Saturday, January 10, 2009

the simplification process.

My word, my theme, my resolution, my One Thing to Change For Good in 2009: Simplify.

If you know me well, you know that I will quickly start planning, scheming, mapping out details, etc. on how I'm going to Simplify... which absolutely without a doubt completely defeats the purpose.

So I'm keeping it simple and this morning made bullet points to continue praying over. Here's what I came up with:

I think the apex of this entire venture can be summed up as Time Management. For me, this is where all troubles of simplifying stem from and is also the main source of my stress and problems I have.

Example: The other morning I needed to go to Target. I had a meeting at 11 am, left home a little later than I thought and as I pulled onto Target Ave. I literally had 36 minutes before I needed to be at work for my meeting. It takes me 30 minutes to drive to KSBJ. Maybe I'm too ambitious with what I can accomplish in 6 minutes, maybe I'm dillusional. I started to stress, but was leaning towards who I needed to call to tell I'd be 10 minutes late, how I needed to race through the store, race to work, worry about getting pulled over... and I remembered my word. Simplify. I kept driving. I arrived to work a couple minutes early, had a productive meeting and it truly affected the rest of my day. I eventually made it to Target when I had more time to pick up those things I needed so badly.

So, under Time Management is my F i n a n c e s bullet point.

  • Money Review Daily (check my band statement, easy)
  • Automatic Payments / Email Alerts
  • No Car Payment.
  • No Debt.
  • Spend Less.

The No Car Payment business? I should explain. I don't plan on not paying for my car, I just feel God calling me to get rid of it, buy something older and save the $375 I'm paying every month. And with what I have left to pay on my Volvo, after I sell it, pay what is left and buy something older, I will have money left over. It scares me to think about, all that negotiating and money talk, but I know He is calling me to free myself from this debt. Besides, DK and I are looking at some older Volvos today online, they have more character than my new one any day!

Next on the list: R e l a t i o n s h i p s.

  • Talk. Communicate. (always a great reminder)
  • Stop getting offended.
  • Believe the best.

These are things that came up in friendships over and over again last year. This year I want to implement them, pound it in the ol' noggin so it's not even second nature, but habit.

F a i t h.

  • Read the Word daily. (I don't now, I don't know why or where the day goes. Mmm, time management, ya?)
  • Prayer journal. (I've never really done this, but would like to track in one place all the things and people I'm praying for, instead of notes and papers all over my desk and car.)

I have some great tools and people to utilize for this portion of simplying. The Voice is a fresh new translation of the New Testament and I'm loving my time reading DK's copy - need to get my own. Also Peter Swan, a good friend of mine and amazing teacher is leading a class on Chronological Bible Storytelling. We'll be talking about this next week on the show, you should have a listen!

No stress. It'll get done. He will provide. Simplify. Go easy on myself. Relax. Smile. Be me.

3 comments:

Keri said...

I love how you broke down your life to see exactly how you are going to incorporate "Simplify". Thinking I may need to be a little more specific with my word as well. Hmmmmm........

James ~n~ Amber said...

James and I have been in the market for a vehicle since he was hired on by Exxon. He currently has a company truck. A lot of the cars we were looking at were Volvo's and were average aound $6,000! We looked on Ebay, Criag's List, and Auto Trader....there are a lot of steals out there. We ended up buying the old truck because we both are in love with old cars and trucks. It needs cosmetic work, but it runs, and that's the main thing. Happy hunting !

Allison said...

Hi Liz- came across your blog- love it, flickr projects are fantastic too. Good luck at the marathon next weekend- I'm running the half, hope to do the full next year. Let's hope we can fight the fight, finish the race and keep the faith! :o)

A fellow Houston-lover,
Allison