I’m so glad to be back HERE on the blog! I have been shocked at how quickly Grace + Goals is growing and developing, which is why I haven’t been able to be writing here as often as I would like! So much has changed over the past 6 months, and I would love to share the past 6 months of my goals, via my 2023 Tending Lists, and the seasons I’ve traveled through to bring you up to speed on where I am at today! Normally, as I have been doing for many years, I share my current Tending List, goals, and where I will be focusing my time each month with you – and I’m excited to do that now. (Don’t know what Tending Lists or Powersheets are? Start Here!)
I’ll start by saying I never anticipated that so many of you would be apart of A Cultivated Life: Quarterly Coaching and Accountability and the other Grace + Goals Resources (such as master classes – new class on 6/30/23, the Accountability Collective, Powersheets Prep Work Coaching, Refresh + Reset – just to name a few!) For that I am beyond blessed, and I am so, so grateful. As Cultivators, we know that whenever we say yes to giving our energy to our main goals, we have to say no to other things. While I was getting used to coaching through A Cultivated Life and recovering from a massive reconstructive surgery, I temporarily had to say no to the blog. Know that when I say I have missed you, and I genuinely mean it!
At the end of March, my surgery got rescheduled, so I have been spending most of this quarter recovering and maintaining. I am just now starting to get back into my groove and wanted to make sure that regularly blogging gets added back to that rhythm! It has been a very long, exciting, hard, and unexpected 6 months for sure, as my goal setting has had to adapt to not just my circumstances, but new opportunities. Enough about that, let’s dive into my 2023 Powersheets to let you see what my Tending Lists have looked like, what my top priorities were/are, and where I am at currently before we refresh our goals for Q3!
Want to see my Prep Work?
January 2023
January was a fantastic month, and I am glad I set aside a Day to Dream. To explain, at least once a quarter, I schedule a day to dream up what’s ahead, determine what goals will best get me where God is calling me, and then break down those goals. I’m especially grateful that I made time for this because I didn’t anticipate A Cultivated Life taking off so quickly! I also implemented a new element to my weekly routines that I titled, Power Hour. I would set aside one hour a week to power through and make any medical calls, schedule appointments, pay bills, and/or answer voicemails. This was a game-changer!
My prayer was, “Lord, let Your goals be my goals” and I stayed really focused on the progress I WAS making rather than directing my energy towards where I was imperfectly growing – our goals grow when we pursue progress, not perfection!
February 2023
I brought ALLLL the color this February!! Before February started, about two weeks before, I was being really intentional about reviewing where I succumbed to distractions so that this month I can proactively remove them. So in effort to do that, my top priority is to stay really clear on what matters and how I spend my time because as Cultivate says, “distractions wither with clarity!” To help me with this, I have made a daily goal to limit how often I am on a streaming service so I don’t waste my time!
All while keeping in mind that my diligent, imperfect progress is adding up to a cultivated life ✨
March 2023
March was an extremely busy month, as I was preparing for a massive reconstructive of surgery on the 23rd that had finally gotten rescheduled after months of waiting. I was focusing on finishing up Q1 of A Cultivated Life and the Accountability Collective, hosting the first Refresh + Reset Virtual Conference, preparing my home and heart for surgery knowing the recovery would be brutal, and preparing Grace + Goals content/ coaching calls for the upcoming quarter – as I knew I would not be able to create new content until at least June (and I am glad I prepared because they ended up needing to do more than they planned.)
When we are in chaotic seasons, negative self talk tends to rise. In anticipation of this, I went back to page 15 of my prep work (Rewrite Your Self-Talk) and identified the strongest lie that was hindering/ preventing me from making progress which was, “I struggle to followthrough.” My reframe for this lie, that I used for my encouraging words, is, “I don’t need everything to be perfect, but I do need to be prepared.” My top priority was to remember (as I tended to my goals and prepared for surgery) that, “[I am] strong, brave, capable, creative and ready!”
Spring Refresh
This was a season I couldn’t really put a timeline on, so my goal in all 8 areas of my life was to:
Do the best you can with the body you have, in His strength, one day at a time!
It has been unimaginably hard, as there was more damage than they thought which changed my recovery time. I mean it’s almost July and I am *just* starting to weight-bear again. Fortunately, we had the most amazing medical team and casting team and I have the most amazing caregivers.
