Balancing Motherhood and Personal Growth in 2024: A Journey of Faith, Connection, and Renewal

I don’t know about you, but a new year always gets me excited. If you’re anything like me too, it marks a fresh start into new goals you want to set for yourself and hopefully successfully complete by the end of the year.

Failing to Do Your New Year’s Goals

Year after year, I’ve failed to successfully do many of the goals and resolutions I have planned. For some, choosing not to set goals this year is deliberate choice. You may find the pressure associated with traditional resolutions counterproductive, as the turn of the calendar shouldn’t dictate the ideal time for personal growth. You should be able to set goals any time of the year. Why does it “have to be” a new year? You may have experienced the frustration of unmet resolutions in the past, leading you to adopt a mindset that there’s not really a point in coming up with your resolutions and goals.

That’s not the case for me. I love a fresh start and a new year reignites that excitement in me.

I will continue to set goals for myself and believe that I’ll achieve them if I set my priorities straight.

Sure, being a stay at home mom and setting personal growth goals may seem like a daunting task. However, I feel like I have the determination and a clear vision for 2024. That holds the promise of transformative experiences that I know can change my life.

Set Yourself Up for Success This Year

As obvious as it was all these years, I wasn’t adamant about establishing a specific routine around my goals. I just figured I’ll get to it when I can. WRONG.

This year, I’ve created a plan that incorporates my goals into my different habits and routines.

Here are a few of my goals for 2024:

1. Completing the Bible Recap Bible Study Plan:

This year (admittedly, like last year), I’ve set my sights on completing the Bible Recap Bible plan — it’s a plan designed to help you go through the Bible chronologically in a year. There’s a summary and highlight reel of that day’s Bible reading and such a great plan for those going through the whole Bible for the first time, or want to gain new insight.

This goal is not only to deepen my own faith, but to also instill the values and teachings in the heart of my 6-year-old, Hope.

Bible Recap is coming out with a Bible Recap for Kids that Hope and I started together on the first of the year. While it won’t be released until January 30th, if you pre-order now, you’ll receive access to the first 45 days in a PDF so you can get started right away. Together, Hope and I are going to explore the wisdom of the Bible and I can’t wait.

Set up for success: I do my Bible Recap plan as I drink my coffee in the morning then Hope and I go through reading the Bible passages of the day and doing her devotional during breakfast.

2. Embracing the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge:

This year (and yet again, another goal from last year that we did not fully meet), the girls and I are doing the 1,000 Hours Outside Challenge. It’s a commitment to spend quality time outdoors. From nature walks, playground time, homeschool work, impromptu picnics, and art projects outside, we aim to cultivate a love for the outdoors, improving both our physical and mental well-being.

Set up for success: Heading outside as much as possible to do what we can outdoors (that we may normally choose to do indoors). We’ve downloaded the 1,000 Hours Outside app to track our hours and Hope reminds me to start it as we head outside.

3. Intentional Daily Routines:

I want to establish purposeful daily routines every day so that the days are less chaotic. A more structured routine can help me stay more productive while also making sure my tasks for the day has a designated time for completion.

As a homeschooler, the beauty of our day is that it can be flexible, but that can lead to a too-relaxed approach if I’m not intentional about my plans. Just like when I was a public school teacher, I’ll be setting aside planning time to prepare enriching lessons for both girls. Finding the sweet spot between flexibility and structure ensures that our homeschooling journey is not only enjoyable, but also consistently productive.

Set up for success: Reflecting on the fall semester and determining what worked and didn’t work is the first step. From there, I’ll be creating a weekly/daily routine that I’ll be communicating to the girls. We will adjust as needed, but will keep our priorities in mind as we create the intentional routine that works well for us.

4. Completing Creative Projects:

Numerous creative projects are swirling in my mind, each promising a unique outlet for my creativity.

Blogging provides me an opportunity freely express my thoughts, ideas, and experiences. It empowers me to share my perspective. It can connect me with a wider audience and create a community of like-minded individuals who resonate with me. I can experiment with writing about diverse topics and continuously refine my voice.

I love planning and creating posts on social media that gives me a way to share what’s important to me and can encourage others in the process. Growing an online community has always been my heart, ever since one of the first websites I ever designed when I was in 6th grade. I don’t even want to tell you what I called it because it’s pretty embarassing! If you read through this whole thing and want to know, leave a comment and I promise to reveal it in the comments. I can’t wait to grow my LTK Creators Connect

All this to say, I want this year to be full of creative projects I’m excited about (whether working on creating fun jewelry pieces to maybe writing a book or starting a podcast) and to end the year feeling fulfilled at all that I’ve done.

Set up for success: Making a list of the projects I want to do and as I create a plan to execute, I’ll get started on them one small step at a time. I won’t take on more than I know I can realistically complete and I’m giving myself permission to decide which ones don’t fit in this season of my life.

5. Decluttering the Home:

A cluttered space often mirrors a cluttered mind. No wonder my mind is cluttered!

While I know I will never be a minimalist, I can admit that we own too much. The kids practically have their own toy store and I have my own bookstore. It’s like we have a clothing store too. You get the picture.

Set up for success: We will be building this goal into our routine with a commitment not to keep anything we come across that isn’t serving us. Decluttering room by room and then continuing the process and cycle of decluttering until our house feels more like a home.

6. Completing the One-Line-A-Day Journal:

It’s so easy to overlook the small, precious moments. The One-Line-A-Day journal is a commitment to capturing moments of every day that you want to remember. You use the same journal for a period of five years and can look back at all the special memories in the last five years after completion.

Set up for success: This is completed before bed and at the end of the day. I think back to the day and pick the highlight(s) that I want to remember and capture.

Balancing motherhood with personal growth in 2024 is not about perfection; it’s about progress. The commitment I’m making to making progress allows for flexibility, acknowledging that every step forward, no matter how small, contributes to the overall transformation I’m looking for in my life. I’m really looking forward to how this year unfolds!

Also, do you choose a Word of the Year? If you haven’t and you’re curious or want to – check out my free workbook to guide you in choosing your Word of the Year. There’s a special offer for a free Word of the Year bracelet too!

My Word of the Year is GROWTH.

Your turn – what do you want to accomplish this year? Share it in the comments! I’d love to hear all
about it!