Equipping young women professionals with young families to find fulfillment, contentment and joy as mothers and home makers without losing sight of who they are as women.

Volume 13, Issue 01: A Good Start

Compliments of the new year!

As we endeavor to double down on what worked well last year, we can't help but be fixated on the areas where we struggled to perform and deliver on. As such, you may be tempted to start by going all out on your problem areas. But I am afraid that is not the way to go. That route is likely to get you burnt out faster than you can imagine.

Starting by drafting simple improvements that you can make immediately is the way to go, taking simple steps in the immediate term and progressively increasing them as you go. What you want to do at the start is build consistency and discipline, as well as celebrate every milestone you hit to encourage you to keep going.

Give yourself a chance at making it this year. You mostly likely did well in some areas. Don't let fixating on the areas you did poorly on get you off on a shaky start. I believe starting the year with immediate wins is the way to go. As such, I recommend first doubling down on what worked well and taking baby steps on improving what did not work so well.

This is not to say that you are not going to go all in to succeed where you failed last year. It is about ensuring you get a footing in the game, rather than risk not having any chance at succeeding at all. Once you master the art of showing up, then you can make progressive improvements.

James Clear put it across precisely when he wrote, "Forget about peak performance. Would your results improve if you simply focused on being reliable in the normal moments? Show up when it's easy to skip. Do the fundamentals and do them well. And so on. Before you make it complicated, remember there are always simple improvements waiting to be made."

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 12, Issue 47: Let Go

If you are anything like me, the curtains for 2023 are drawing to a close with a few incomplete projects, or missed opportunities or failures. How are you feeling about it?

We must cut ourselves some slack, pardon ourselves and let go. If we are going to start the new year on a right footing, we first need to let go of this year's failures and successes.

Let go of this year's failures and disappointments. As you gear up to do better and go further next year, don't limit yourself to the best you were able to accomplish this year. Just because you didn't hit the mark in some of your pursuits this year doesn't mean that you can't surpass expectations next year.

You are not defined by your failures. Give yourself permission to dream bigger next year. You can do better. You can go further next year.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 12, Issue 46: Hang In There

A recent experience reminded me of the importance of hanging in there when a new experience feels hard. When you start something new such as a new discipline or a new occupation or a job change or a move to a new location, what you feel at first is excitement. But in some cases, the excitement wares off and in its place comes a feeling of something negative.

Things may start off hard at the beginning of a new experience. In my case, it was homesickness once the excitement of the short-term relocation for work wore off. I still don't know how to describe the feeling, but I felt a strong sense of sadness and loneliness especially over the weekends. It was nothing like I had ever felt before. I prayed my way through it. Otherwise I would have quit and taken the next flight back home.

By the third weekend, by the grace of God, my homesickness had worn off. Reflecting on this experience today made me appreciate the importance of hanging in there when it's hard. Some experiences may start off hard, but if the experience is right for you, it will get easier with time. You will even start to blossom and to thrive.

I have learnt that where God directs, he also provides. And His provision knows no bounds. Just to mention a few, God provides healing and a glad heart in the place of heaviness. He provides resources and opportunities in the place of lack. He provides hope in the place of despair.

Are there situations in your life this past year that when you think of now, you see the handiwork of God? Were there any experiences in your path this year that started off hard but you persevered through and eventually got easy?

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 12, Issue 45: What Worked Well?

Looking back at your habits and processes this year, what would you say worked well and would be worth doubling down on next year?

The beginning of a new year is not about starting everything afresh. Yes, there's need for a fresh start, but where you have done well, those are the places to do more of in the new year for even greater success.

What worked well for me this year is waking up on time, eating breakfast like a king, having an early dinner and going to bed early. Meal prepping once a week also did me a lot of good. It would be foolish to drop these and try other approaches altogether. As the saying goes, "If it's not broken, don't fix it".

The start of a new year is a good opportunity to adopt a new habit. But not at the expense of what worked well. Drop what didn't work well, and add something new, but be sure to double down on worked well. Take some time to consider what worked well for you this year and come up with ways by which you can double down on them next year.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 12, Issue 44: We Get What We Settle For

At the start of 2023, most of us set aspirations of what we wish to achieve. We set goals to strive for in the year. But as many new year resolutions fall by the wayside shortly after they are set, what we strive for sometimes ends up being very different from what we settle for.

We may strive for a 10 in a health and fitness goal for instance, but end up doing up to say a level of 4. That is what we settle for, and that is the achievement level we end up with when the curtains draw to a close, unless we do what it takes to hit the mark we set.

I, for instance strived to write and post 52 articles this year, but it's very likely that when the curtains for 2023 draw to a close, I will have settled for a number close to 50. Why haven't I hit the mark I strived for? Because I settled. I didn't push myself hard enough to hit the mark.

And so, I agree with James Clear when he says that "You won't always get what you strive for, but you will definitely get what you settle for. You won't magically outperform your standards."

Are you happy with the standards you lived by this year? In what ways did you settle? In which of your goals did your performance fall short of what you strived for? Now is a good time to reflect and consider how we want to show up in 2024.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi