Brave Archives – Campfire Chic

Memorial Day – Celebrate Bravery

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man,
but he is brave five minutes longer.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

For those celebrating Memorial Day: please be safe, wear extra sunscreen, take lots of photos, put down your phone, and hug your loved ones a little longer than usual.

May 27, 2013 { 0 comments }

Make a Brave Choice – Moving beyond the plans & taking action

2013 is for being brave. Setting brave goals, being brave enough, making brave plans…and making brave choices. I changed the Campfire Chic newsletter from being “hey, buy stuff from me” all the time to being a way for me to chat with subscribers about the different aspects of brave. Maybe that’s not your deal, but here’s an idea of what is going on in the monthly newsletter…maybe you’ll decide to subscribe to the newsletter so you get the scoop on these types of posts.

Like I mentioned earlier…it’s time to talk about making some brave choices.

You may be familiar with a certain blogger who had “Choose” as her One Little Word last year, I bet she would like the intention of making a brave choice. Do you think being brave is a choice?

Making a brave choice doesn’t have to be something extraordinary – like running into a burning building – but it can be something seemingly insignificant that ends up being a turning point in your life. It can be choosing to not go away for a weekend in Vegas so you can put that money toward paying off your student loans. It may be choosing to reach out to re-connect with your high school friends, or even becoming a foster parent. Each of those things is extraordinary to somebody, maybe it isn’t choosing to donate a kidney, but it is still a choice that may have taken quite a bit of thought on your part.

Making a choice that relates to the brave goals and brave plans we talked about earlier this year may just be the hardest thing we’ve done so far. We’re actually putting forth the effort to move away from making lists and plans and dreaming up possibilities and move toward crossing things off of those lists and plans and making those possibilities into realities! It can be as simple as scheduling a doctor’s appointment for an eye exam before you quit your job so you can use those benefits you’ve been paying into this whole time. It may be something as big as accepting that job out of state or re-enrolling in school to finish your degree. Take a look at your goals and plans see what you can take on right now…what choices need to be made in order for you to move forward?

Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves with the word “brave”. Let’s focus on making choices we may not normally think as brave:

Registering to be a bone marrow donor
Adopting a shelter animal
Unsubscribing from that toxic Facebook friend/family member
Going on a spending fast

In other words, we need to stop planning and start doing. Make the brave choice to take action…you have the choice to sit in your comfort zone or to step out and take action. Choose action.

What choices are on your horizon?

Any choices you made recently that changed your path?

Subscribe to the Campfire Chic newsletter.

May 20, 2013 { 11 comments }

Going from Goals to Plans — What’s holding us back?

One Little Word - Brave via Campfire Chic

Earlier this month, we talked a bit about being brave enough and how we choose to do the things we do. In January, we chatted for a quick second about making some brave goals for the year…Now it’s time we make brave plans so we can go from goals to plans. Why? Because a goal without a deadline is just a dream — and we don’t have time for dreams.

Some questions for this month:
What’s holding us back?
How do we get from goals to a plan?

I don’t know about you, but what holds me back is that fear of the unknown…and comfort. it’s just so easy to stay where I am. I have a steady income with benefits, I have a roof over my head, and people who love me…why am I afraid? It’s the F word that nobody wants to hear. Failure.Those goals of yours…are they goals or are they tasks? If it is a task, put it aside while you read this (or heck, print this out and make some notes…maybe even some doodles!) so we can focus on actual goals.So let’s take some time today to chat about how we can look at and asses our goals and make plans to achieve said goals in a way that feels not only manageable but less like taking a leap of faith and maybe more like building a bridge over a pretty crazy-looking river to your goal that just happens to on the other side of said crazy-looking river. Both are scary, but at least with a plan in place, you are less likely to be held back by fear of the unknown.This sounds really nit-picky, but let’s re-write your goals so they are SMART goals…this is, they are worded in a way that already puts you a step in the right direction. SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. I have a blog post about writing SMART goals if you’re not familiar with the format, so feel free to check that post out before moving forward. Go ahead and take a second to re-write one of your goals (example: get in shape) so that it is now a “SMARTer” goal (example: Join a gym and workout 3 days a week).

Thinking about your goals in the SMART format helps give more “life” to the goal. Instead of this idea that is floating around in your head, you make that goal more solid.

What’s next?

Break it down. Your goal is ion the other side of this raging river and you’re going to build a bridge, one plank at a time, to get across.Let’s make a list of the actions that need to take place in order to reach your goal. Think of each plank of your bridge as an action…completing those actions will bring you closer to your goal.These actions may be goals, themselves! For example, one of my goals is to become a yoga teacher. One of the planks on my bridge (action steps) is to go through yoga teacher training…which has even more pieces to it! To cross that plank to get to the next plank, I need to take action steps…For example: I need to feel confident enough in my practice, I need to save up the money to afford the training, I need to find a program I like, and I need to apply for a program. “Go through yoga teacher training” just became more realistic and I think it sounds totally doable now! It’s your turn, try breaking down a big goal into the smaller planks, and from there figure out your action steps.

You know what part of this whole thing I forget?

Asking for help.

You can join networks like Go Mighty to track your goals and find others with similar goals or goals you can help them accomplish, but what about your immediate network of family/friends/co-workers/classmates? Maybe you’ll find that a co-worker wants to take Zumba classes, or your cousin wants to hike the Appalachian Trail, or your best friend can help you code the app you’ve been wanting to launch. Let your goals be known and ask for help!

What is a goal you have?

What’s holding you back?

Can you help others with their goals? (What is your specialty?)

