Hi, guys! I hope you all had a GREAT weekend! Lots and lots of time spent organizing to make the most of the last 12 weeks of 2017. I spent quite a bit of time leaning into the Legacy Collection. It’s a Collection which has been whittled down to three new sizes: a clutch, a medium sized crossbody and a larger carryall (pictured below). It’s designed from a place deep inside me of growth and refinement. The first leg of my BAGOLITAS journey allowed me to really grow into my faith and mature in so many areas of my life. So this collection is really a symbol of that journey – the legacy that lives on because I was able to run that race. Rather than make a slew of bags to stock the shelves, I really felt like it was important to allow you to connect with these bags and reflect on your own journey. I don’t want them to just be another bag because it is so much more than that. So what I know is that it will be some sort of custom program. It has been my greatest joy to work with so many of you through these last years to create bags that are just for you – I couldn’t be more thrilled that this is how the Legacy Collection is playing out. Now to figure out how to create that experience for you! Look for a full update in the mid-October update.

Hopefully, you were able to carve out some time to work on your planner pages! Just to recap – we first made a snapshot of a current week and then let our hearts dream about what an ideal week might look like. I just have to ask, What did you discover about YOU? What were your big ah-has if any? When I was at the end of my rope, feeling like I was losing myself in all the hustle, I grabbed paper and did this exercise and was shocked (maybe not so shocked) to see that my calendar was filled with so many coffee and lunch dates with people I love, I couldn’t possibly find time to even get my new journey into coaching started. I used to joke that my full-time job was coffee and lunch dates. Funny… but not funny. While I loved my time with friends and people in the community, the true desires of my heart were not coming to life and a little piece of me was dying with each day that went by.

So let’s take a look at your world and start bridging the gap. I’m going to sound like a broken record… but you’re going to need you to print out a few more copies of the planner sheets (right HERE if this is easier). This assignment is a little more in-depth, as bridging gaps tend to be. So we’ll take a couple of days to work on this and meet again on Wednesday. Ready? Here we go!

First, when you look at the first 2 assignments, pick one thing that would hands down if it changed would be a burden lifted off of your back/overflowing plate. Perhaps it’s something you need to start saying no to (like my coffee and lunch dates). Maybe it’s something that you need to get done, like cleaning the garage so you don’t come home to the overwhelming sight of it first thing. Or, maybe it’s adding boundaries around getting 8 hours of sleep or getting 10,000 steps a day.

I really encourage you to just pick one thing. It took me many, many tries to believe that picking one thing was going to be more successful than trying to do all of them (perfectly of course) at once. I am such an all or nothing girl with a huge appetite for achievement. Thanks to the book my coach recommended by Patrick Lencioni, The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family, I saw the light. This quick read is just a fantastic resource for adding more vitality and life to our families – the most important organization in our lives!

Next, take your fresh planner sheets and start playing around to see if you can figure out a way to bring this one thing you picked to fruition. How are you going to make it happen? For some of you, your one thing might be something you can get done this week. You can use the notes area on the right or the daily task columns to write it down so you commit to it on a specific day. Maybe you decided to cancel or reschedule some activities or appointments that tip the scale and make life overwhelming right now. Or, maybe it is to add a lunch date or something fun. Your goal is to get intentional and set-up your schedule to allow you to be successful in achieving it. If you need an accountability partner, email me (janciebaldes@gmail.com) and let me know what you committed to and when you will have it done. I’ll check-in to make sure you are on it!

For others, it might be something that takes 3 weeks (or more) to turn into a new habit. What is it you want to prioritize and how will you make time for it? One of the many things I had to add into my schedule was boundaries around my sleep. I use red lines on my planner pages and an alarm on my phone to help keep me accountable. If it is getting 10,000 steps in, when and how are you going to make that happen? Then, add in the rest of your schedule for the week and let’s see what happens. Later this week I’ll be sharing my planner and the ways I have customized it to help me shepherd my dash to help me find balance, have more fun and achieve more than ever before!

I’m going to be checking in with you guys over @The Porch to find out what one thing you committed to shepherd with more intention this week. If you haven’t joined yet, come on over HERE.  AND, I’m so excited to let you know that I was sitting with the Lord and felt like someone out there is supposed to be in the Shepherd Your Dash group coaching experience and needs me to surprise them with a COMPLIMENTARY seat. So this is what I’m thinking – I want you guys to ROCK the rest of your week by using your planner pages to visualize how you will lay tracks towards your commitment. Your job is to start moving that one thing forward and we’re not seeking perfection, just movement. I’ll be checking in and talking more about what movement does on Wednesday this week, but for now, I hope you’ll trust me that movement is KEY to getting over the bridge. To enter for this chance at a complimentary seat, take a picture of your pages (filled out of course) and email it to me (janicebaldes@gmail.com). I’ll draw the winner from all the entries on Friday and someone will win one of the seats at the table for the Shepherd Your Dash group coaching experience ($199 value!).

OK – I’m signing off until Wednesday so that you can get to work. Life is really made up of choices. It’s so easy to get in a black (lonely, exhausted) hole and feel like the control of those choices has been taken away. It is my hope that the exercise we are going through together will help bring you HOPE that there is a way out, that this life is meant to be so much more and that you are not alone.

All my love to you!

Part 3 of the Shepherd Your Dash Series