Last Quarter – Fall Coffee Talk

I’m sitting here in my living room this morning wrapped up in “fuzzy” blankets, as I like to call them, with the fireplace on and a piping hot cup of coffee (with heavy cream – yum!). There’s a quarter of a GoMacro bar next to my coffee that I’m munching on. I’m hungry, but not quite ready to pause my morning for breakfast yet. It’s going too well. A few bites of this bar will hold my appetite until I can pry myself out of this cozy space to make breakfast.

Abby woke me up early this morning. She was restless. I had a big workday yesterday, so she didn’t get as much activity as she normal does. My girl. I love that baby-pup so much. If you saw on Instagram I call her my dog-ter now… Obsessed? Absolutely.

She’s in the bedroom sleeping with Marco as I write this post.

After being up with her from 2:45-3:30 I fell back asleep until my alarm woke me at 5:00 AM. I said a nice prayer: “Lord, I’m waking up this early to spend time with you, please give me the energy I need for today.” Ha, how’s that for a morning prayer?

I said that same one yesterday and had the most energy I’d had all week. Prayers answered!

Anyway, this morning while I’m enjoying a cozy morning at home, wrapped in fuzzy blankets, drinking my favorite cup of coffee, I figured I’d extend this time to you and do a “coffee talk” post.

I mean, it is October 2nd, which means we’re in the last quarter of the year, which is kind of a fun point to do some reflecting. Don’t-cha think? Let’s go…!

Goal Setting

This year I listed my goals differently. I blended work and personal goals together and set up a Google-doc which listed out each quarter. Within each quarter, I listed out each month. Within each month, I listed out things I wanted to do consistently, like this:

Q1

• Jan
• Feb
• Mar

Q2

• Apr
• May
• Jun

Q3

• Jul
• Aug
• Sep

Q4

• Oct
• Nov
• Dec

At the beginning of each month I’d sit down, at the same time I create a fresh monthly budget, and I’d check-off the last of my goals for the month before and set up some new ones for the following month.

I love tracking my goals this way. I check on the “2018 Paige’s Goals” doc frequently. Once a week works well for me.

I no longer set goals around food, weight-loss, exercise, etc… because I absolutely know and expect that those cravings/desires change week to week.

Rather, this year I set goals around reading books, finishing courses, talking about my business, being consistent with writing blog posts/emails, waking up for quiet time, enjoying summer, etc…

We’re in October! It’s the last quarter of 2018. There’s a lot you can do in a quarter!

So I ask you this question: If you were to make your last quarter goal list today (do it, if you want!) what would you want to accomplish/do by the end of October? November? December?

It’s great to map these things out ahead of time. Here’s why: Since I know what I want December to look like (no new clients, more time off, etc.) and I know what November will look like (I can’t wait to share this with you!), I can better plan October.

Looking ahead and knowing what you want to do/when and what things you already have going on helps you to navigate each month better.

“Anyone can do anything if it’s broken down into small enough chunk sizes.”

This is something I took away from a Health Coach training I participated in. SO true. Breaking down your goals in this way helps you to take a big goal/idea and realllllly break it down into small enough chunk-sizes so that it feels possible for you.

How do you want to use the last 90-days/three-months/final-quarter of 2018? Write it down! There is power in writing things down.

You know when you’re at coffee with a good friend and you think to yourself “Wait, I just spent 40-minutes talking about that ONE area when I still have things I want to share/ask!” No? Just me? This is why my coffee dates spill-over beyond an hour. Ha! I just did that here in this post. Let’s move on!

November

November, November, November. Oh how I cannot wait to share November with you all. Not only is it my birthday, whoot-whoot! It’s the month in 2018 that Marco and I have been looking forward to all year.

No, I’m not pregnant. I feel like we’re at the point in our marriage where I have to say this all of the time now, ha! After four years people start to really ask. “So, when are you having kids?” I am not a person who is offended by this question, I definitely want kids, but not yet. 😉

You’ll see! I can’t wait to share what November has in store…

Money

Let’s chat about money for a second! Because maybe you’re in a position where you don’t really have anyone to talk to about money and you feel sort-of alone in this area. First of all, I’m sorry. We tend to make money so “taboo” don’t we?

Here’s what I want to say: Since I started (and finished mega-fast, by the way!) my financial coach training, I’ve had quite a few conversations with women close to me about money. You want to know a common theme?

They’re doing awesome things like: saving, paying off debt, trying to plan for retirement, getting raises, and they’re not really talking to anyone about it. Especially when it comes to paying off debt. They feel like they need to be secretive about it (they’ve expressed to me that debt feels shameful).

Let me just say… If you’re on a plan to pay off your debt or if you’re in the midst of saving for something that really matters to you, so you’re not spending like all of your friends, good for you. There’s no shame in this — you’re awesome and I’m so proud of you. Keep going. You’re doing great. This will all pay off (literally).

If you’re in this boat where you feel alone, yet need guidance and would like someone who you can comfortably talk through and make a plan with, I’m your girl. Just send me an email (paige@paigeschmidt.com).

My Best Friend’s Visiting

Okay, so show of hands…

Who has been following this blog-ity since it started over on tumblr?

For those of you who have been with me since circa 2011 1) you’re so awesome, thank you! and 2) you may remember my friend Kayla, who started a blog alongside me. Her blog was called “The Healthy Indulgence.” (When mine was “Healthy Hits the Spot”)

She’s coming to visit me in Reno this week and I cannot wait!

I’ve got a whole Google-doc filled with things I want to show her here in Reno. We like a lot of the same things and can drink coffee and talk for 8-jillion hours, so containing my excitement for her visit is hard. It feels like Christmas!

On our list of things to-do so far:

• Drink a lot of coffee + try the best of Reno’s coffee shops
• Eat great food whether we’re making a meal at home or going out
• Walk or hike every single day (so much I want to explore with her!)
• Take the razor out (off-roading)
• Church on Sunday (can’t wait to show her our new Church)
• Play pickle-ball
• Drive her around Reno and show her my favorite spots

There’s so much to do in Reno that I’m not sure how we’ll fit it all, but we will. Or maybe I just won’t let her leave. 😉

Other Than That…

Abby is doing well. Her little leg has healed. She got the screws out of her knee just over a week ago, so we’re just waiting on her incision to become a pretty-little-scar. A couple more days and we should be good to go!

I think of my sweet mama-dot every single day. She motivates me to love bigger and gentler. To not sweat the small stuff, and to remember to laugh and not take life too seriously. I miss her like crazy and there are so many things about life I want to share with her right now…

…but then I remember she’s seeing every bit of it and she’s here with us. And I also believe that so much of what is happening in our lives right now is because she’s sittin’ up there next to Jesus orchestrating it all (fun to think about!).

In terms of coaching spaces, I don’t take on any new clients in December, so if you’re looking for a space to coach with me, now or November is your time to shine! You can check out my 1:1 coaching page here and fill in the form to book a Discovery Session with me, ASAP (I have 5 coaching spaces left for 2018, total — these spaces fly at the end of the year).

I’ll be back on Thursday to share more. What would you like to see? More coffee-talk? Daily eats? A post on a certain-something (feel free to request a topic)? Next Tuesday I’ll share about my weekend with Kayla. I love documenting our weekends together here on the blog — it’s fun for me to share and look back on. 🙂

Thanks for being here. It’s time for me to climb out of these fuzzy blankets and get to work, further than this blog post.

Love you all!