Goal Setting- Let's Be Audacious ~ White Arrows Home

Join Kristin Lenz in setting audacious goals this year. She shares the joys of a winter retreat that encouraged her to live more boldly and dare greatly as she continues to chase her dreams.

I don’t always focus on the start of a new year as a time to set goals. For one thing, and maybe it’s because I was a teacher for many years, September feels more like the start of a new year for me. January feels like the midway point. Mainly though, it’s because I set and adjust goals constantly every month. But, I do like the habit of taking time during the the Christmas Holidays to look back and reflect and also look forward.

A few years ago, I jumped on the trend to choose a word for the year. I chose a phrase, and it was life changing. I chose “Be Bold”. You can read more about it here, but it’s the moment I decided to chase my dream of starting a blog.

This year, I am going with the tradition of embracing a word again. Last month I attended a workshop led by a friend of a friend. I’ve met my friend Angie’s friend Michelle before, but this was a really fun way to get to know each other better. We went hiking in the woods, did yoga and talked about Mindfulness and living with intention. During the time together we also did a project that included choosing a word we wanted to focus on. It helped me springboard my thoughts about the direction of my goals.

The retreat was held in Michelle’s lakeside cabin in the Northwoods where she vacations with family, coming up from their home in Madison. It was the perfect backdrop for the day. A group of about 10 of us gathered together.

We met in the late afternoon, mingled and gathered for introductions. Then we all bundled up to head out on the snowy trails for a beautiful winter hike.

We stopped along the way to sit, close our eyes, to listen and really feel our peaceful surroundings. The leaders shared an inspiring story and we warmed up inside the cutest warming hut.

Our fearless leaders Michelle and Marni.

We got back to the cabin just as the sun was starting to go down. Candles were lit, the fire was roaring and coffee and wine filled our cups. It was a magical setting to warm up in!

A project was set out on the dining room table to make snow globes.

Michelle asked us to all choose a word to write on a rock and then glue to the top of the snow globe.

I was looking through the list and thinking and thinking, but what kept coming to me was a line from one of my favorite movies, Hope Floats, when Harry Connick, Jr. tells Sandra Bullock, “You used to be audacious. Bold. People would stop in the street and watch you walk. You think you’ve lost it, but I can still see it.” (Anybody else swooning with me?!)

Audacious… I love this word. It didn’t fit very well on my stone and in my handwriting, but it’s a beautiful, strong word. I looked up the meaning and pulled out the parts of the description that I wanted to focus on:

Daring
Marked by Originality
Bold (It says Recklessly Bold, but I don’t want the reckless part! I want to be Wisely Bold)
Confident (but not Cocky, I want to be Calmly Confident)

We made snow globes and talked about how with all the busy things going on in our lives and minds, it’s like a shaken up snow globe. Sometimes we need to slow down and give ourselves time to get calm and let the glitter settle so we can think clearly. It was such a beautiful visual!

We finished the day with some journaling and Marni led us in yoga.

Michelle and Marni have a dream of leading these workshops throughout the year and had gathered us as a test group getting our feedback and thoughts. We all thought it was wonderful and are excited about the possibility of participating again for a weekend long event.

If you are interested in attending a future workshop let me know and I’ll pass on the information when I hear anything!

Do you have a word for the year? I’ve been seeing a lot of people share theirs on social media. I’d love to have you share yours and the story behind why you chose it in the comments below. Or feel free to embrace being Audacious with me!