Happy New Year!
Can you believe it is 2014!?! I’m not sure I can actually wrap my brain around it. Time flies!
Last year, I set some pretty ambitious goals personally and for my blog / business. And then I had a really hard time keeping up! 2013 through a few curveballs my way personally, health-wise and business-wise.
This year, I’ve decided that although I want to challenge myself, I also want to be a bit more careful. I want to leave room for all the “curveballs” that life throws at us all! I want to leave room to be “Calm.” And that is actually my main “one word” goal this year: CALM.
Naturally, I’m the exact opposite. I am go-go-go. I work hard and feel a bit silly if I’m just sitting “doing nothing.” But through some of last years “curveballs,” I’m learning just how important having time for CALM can be in our lives. So, I’m simplifying a bit. I will only have one main goal in each area of my life. This doesn’t mean I won’t do anything else or improve in other ways, but all those “extra” things will take a back seat to each main goal. I’ll share with you here those “main goals” that apply to my business:
The Blog
I will continue to experiment with (and post the results of) various 100% shelf stable recipes. By year’s end, I would like to publish another E-book (you can see my first here: Your Own 72 Hour Kit Plan), but this time it will be a recipe book.
It will include 30 dinners, 7 lunches, and 14 breakfast meals, and will provide worksheets, printables and shopping lists to help others plan their food storage around meals instead of around calories.
Since grains are typically the least expensive calories, the meals I make will be grain heavy. To avoid all recipes having wheat / gluten in them (some will), I will explore a new grain every few months starting with Quinoa in January and February.
My THRIVE Life Team
As a THRIVE Life consultant, I am the leader of a team of other consultants and it is my responsibility to help them / train them in their businesses. I want to better deserve the trust my team members place in me. I want to work harder at helping them reach their individual goals instead of encouraging them to have the same goals with their businesses as I do with mine.
As such, I have created an entirely new training system (see it here: Simple Family Preparedness THRIVE Life Team Training). I will (1) finish this training program by the end of January, (2) Encourage feedback on the training system from my team, (3) tweak and adjust the training system as necessary throughout the year.
ps….if you are interested in joining my THRIVE Life team (find FAQs about being a THRIVE consultant here), now would be a GREAT time! I need some new guinea pigs to test out this all new training program! Plus, it could give you a jump on some other goals: Savings, purchasing preparedness supplies, paying off debt etc).
Preparedness Skill
I always have a HUGE list of these and after I went without electricity and water last year, that list got even larger. But, I don’t prepare out of fear and I’m not going to obsesses over trying to learn EVERYTHING right now.
The one preparedness skill I would like to master this year is laundry. And not just laundry (b/c I do that all week), but laundry without water or electricity. I will be testing out a few different methods and would love any laundry soap recipes you all have!
Food Storage
We are pretty close to having a one year supply of food…a few gaps, but mostly okay.
So this year, I to focus on gardening as part of our food storage program. I do not plan to master this skill this year, but I do want to get started. We will be planting numerous fruit trees and planning out a tiered garden box system for a sloped portion of our yard. I plan to research plants and probably plant a few late season vegetables. But this year will mostly be spend in research so I am ready to start strong next Spring.
If any of you have a favorite gardening website / blog, I’d love some direction and guidance!
Helping With Your Goals: A Giveaway!
I’d like to give something to one of you to help with your preparedness goals! And I’d like you to be able to choose what you get! So, I will give you a $150 credit to get anything you’d like to from THRIVE Life! Use it for food, a tent, a water barrel or two. Anything you like as long as it helps you meet a preparedness goal!
How to enter:
You must do two things to enter this giveaway:
- Leave a comment on this post (the one you are reading right now) on the blog and let me know what goal you’d like me to help you reach! Make sure that when you leave your comment in the “It’s Your Turn” box and the end of this post that you copy / paste the code there and check the little box that says you are human!
- Make sure you are connected to me somehow. Follow me on facebook, subscribe to the blog in a reader or by email, or sign up for my THRIVE Life Specials Updates. Yes, following me in at least one of these ways is mandatory. Why? Well, I don’t’ want this great gift to go to just anyone! I want it to go to one of you: my loyal readers / customers! You don’t need to leave a comment for this (I can check it separately), just make sure you do it!
That’s it! Just take 30 seconds to connect with me and leave me a comment letting me know what you’d get with your $150 credit to help you reach a preparedness goal.
Want Extra Entries?
Sure! Why not? If you are willing to do a little more, you can have a few “extra” entries (up to three entries max (1 mandatory and two extra). Please do not leave more than three comments total as it makes it difficult to count eligible entries:
- Use the little facebook button at the bottom of this post in order to share this giveaway with your facebook friends. Then, leave me another comment (in addition to the one above) letting me know that you did so.
- Pick one of your favorite posts from my site (use the search function or navigation menus at the top to find one) and use the “P” button at the bottom of the post to pin it to Pinterest. Then, leave me another comment (in addition to the one(s) above) letting me know that you did so.
Rules
- DO NOT comment more than 3 times total
- Prize will be shipped for free in the Continental US. If you live in Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Puerto Rico or Japan, you will pay shipping.
- Giveaway open in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico and Japan. But not all THRIVE Life products are available in Canada and Puerto Rico or Japan.
- You must enter by 9:00 pm MDT Monday, January 6th, 2014.
- Other THRIVE Life (formerly Shelf Reliance) consultants are not eligible
- Winner will be announced by 10:00 pm Monday, January 6th, 2014.
- No purchase necessary.
You are on my Facebook page!
With the New Year, one of our resolutions is to obtain a 3 month’s supply of food storage (and eventually a one year supply). I’ve bought a few books to help me tackle incorporating long term food storage into everyday use so that it’s not foreign. Adding Thrive #10 cans of amazing tasting various foods would be AWESOME to get our 3 month supply well on it’s way!
Yes, THRIVE will make it much, MUCH easier to use that supply b/c they aren’ as “foreign.” (-:
And I just pinned your 52 week challenge post (which I snagged the printable from yesterday!) 🙂
Love that printable. Andrea is amazing!
We just moved to a new home and finally have room to start storing food, so Food Storage is definitely the goal we’re looking to work on asap! 🙂
I want to work on water storage! (And I subscribe in feedly.)
Awesome goal! SO important! If it helps, you can find all my tips on water storage here: http://simplefamilypreparedness.com/category/water-tips/
I really need to work on my food supply. I have about 3 months worth so far…..some long-term and some short-term food. Thanks for your advice and help!
You are very welcome Beverly! Thanks for your support!
I feel a need to get a water barrel to supplement all my bottled water. I also would like to try the Thrive milk.
The milk is really yummy! And you can never have enough water!
I’ve done really well with my emergency preparedness in 2013, but I know that my most important goal for 2014 is water storage! I am really interested in the WaterBricks.
Water bricks are a great products b/c they are so easy to store!
Happy New Year!
I have been experimenting with home made laundry soap recipes this past year myself and have to say I haven’t been disappointed with anything I’ve tried. Hope you find the same success and I can’t wait to hear about your off grid laundry adventures!
Thanks Sarah! Care to send me a link to a recipe or two? I’d love it!
I would love to update our 72 hour kits and also get more food storage for my family. Thanks for the e-mail updates!
You are very welcome Valerie! I’m glad you enjoy them!
This year, our family plans on trying straw bale gardening as we’re getting a little long in the tooth, and we wouldn’t have to bend as far to tend the garden. https://strawbalegardens.com/ We are looking at being better prepared for drinking water in emergencies. We live near a pond, a stream and a river, so feel we will have water sources, but they certainly would need to be filtered. We are trying to get ready with multiple filters to use if/when the need arises and have a couple already, but the Sawyer Point Zero Two Bucket Filter is our next “big-ticket” item to add to our emergency preparation supplies. It looks like terrific item to have on hand.
Looks interestingi Deb! Thanks for the link!
I shared another post on pinterest.
I shared this giveaway on facebook.
I shared on Pinterest. Of course, it is the new 72 hour kit weekly approach. I just think this is brilliant and several of my family and friends are using your blogs to get their kits together and finding it much easier and less overwhelming. Thanks again! https://www.pinterest.com/pin/249949848042955187/
Thanks Yvonne! I’m glad it has been so helpful for your family!
I started my preparedness journey in the summer of 2013. While I’ve done pretty well, this year I’d like to expand my food storage to include freeze dried items to round out my pantry. Thank you for the opportunity to win this awesome prize and good luck everyone.
Thanks Kris!
I shared on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/yvonne.garrett?cropsuccess
Wow!!!!! This is great!!!! I would like to increase the ability to purify water. I have a Seychelle bag but need some filters and could use another bag for our other camper and one for the vehicles as well. Water is so important as I found out a few weeks ago when our water system failed in the area and my backup water system failed as well so I had to go to my second backup system. I was glad for the redundancy!
I am connected to you via Facebook, email, Thrive updates and of course I am on the Thrive Q which is just GREAT!!!!
Thanks for this generous chance to win some Thrive product! Happy New Year!
You are so welcome Yvonne!
Finally got Pinterest to use as well. Thanks Misty!
Shared on Facebook!
Let’s see…this post was in 2014 right? Check..ok… 🙂
I would like help the most in getting food storage setup for our family. We have twins coming this summer so will need the help! Thanks in advance for all of your hard work!
I have twins! Congratulations. You will LOVE it! There are LOTS of resources here on the site for food storage, but depending on how serious you are, I’d be happy to do a one-on-one food storage consultation by phone sometime if it would be helpful!
I’d love some help with my “Preparedness Skills”. I am baby stepping through your emergency kit and I am embarassed to say I need more work than I’ve given it so far. But I love the blog. I read it every time and have always learned something. So ..here goes. Fingers crossed.
*I follow your blog*
*commented here*
*sharing via Pinterest*
*sharing via Facebook*
Awesome Lori! I’m glad you enjoy the blog. Good luck with that kit!
If you ahve a minute, leave a separate comment for hte sharing via pinterest and sharing via facebook. It makes it a lot simpler when I’m counting up entries if each one is a separate comment. Otherwise, I might miss your two extra entries!
i also shared this on Facebook. Thanks!!
I’ll be joining your team, hopefully, as soon as I get my ducks in a row. 🙂 And I follow you on Facebook, get your specials etc.
Yay! I’d love to have you join the team Winona! GREAT goal! 🙂
I am so excited to expand my preparedness this year. I out together a simole 72 hr emergency kit last fall and now I’m ready to expand on it and also add more emergency preparedness to me house hold supplies.
I have spent 2013 learning about preparedness and 2014 is the year I plan to do something about it! My goals this year are 1) Build 72 hour emergency kits, 2) Start Canning, 3)Gather seeds for long term storage, 4) Build Water and Food Supply. Since I am just starting, I think these are lofty goals for 2014, but everyone has to start somewhere!
I think those are great goals Rebecca! Which is most important to you?
I’ve thought a lot about this, I think the most important is building our emergency kit. It is like with family finances. You are suppose to build your emergency fund first, then work on paying off debt. I think starting with the emergency kits should be my first task, then I can work on the rest. We have four people in our house, two adults and two children. I think I would get the backpacks first and build from there. I really liked your weekly plan for building a 72 hour kit and am going to start working based on that plan.
I have posted on Facebook, but I am having trouble with Pinterest. I will keep trying.