Homework: Select one of the goals you set for yourself…either a long-term goal or short-term goal and write it down or type it out. What is holding you back? What changes can you make in your life so you can work toward your goal? Write down the action steps that will lead you toward your goal and tell somebody about one of your goals.

A version of today’s blog post was originally shared in the March 2013 Campfire Chic newsletter. To get exclusive content like this, subscribe today.

April 29, 2013 { 2 comments }

One Little Word 2013 – In Progress

I’m really happy I’m taking a more tangible approach to my One Little Word this year than I did with FOCUS last year. Focus was awesome and it was a mantra that I repeated to myself throughout the year, but I think having a year-long project for BRAVE is really helping me keep it at the forefront of my mind on a daily basis.

I’m plugging along with the assignments from the One Little Word class hosted by Ali Edwards via Big Picture Classes, but I just wasn’t feeling like the March assignment…it wasn’t something I would normally do (not like the vision board was something I would normally do, but at least it was pretty) and I wasn’t ready to put forth the energy it deserved. In the end, I decided to include printouts of the Campfire Chic newsletter and some other visuals.

The page protector of the left-hand side is the backside of the vision board I made for February, and I’m not a fan of leaving things blank, so my plan is to take some instax photos for the April assignment to include in those pockets. We’ll see how far I get with it considering April ends soon. I have a second photo from my meeting with Amy this past weekend, I just need to pop it into one of the pockets. The right-hand side is the Campfire Chic newsletter from February 2013 — I shared a version of the newsletter here.

This shows the backside of the February 2013 Campfire Chic newsletter printout and a “filler” page with my intentions for the year printed out so I could look at them quickly. The January assignment was to make a fancier version of this, but I think I needed a plain reminder to include in the binder as well.

The colorful Leadership Manifesto can be found on the Daring Greatly author’s website. I found it after I did a bit of background research on the book after reading Amy’s recent review. I wanted to include it in my binder for this year because I think I might dig the book but I also related to the manifesto based on my educational background. It’s also pretty, so sue me.

The text page is copied and pasted from the March 2013 Campfire Chic newsletter, which I may decide to post a version of here later. To get exclusive content from me, subscribe to the Campfire Chic newsletter today.

Are there any prints you would recommend I include?
Do you think I should include a screenshot of my Pinterest board?

Interested in One Little Word? You can register for the class through the end of the year and work on the projects at your own pace. Find out more by visiting Big Picture Classes.

April 24, 2013 { 1 comment }

Are we busy or are we just making excuses? // Brave enough

Today, I want to talk about something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately…Are we actually busy, or are we just making excuses?

In January, I emailed the Campfire Chic newsletter subscribers and chatted with them about how 2013 is going to be our year. How we are going to go big this year. Do big things. January’s intention was to make brave plans…and I did that. 2013 is for adventures and growing Campfire Chic.

Did you do a big thing so far this year? Did you take steps toward doing something awesome with your time? (if so, leave a comment below! I’d love to hear from you.)

So February’s intention is to be brave enough. Brave enough to move forward with the brave plans I made last month. Step one? Letting go of distractions that are holding me back, like being busy consuming rather than being busy creating…

How do we focus on being awesome when we are so busy? First, we are going to talk about this idea of being busy.

A few months back, I read a handful of articles about the idea of being busy and how busy and productive aren’t the same thing. It goes on about how busy has become this default response we sigh when somebody asks us what we are up to, like, “how are you?” “I’m fine”. It’s an automatic response that we’ve trained ourselves to actually believe about ourselves…and maybe it’s true, but what if it isn’t?

Take a second to write a list of all the things you are ‘busy’ doing today/this week.

Are you busy doing the things you choose to do?

Am I busy because I have a deadline and spent the last hour on Pinterest looking up ways to decorate my non-existent house? Am I busy because I’m spending time on things that are high priority for me (my relationships, education, and health) or am I busy doing things that are a low priority (television, saying yes when I should say no, toxic relationships) and lying to myself that these things make me ridiculously busy and how nobody could ever understand.

Let’s shift our focus from ‘I’m just really busy’ to “I’m working on this awesome project/being an awesome parent/finishing this awesome book” because let’s face it…we’re all busy. So let’s be busy doing things we choose to do because those things are awesome and we are awesome, and telling others about some of these big things. Obviously, a few too many humble brags may be a little too nauseating, but when a good friend asks you what you’ve been up to lately, would you rather answer, “I’ve been busy spending a lot of time looking for inspiration” or “I’m pretty busy thinking about trips I could take this year” OR “I’m working on finishing a quilt I started I year ago!” or “I’m finalizing a backpacking trip for later this month!”?

Which brings me to being busy creating rather than being busy consuming…I read this article about consuming more than we are creating.

I’m guilty of this.

So, so guilty.

I’m guilty of wanting to skim through Instagram when I could be doing something better, I’m guilty of thinking that reading through 200+ tweets is a good use of my time, but then I see that I’m re-tweeting others more often than creating/sharing things on my own.

So what are you going to do this month that changes “I’m busy” to “I’m doing some cool stuff, let me tell you about it…”?

Are you going to be brave and try climbing a harder grade then you’re used to? Are you going to do something awesome for your community and participate in a trail cleanup? What about something that makes you feel good, like sending out cards to your relatives?

It’s time to take action. Time to be brave enough to turn our dreams into plans and our plans into action…

What will you be brave enough to do/say/start this month?

A version of today’s blog post was originally shared in the February 2013 Campfire Chic newsletter. To get exclusive content like this, subscribe today.

April 4, 2013 { 13 comments }