I have SO much content I can share. I’ve taken so many adventures, seen so many great places, and had many life changing experiences. I’ve learned lessons and have knowledge about a lot of things. It’s easy to get caught up in looking at other content creators and thinking “wow, they post every day” or “look at the editing and graphics in this video!” or “this image looks perfect!” and feel woefully behind. In a lot of ways, I had to let go of all of this and decide on what’s the most important, and that’s this blog and my Facebook group. Those are my “personal projects” definite to dos. I am still working through my old blog posts to add links, remove links, clean up text, and use posts for Pinterest, but I don’t have the pressure of getting it done by a certain time. That feeling has been freeing.

I am embracing my voice. This is something that I hear over and over – just be yourself – and I’m taking it to heart with the blog. I can see and feel a difference in my posts since we got back from California. I am unabashedly me, and that’s what I want to share. Going through my blog, I noticed I did a few quizzes about “what do you want to read?” and while it’s important to write things your audience wants to hear, I think it’s also important to be authentic and genuine and honest. Just like things change in a marriage over the years, so this blog will change over the years. What will I be writing about next year? Who knows, but I’m going to keep at it.

So while I would LOVE to get back into making our YouTube videos, and I would love to be marketing my books more, and I would love to have a super active social media presence, I am going to take my advice about being a minimalist and ruthlessly say no to the bad/good/great to make room for the oh “heck yea.”

Here’s one of my favorite “oh heck yea” places, Clearwater Beach, Florida.

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
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Day 3099 – My Word Of The Year – No

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I’ve known about the “word of the year” for a while now, but never selected one for myself. I thought about Good, based on Jocko Williams Good. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized my word needed to be No. Bret and I have some seriously big goals, and unless I can ruthlessly say no to the good, ok, and bad things, I won’t have room to say yes (or oh heck yea a la Jenna Marbles style) to things. Having this as my word forces me to question each decision I’m faced with and look at it honestly, a lot like how minimalism forces you to really think about why you own things.

I realized this morning that I also have to say no to myself. I’ve been sleeping in a little later than normal. I always think I’ll make the transition from pacific time to eastern time just fine, but those 3 hours seem to be a bigger deal than I think. Bret’s been getting up about 4/4:30 instead of the 5/5:30 we’ve been shooting for. This morning, his alarm went off at 4 but he mentioned sleeping until 5. At 4:30, our phones went off with a notification that schools were opening 2 hours late. Unfortunately, my brain starting running. I did fall back asleep and snoozed until about 6. During the snoozes, I thought, you know, I need to say no to myself when I want to sleep in. I’ve felt behind every day this week because of sleeping in. It’s crazy how just an hour or two can make a big difference in your day.

We’ll see if it sticks for the year, but it has definitely taught me a lot already.

Do you have a word for the year?

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
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Day 3098 – How To Read 300 Books In A Year

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Last year, I read 304 books. 200 kids books (picture books) and 104 “adult/full length” books. I was super proud of myself and learned a lot about a lot through reading so much. My previous year, I read 75 books. I like challenging myself to do more, so this year, I am planning on reading 300 books again, but all or very nearly all “adult/full length” books. I know I will read, I have to, but having a big goal is helpful. And a big shout out to Goodreads in helping to keep track of my goal….and telling me if I’m off track.

So what do I do to set myself up for success in this area?

I set aside several times a day to read. My morning tasks include reading through a book on book marketing/blog marketing/etc and reading through Tribe of Mentors. This helps me to chip away at 2 books. My evenings I want to read a little out of a non-fiction and read a fiction book as well. Since we just got back from being away, there are things to catch up on, so my evenings aren’t as open as they normally are, but in the future, I hope to spend an hour or two reading.

I keep track of my progress in Goodreads and on a sheet of paper. This serves as a double check to make sure I’ve recorded all of my books, and an easy way to count up adult vs. kids.

I use reading challenges to expand my options of books. Last year I started two challenges but they fizzled out by February. I’m not sure if I’ll complete any of the ones I’ve chosen this year, but they really help my options. This year, I’m hope to attempt the following:

The 2018 Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge
The 2018 #BWELLREAD Reading Challenge
The 2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge
The 2018 Read Harder Challenge
The Mommy Mannegren 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge

There are some fantastic ideas in there (in order of the lists above):
a classic you’ve been meaning to read
a book with a one-word title
a book that was being read by a stranger in a public place
a comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image
a book with bad reviews

I listen to audio books during my longer commutes.

But most important, I won’t beat myself up if I don’t meet my goal. The reasons to read are many (authors should read a lot, reading gives you many perspectives, etc) and just the act of reading and learning new things elates my soul.

Are you doing a reading challenge this year?

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
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Check out our resources page.
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Day 3095 – Minimalism Series – Challenges To Help You Minimize Your Life In January

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To finish out the series, here are some challenges to you to minimize your life this January!

Go through one drawer each day until you go through all the drawers in the house. Throw things out, recycle, shred, whatever you need to do to get it organized.

Turn all your hangers around and set a reminder to see what’s still backwards in a few months.

Get rid of dishes and cups you really don’t use. 12 place settings, there’s only two of you, and you NEVER have company? Why keep them?

Go through your movies – get rid of the ones you have watched before but haven’t watched in the last 2 years.

Go through your books – get rid of the ones you’ve read and won’t read again. Find a little free library or two and leave them there.

Create a custom friends list on Facebook. Bookmark that for when you go to Facebook.

Unsubscribe from 5 email lists each day. Seriously, are you EVER going to read those emails? Cut them loose.

Sit and enjoy your current situation. Life is about the journey, not the destination, so enjoy where you are today!

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel