Author: Elizabeth

The Power in 15 Minutes

A few years ago, a friend of mine through Forever shared about how she was making headway with her photo projects with a new approach she was using of spending just 15 minutes a day – about 3-4 times a week.  She would set a timer for 15 minutes and work with organizing, labeling, or even creating a few pages in her photo books.  If she was on a roll and had extra time, she would allow herself up to 30 minutes but had a hard stop at 30.  Some weeks she would only work 1-2 times a week and others she might get 5 or more but she kept it simple and short.  I have given it a try too over the last couple of years and have found it is a great approach to not be overwhelmed with a project like organizing our photos or keeping up with our albums or honestly many other non-photo projects I have around the house as well.

If you are interested in giving it a try this summer too, I would encourage you to consider giving this until at least the end of the month – just over 3 weeks.  It doesn’t matter how many times each week just give it about 3 weeks to see how it works for you.

Here are the simple steps to get you started:

  • If you have picked your photo project already, use that with this approach but if you haven’t decided or you don’t know where to start, I suggest start current and then you can work back.  Since we are early in the month of June, I would start with your May photos so you have a full month of photos to work with for the first step.
  • The majority of my current photos are typically on my phone so I work from there first with the Forever App.
    • If you are already a Forever customers (either FREE or Permanent account holder) and don’t have the App downloaded yet – You can find it in the App store on either Apple or Android Devices or check out this link: https://www.forever.com/mobile_apps
    • If you are new to Forever, I would suggest that you get started with a FREE Forever Account here – https://www.forever.com/ambassador/elizabethgoodson .  Using this link helps make sure you are connected to me and helps you get a $10 welcome coupon you can use when you confirm your e-mail address.  There is no obligation to buy anything but this will give you a great place to try this approach out and get started.  Once you have an account set up then download the app and log in and you will be ready to go too.

Now that you have the tools you need and are ready to go, be sure to set that timer – 15 minutes and then get started with these next steps.  I have a Android Phone so these are my steps but if you are an Apple phone user or you are working from your computer you can find similar step by step instructions at the link I will share at the bottom.

  • With your phone, Find your Forever App (green and blue circle icon).
  • Open the App and Log in if prompted (same log in as the website).
  • Select Albums (at the bottom)
  • Select the + at the top to create an Album  (unless you created your 2019 album last month, if you already created it jump to #6)
  • Name your Album 2019 Favorites and click Create.
  • Select your 2019 Favorites Album
  • Click the + at the top.
  • Choose Add From Device
  • Go to your May 2019 photos and click on your favorites – pick 5-25, click the check mark at the top once you are finished with your May photos.

When your timer goes off you will want to stop where you are and pick up at that point the next day.  Typically I can get about a month of photos done at a time but some months when I take more photos like going on a trip or at Christmas, it may take me a few days of 15 minutes to get through those.  I typically work through the most recent month (i.e. May) and then go back and do April, March, Feb, Jan.  Once I get to the beginning of the year I am working on, I go back to the current photos and catch up the current month too.

This is how I stay current on picking my favorites and making sure I have them all in one place so I can find them when I want to share them or am ready to create a photo book or project.

Give just this part a try for the next few days and see how it works for you.  If you get your 2019 photos caught up, you can always go on to do your 2018 Favorites too.  Once you have picked your favorites for the year, you can decide if you want to delete the extras or same them in a separate Album for Extras.  Either way, getting then off your phone can help free us space and clear out the clutter.

If you are looking for instructions for iPhones or your working in your account on the computer, you can find step by step instructions here: Forever Fit – 15 Minutes a Day .  You can take a peak at the other cards that are here but for now we are only doing Cards 1 & 2 with the info about Uploading Photos and Setting up Albums.

I would love to hear how you are doing so feel free to comment on this posts and share when you complete your 15 Minutes for the Day.  

Do you know someone who might enjoy learning about this too?  Please share my blog www.seeingagreaterpurpose.com or my FB Page with them so they can follow along too.

I also would love to have you join us for on of our in person monthly Photo Workshops this summer.  Check out the dates and information on the Events Tab too.

Cultivating Joy & a New Routine

 

With a cup of coffee and a few moments of quiet, I have enjoyed many weekend mornings at my kitchen table with my Write the Word Journal and my thoughts.  It has been a little over a year and a half when I learned about these journals and got my first one from Cultivate what Matters. I have done Bible studies and other devotionals but there was something about this that was simple and the perfect fit for what I needed this time.  This has not been a daily journal or even a weekly journal but more of a simple way to center me with a passage of scripture that I would write out in my own handwriting and a place to journal: I am Grateful for… and what was On My Heart Today. It was only 2 simple pages so when I could carve away a few minutes on a day I didn’t have to hurry out the door, I would sit and complete one day’s entry.  This journal has been a place to record my thoughts, my heartaches, my celebrations, my struggles, my progress and even my dreams for what may come.  There is nothing magical about this little book but it has served as a very useful tool to carry me through a season of seeking and searching for the next step I would take with my career as well as the things that happen each and every day.

I have wrapped up my first journal, Cultivate Joy earlier this week.  I can’t wait to jump into the pages of my next one Cultivate Hope but before I place my Joy Journal on the shelf, I have flipped back through the pages one more time.  I am reminded that I had no idea what was ahead for me when I started this nor did I set a specific timeline or expectations for completing it but as the days and weeks have passed and my thoughts have been noted, it is interesting to see how God has taken this process and these 2 simple pages I have completed to help me nurture my faith and Cultivate a sense of Joy and Gratitude within the pages of this book.

As many of you are here visiting my blog regularly this summer with a photo focus, I offer this comparison to you.  What if you looked back on this summer from the other side – maybe it is early September, maybe it is at a gathering with family and friends over the holidays later in the year.  What if you could look back and see that the little steps you made in June, July and August with your photos have paid off.  What would that look like, would it be sharing the precious gift of a photo that you found and love and now can share it with the people you love?  Would it be a gift you share with a friend of a photo you took that has special meaning?  Would it be that you have cleared out that courner of the room or closet that has been cluttered with photos or project supplies and now you have room to enjoy this space again.

This too does not have to be a daily project, a weekly project or even a regular routine but I promise you when you take little steps forward, one and then the next, no matter how small you will be amazed when you look back at how far you have come when you add them together.  Each time I pulled out my Joy Journal, I spent only 15-20 minutes.  I can tell you the blessings that have come from that investment of time have been far greater than those minutes would suggest.

If you are following along with our Lighten the Load Photo Challenge, I hope you have picked your project, area, or focus.  If you have not yet, pop back over to the Welcome Post and be sure to share with me once you decide.  If you can’t decide where to start, please message me, comment below or reach out and I will be glad to help you with a starting point.

I will leave you with this additional thought from the Cultivate What Matter‘s team about Summer – are you ready to get in there and cultivate, prune and tend to what we need to so we can reap the rewards later?

Whether it is a photo goal or a personal goal, what can you spend 15-20 minutes on this week to make progress forward toward something you want to see done.

Welcome to our 2019 Lighten the Load Summer Challenge!

This is going to be a fun and focused time to help you Lighten YOUR Load with your photos, photo projects, project supplies or even that undone project guilt.  It doesn’t matter if your photos are printed, on your phone, in a box, still on the camera or on the computer, this is the right place for you.  I truly believe when we focus on a few specific tasks and break down our goals into small manageable pieces we see better results.  My plan is to help  you with those specific tasks that will help you make progress, real progress toward a completed project!  Are you ready to get started with Step #1 this week?

 

Step #1: Setting a Summer Lighten the Load Goal

What area are you most interested in tackling this summer?  Are you overwhelmed and not sure where to start?  See if this list sparks an idea for you:

  • Are you wanting to get your photos off of your phone and camera and backed up so you can do something with them later when you have more time?  Maybe your Summer Goal will be: Create a system to clear my 2018 & 2019 photos from my phone, organize them and back them up.
  • Is there a project you want to complete – maybe it is finish a 2018 photo book or a vacation you went on this past year, maybe it is dust off that child’s album and finish it before they graduate, get married, etc?  Maybe your Summer Goal will be: Gather my 2018 photos and complete my Family Photo Album for 2018.
  • Are you interested in getting your scrapbooking supplies finally organized so you find that perfect paper pack or sticker?  Maybe your Summer Goal will be: Gather all of my scrapbooking supplies in one place, remove items I no longer need, pull the items I need for my next project and take inventory of any supplies I am missing.
  • Are you interested in getting that box of family photos and/or videos converted to digital so you can finally get rid of the old prints or film that you no longer can enjoy. Maybe your Summer Goal will be: Pull out that old box of media (or collect the pieces into one place), get a media conversion box and pack it up to send off for conversion this summer.
  • Are you wanting to complete a gift or invitation for a baby shower, wedding, birthday, etc?  Maybe your Summer Goal will be: Pick the project (album, canvas, wall art, cards, calendar, etc.), determine the number of photos needed, gather and complete your project.
  • Maybe your goal is different than these, you know what you have nagging at you or that has popped on your list.

I will touch on tips and ideas that will help you with many of these but you will want to have a personal goal in mind.  Whatever you choose I encourage you to PICK ONE!  Write it down for yourself and then comment below or e-mail me directly so I know what you are working on – make this your summer Lighten the Load Goal.  If you finish that one, you can move to the next but let’s start with ONE and get it DONE.

 

Have you picked your goal?  You want to do that before you go any further.  You can let me know you goal here:

 

Now that you have checked off Step #1 – Set your Goal, here is a brief overview of what you can expect to see in upcoming posts.

I will be sharing updates each of our 13 weeks with a focus for the week, tips to help guide you and other updates.  The biggest thing to remember is that you don’t need to do all the things that I may share.  Pick one or two areas you want to work on each week and just do those, you can always come back later to these posts and pick up other ideas.  As we get things up and going each month there will be more posts at the beginning of the month with generally one post a week later in the month.  Take it at the pace that works for you.  I want to make sure you have all the info you need when you are ready for it.

Take a peak at what you might see each month:

June is going to have a focus on Saving

  • Saving Money
  • Saving Time
  • Saving and Protecting our Photos

We will talk about tips for working in just a few minutes a day only a couple of times a week and seeing how that can make HUGE changes to the progress we see.  We will create a rhythm and system that can carry you through the summer and through your next project.  I will share some BIG savings with by Buy 2 Get 1 Sale – watch for a new group of products each week on the Summer Sale Tab.

In July, we will focus on Organizing

  • Organizing our Photos
  • Organizing our Supplies
  • Organizing our Memorabilia

We will continue building our new rhythm and focus on organization of our photos and scrapbooking supplies.  I will offer my Annual Scrapbooking Yard Sale with a bit of a refresh to help you clear out the old items you have and make sure you have what you need for your next project.

As we wrap up in August, we will focus more on Sharing

  • Sharing our favorite photos
  • Sharing our finished projects
  • Sharing photo gifts and the gift of peace of mind with others

We will continuing building on our system so we can share more of our photos with those we love.  We will celebrate finished projects and learn more about sharing our projects with others.  With our photos are safe and  those projects that are most important to us are done, we will also be able to share the peace of mind that we have after a summer of completing our Goal.

Let’s get started!

Lighten the Load Summer Challenge – Mark your Calendars

As we prepare the way for a fun and productive summer where we are going to Lighten the Load in more ways than we can imagine, I suggest that you start off by marking your calendar for my 3 Summer Workshops that are coming up and signing up for the ones you want to attend.  Although this is not mandatory to join in the rest of the challenge, this will be a great chance to connect with other friends as we are working on this challenge together.  I would love to have you join us for one or more of these monthly photo workshop events as your schedule allows.

  • Saturday, June 8, 2019
  • Saturday, July  13, 2019
  • Saturday, August 10, 2019

Each of these workshops will run 10am-10pm and you can choose to attend as a traditional scrapbooker or a digital attendee and you can choose to join us for all day or just part.  Check out the Events link in the Menu Bar for more details and to register for these Events and others I offer the rest of the year.

You will also want to watch for weekly posts through the month of June for our Summer Sale.  This is just for you to get the supplies you need at a great price while you help me Lighten MY Load of inventory to carry to summer events.  Watch for more details on a Summer Sale Tab of my website starting June 1st where each week you can Buy 2 Items of the selected category of my current inventory and get the 3rd one (highest priced item) at 40-50% off.

The rest of this Summer Challenge will be able to be done on your own time table.  Watch for weekly posts that will share tips and updates to guide you along the way.  Check back here on Saturday, June 1st for the first official post & kick off to our Lighten the Load Summer Challenge plus the Summer Sale.

Lighten the Load Summer Challenge – COMING SOON

As we wrap up Spring and kick off Summer with Memorial Day as the unofficial start this past weekend, I am prompted to savor the change in seasons and the beauty of the new and exciting things that come with a  change in our routines.  This time of year makes me think about clearing out the old and making room for the new.  That can apply to so many things in life – from Spring Cleaning my home to preparing the way to complete a project that has been lingering.  It is also a time to Lighten the Load whether it be a physical load or the load I carry with unfinished projects and pick the couple of project I want to tackle.  This has been on my mind a lot over the last several weeks as I have looked at my own load of projects and stuff that needs clearing out.  With that thought….

….I invite you to Lighten the Load with me this Summer!!!   I plan to help you Lighten the Load with our photos, photo projects, project supplies and even that undone project guilt.  I will be launching this special Lighten the Load Summer challenge to inspire you and guide you to Lighten YOUR Load whether it be a small project for a few weeks or a big project that takes all summer.  There will be Sales, Challenges, Tips and Inspiration along the way – and you never know when there might be a few prizes too.  This will run from June-August with a celebration at the end.  You can choose where to jump in and how much to tackle but I know from my own experience that when I take a project or goal and break it into smaller pieces I am always amazed at the progress over time.

You can start thinking about what is on your list of photo related projects, how many are started but not yet finished, do you have extra supplies tucked in your bag that are weighing you down.  Get ready, we are going to have some fun and start to feel lighter as we move through the summer.  Are you ready to hear more?

Dusting off the Blog

A year ago, I had great plans to dust off this blog and pick up with more regular posts.  I didn’t anticipate how busy life would get with transitioning to and tackling my new job this year.  It may have been a whirlwind but here a year later I am here again with a similar thought, a bit more time to reflect and a better plan to try to dust off this blog again.  I don’t know if it will be a long term shift to updating regularly and we won’t make any promises just yet but this will be a start.  At least for the next few months, you will see posts focused on my photo solutions business sharing with friends and family along with my customers about a summer photo challenge.  I imagine there will be a few other personal posts sprinkled in here too.  I hope you enjoy following along and that you will join in if this interest you too.

Is there something you are wanting to get done and you need to just take that first step too?

It is time for a mid-year Goal Refresh

In order to understand what I mean by a mid-year Goal Refresh, I probably should give you a bit of background on this Goal Setting process that I have been doing for the first half of 2018.

Background

You may be like me, I have often thought about making a New Year’s resolution but if I had to guess most of us don’t remember our New Year’s resolution a few weeks later much less in July.

I was so excited last summer to be introduced to a concept called Powersheets by Lara Casey.  Powersheets are a tool to help you be intentional in goal setting – help with processes to set goals in a way that will stick and so you can see things start to happen.  For the first time that I can remember, I actually know what my goals were in January and how far I have come since then.  I am excited about reviewing them at this mid-year point to see what may need to change and what I want to keep plugging a way toward.

