Sometimes you take unscheduled breaks from things that you love. That was me with blogging this month. I sat down to write so many times over the past few weeks, only to find that I had NO WORDS to share. None. Nada. Zippo. What the what?!
So I took that as a nudge from God to take a breather from writing my guts out this month. I felt Him leading me to really focus on my WOTY (word of the year…you can find out more about that here and here), to get grounded in what it means to “delight” in Him and how to pursue delight in all areas of my life.
I want to hit the ground running with my word this year. I want to be so completely saturated in delight that it transforms how I approach everything. This is no small feat. Delight is not going to be an easy, natural attitude for me to adopt. It’s going to take some GUTS.
Quieting my attention and eliminating a few things (like blogging, screen time, and mopping my floors – HA!) was key to focusing my heart and mind this month. I needed to make sure my heart was ready to head in the right direction this year.
Should We Track Our WOTY Growth?!
It hit me today that having a personal monthly WOTY check-in could be a really powerful way to both hold myself accountable and celebrate the changes that are occurring in my heart/mind/soul, in my relationships, and in my home.
I know many of you are WOTY people, so maybe this is something you’ve thought about, also. Sometimes picking out a WOTY is the easy part. (Except when it’s not easy at all, #amiright?) It feels great to land on a word for the year, but then what happens for the next twelve months? The follow through can be a challenge. It can be very overwhelming. Is anything happening? Is having a WOTY doing me any good? Am I making actual progress, or just putting myself on a guilt trip for not seeing MORE progress? How can I stay motivated to keep chasing this word that God has laid on my heart for the year?
Listen. I GET IT. That’s why I came up with the idea for this super simple monthly check-in.
Side note: I know many of you aren’t WOTY people. Totally OK! It’s not for everyone. Here’s the thing – I think a monthly check-in is still something worth doing. Maybe you have a new habit or two that you’re trying to start. Maybe God’s leading you to work on a certain discipline. Whatever changes you’re seeking to make in life, accountability is key. This check-in can help keep you accountable.
How Can We Track Our WOTY Growth?
I’m doing my check-in inside my bullet journal, but you can definitely do it anywhere it’s convenient for you. I do suggest writing it out on paper (or typing it out), because there’s something powerful in seeing your progress – especially when you don’t FEEL like you’re getting anywhere. No matter how small, every effort counts. It all matters.
Sometimes, knowing you’ll be keeping track of your growth is a strong motivator – if I know I’m going to have a page to fill out, I’m much more intentional about my efforts because I don’t want to stare at a blank page and see how lazy I’ve been. BUT THAT’S JUST ME.
But I also want to remember to give myself GRACE in the process. If there is a lot of white space on my check-in, it’s ok. This isn’t about filling a page. It’s about heart changes, and that can’t ever really be measured by a page in a bullet journal.
I’m keeping this simple, because I don’t like super-structured things. I find structure intimidating. 😉 I see this as a place to brain dump throughout the month. As I go through my days, I want to be actively seeking opportunities to delight in the things around me, and this will be the place I’ll jot down what exactly that looks like.
What My Page Looks Like
The beauty of this idea is it’s super customizable. It can be a list. Or daily trackers with cute little check boxes. Whatever works best for you to see your progress and keep moving forward and growing – do it.
So for my WOTY progress, I came up with four areas I hope to see growth in. I want see how I’m delighting in:
- My relationship with God
- My husband
- My kids
- My home
I’m also leaving space to jot down encouraging resources I come across – Bible verses, books, podcasts, blog posts, etc. Then I just made little blank boxes to fill in for each area.
Here’s what my check-in page looks like for January:
As I sit here today looking back on January, I’m pretty amazed at the way God is already using my WOTY to transform my heart. That’s the goal – to grow more Christ-like in ALL areas of my life as I learn to delight in all that He’s given me and in everything that He’s doing.
I’ve already set up a check-in page for February so that I can make notes as the month progresses, rather than having to remember and recall everything at the end of the month.
I’m super excited to see what the year holds. And I’m really excited to have this record of how God uses my WOTY to grow my faith in 2019.
Now tell me –do you track your WOTY growth?
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