If we have seen each other in person recently or you have followed me on social media in the last few months, you probably have picked up on how much I am loving what Lara Casey has to share about intentional goal setting and cultivating what really matters in our life.  She teaches about breaking down those things that matter into bite size chunks and then working on them a little at a time. I am a believer in Little By Little Progress Adds Up!

The Process

I started before the end of 2017 with purchasing my first Powersheets goal planner, I spent a little time reflecting and planning and then jumped in with both feet.  You don’t have to have a fancy planner to tackle your goals intentionally but a pretty planner and new pens always help.

I thought about the things that were important to me, where I wanted to be when I am 80 years old, what I wanted to see progress on in this season of my life and what were the things that were in the way of me making progress.  I brainstormed lots of ideas, dreams and wishes and put them on paper.  I spent more time in prayer & reflection and began to find some common themes to the items on my list, for example: “taking care of my health”, “loving the people I am around well”, “finding joy in the work I do”, and “extending hospitality”.  I grouped my items into a list of 8 goals.  These would be my framework for decisions about personal relationships, business growth, career path, faith, finances and much more.

Now that I had the framework for my goals to start 2018, I had to break them down into manageable chunks. This is where the fun come in – you get to pick which goals you will focus on, how you will break them up and how to take the next step whether it be the first step or the next step forward.

Lessons Learned

I learned quickly that some goals are good monthly goals to be worked on over the whole year or during a season of several months, some were better as weekly where I could see progress a little bit more regularly and some needed to be daily habits.  I learned that I can’t “do it all and do it well”.   When I try to do it all, I will generally deprive one area of my life while trying to improve something else and neither area gets the proper attention.  Sometimes there are seasons to focus on different goals and when I embrace this, letting go of the other areas that are not priorities this week or month, I can make real progress on the goal I am working on.  I also learned that there is a compound effect from being intentional with this system and working on the right things a little at a time but consistently month after month, week after week, I started to see real progress.

It has been refreshing to have a plan for both action and a plan for reflection.  Some months I have been able to knock things out and check them off my list and then other months I have had to extend myself an extra measure of grace.  Part of this journey has been a focus on cultivating gratitude each month too; pausing to think about what I am grateful for, who I am grateful for, progress I am celebrating, areas I am extending grace, things I am letting go of for the next month and things I am saying yes to in the next month.  We can all too often take people, experiences and times in our life for granted.  Cultivating gratitude is one way to make sure I am mindful of this each month.  I still have plenty of room to grow on being intentional about sharing with those around me my gratitude in the little and big things.

Goal Refresh

Each quarter I have been pausing to take a look at my goals and making sure that I still believe they are to be on my list for this year, checking off any that are completed and adding any new ones that may come up.  My goals this year have stayed the same so far but I enjoy seeing the progress on each of them.  One of my goals back in January was to “Cultivate a positive and joyful attitude at work”.  When I wrote this several months ago, I envisioned this being at my current job, doing the things I needed to do to bring joy to those around me, help my days be less stressful, and find new rhythms to my routine to get out of the rut that I felt that I was falling into.  In my work to explore this new perspective, I had no idea that God was weaving together another part to this story.  This part would take through one of the hardest decisions I needed to make and one of the biggest changes of my life – a major job change.  I know that the focus on my goals and the framework of where I wanted to go personally and professionally helped guide my decision.  It was hard to leave what I knew for so many years but I am excited that this job change that has re-energized me with excitement for the work I do and the people I can help.  I can’t wait to see where the next 6 months takes me as I continue to work on little by little progress in many aspects of my life.

 

If you are interested in following Lara Casey and the Cultivate What Matters Team, I encourage you to check out their blog and website: Cultivate What Matters

Join us next Saturday!

My Monthly Photo Workshop is a great time to gather with friends and have a little fun while knocking out that next photo project.  Time is one of the hardest things to carve out for our photo projects.  Whether you want to organize your printed photos, label your digital photos, group your older media to prep for media conversion or complete that vacation book or canvas wall art – there will be plenty of time to work on your project and learn a bit from a friend or two.  Lunch is provided to all who attend all day or the morning.

 

The schedule and sign up link can be found under the Events Tab at the top of this page.  If you are interested in joining the Photo Club you can also do so at the registration link on the Events page.  The 2018 Photo Club is a special opportunity to preregister for the remaining events of the year at a discounted rate.  You are guaranteed a seat at all the remaining events and will get the first option to join the Photo Club next year.

 

We welcome visitors to pop in and shop anytime.  If you want to come and join the fun at the next workshop, you can join us after 3pm for FREE your first time.  RSVP is still required and the FREE after 3pm offer is available as long as space permits so sign up early if you want to give the next workshop a try.

2018 Summer Survey

Photo Loving Friends – I would love for you to chime in on my 2018 Summer Survey for my Photo Solutions business.  Whether you have attended an event or purchased a product, your feedback will help me know how to better serve the people in my community.  You can use this link to jump over to the short survey today: https://goo.gl/forms/Ku1F0GKRAO2KNu9O2 . It will only take a few minutes and you can enter to win a gift certificate of your choosing for one of the products or events I offer at the end of the survey.  We will be wrapping up this survey and holding the drawing on Friday, June 29th.

 

If you would like to join our next event, check out the Events Tab at the top of the page to see the workshop schedule or click here: Photo Workshop

Turning the Page to a New Chapter

I am overdue on updating this blog and sharing how I am Seeing a Greater Purpose in my life, my career and my business.  I hope to jump back into this a bit more as time allows.  My blog posts may be short and sweet but hopefully they will share a glimpse into the things going on in my life and can be an encouragement to you.

 

The last few months I have been digging into what matters to me – what I really want to be doing, how to be more purposeful in my actions.  I had been in a season of feeling like I was in a rut or stuck with just going through the motions each day.  I am coming out of this season and this is largely from spending time doing some reflecting and intentional goal setting.  I am loving the fruits of this process.  I look forward to sharing a few other bits and pieces of this journey but the biggest area where this is showing up right now is with a BIG job change that I am making this month with my full time job.  I have worked in the same place for almost 14 years but when a new opportunity came along a couple of months ago, I had to dig deep and determine if it was the right time to make a change.  Since I had been spending time over the last 6 months evaluating what was important to me, this opportunity came at a strategic time for me.  I was ready to make a change, I knew that I needed to make a change, I just had to decide if I was brave enough to take that step.

 

As I am still in the process of turning the page over to this new chapter, I will share a few reflections I have had this week as I have wrapped up one job and prepare for the beginning of the next.  The friends I have at work have helped me celebrate this process well.  We have shed tears of sadness that we will not have each other in the day to day aspect of our lives but we have also celebrated that with change comes growth for many and we can find new ways to continue our friendships.  I love this photo that was captured at my Going Away Party and the story it tells.  My smile shows the joy and gratitude I felt that day and the name of the book I received Do More of What Makes You Feel Alive” is so very fitting for the season I am in.

 

 

I have been touched by many friends, longtime coworkers and colleagues who have been intentional during these last few weeks in connecting with me, sending me an e-mail, stopping by my office, going to lunch, offering to help me in my new role or writing out their thoughts in a card.  To hear that you are leaving a legacy with the work you have done, that you have inspired someone with your kindness and willingness to help when needed, that you have given someone strength to be brave in their own journey of being stuck – each of these are precious messages that I will treasure long after the cake is gone, the balloons fade and the new job starts.  I am a better person for relationships with the people who have crossed my path and experiences I have had these last 13 years, 9 months, 3 weeks and 6 days.

 

I am thankful for this journey I am on and look forward to seeing where this next chapter will take me.