Also, THANK YOU to each and every person who prayed for me, sent plants + cards, and generously helped us prepare for surgery through our wishlist. I wish I could thank everyone personally, but we were SO supported that I couldn’t right before surgery – so THANK YOU!!
Despite inpatient challenges, Jesus is (was and always will be) our Rock, Our Hope, Our Strength, Our Peace, and Our Joy. All throughout this inpatient stay, we could see how masterfully God equipped everyone involved: we had 2 of the best, most knowledgeable EDS orthopedic surgeons; my most trustworthy anesthesiologist encouraged me, held my hand when Jared couldn’t go back any further, and as they placed nerve blocks – as my anxiety was rising – they played Bejeweled in the OR (along with Taylor Swift’s other hits) which truly put me more at ease. When I moved to the ICP floor, the first 3 days we had 2 really compassionate doctors; every lovely CA we worked with; the B O&P + Cast Room Members who went above + beyond to merge this brace + cast. The Lord ✨especially equipped✨each and every ICP nurse’s impressive skills shown through: their quality of care, their words of encouragement that they’d whisper in my ear while I cried in exhaustion and pain, their compassionate care with great attention to detail to all my comorbidities, they were honest when they didn’t fully understand my disease or one of its comorbidities and they listened to my response.
My incredible husband who: knew what I needed before I did, allll the advocating he did, and for always, always holding my hand (which is one of the most vulnerable ways that I show I need support and will only ask this from someone I trust with my whole heart.) My mom and dad for all the fierce advocating they did, all of their bedside skills and patience, and for all the times that they switched off with Jared (and gave him a full night shift off) and lastly for all the Brugger’s cinnamon sugar bagels, home made apple pie and for all the times you stood in for Jared by holding my hand.) My family and friends for patiently waiting on updates so my quad could focus on my care first. My best friends for all the meals, prayers, phone calls, and for my cultivated confetti cast! Also all of our siblings who sent sent care packages and words of encouragement, stayed over to give the quad a break bringing the puppies over, and especially Joanne for bejeweling my boot!
…and this June I am (quite literally) getting my footing again on life – finally!
April 2023
April is a blur, BUT my garden was planted by generous caregivers and Jared and I celebrated 5 years of marriage! My encouraging words were, ‘It’s better when we grow together” with my top priority being to make the best of our anniversary.
We did do that! We got my bouquet remade, takeout, and I kept my tradition of wearing my veil on our anniversary. My biggest goal was to remember that although I wasn’t actively in my Powersheets , that in the daily action items that I acknowledged that “Today’s victory is that I made it through today!”
May 2023
May was a full month! I kept my encouraging words from my Spring Refresh, “Just keep doing the best you can, with the body you have, in hHis strength” and my top priority was to “Dream like a gardener!” There were a couple of goals that I ended up writing “too soon” in the progress bars as I was not ready for them. This was very hard for my recovering perfectionist self and was very difficult to acknowledge, BUT it quickly became a badge of growth – a huge victory and lesson learned for sure!
We can choose to not accrue goal-guilt and embrace grace – and be proud of it!
I started getting back into my quiet time routines, spending time in the sunshine out in the sunporch, celebrating our siblings milestones, making the best of disappointing situations, taking REAL SHOWERS AGAIN, cuddling puppies, playing Pac-Man, and delighting in A Cultivated Life Powersheets coaching alongside celebrating my clients wins as well!!
June’s Tending List
Diligence takes root one decision at a time day after day ✨
Those are my encouraging words this month because it’s a truth the Lord reminded me of as I am slowly getting back into my daily life, rhythms/routines, and Grace + Goals coaching.
My word of the year is diligent. I chose diligent over diligence because God made me diligent – therefore I am diligent. This mindset shift has tremendously changed how I view and count my very imperfect progress.
This lens gives me the opportunity to focus on living intentionally little by little – one day, one goal, one task and one decision at a time. This includes continuing to keep trying even when I’m not perfectly consistent or chose distraction over diligence.
Every goal that we aim to achieve (whether it’s a habit, finish line, or big dream) comes down to making one intentional decision after another. My top priority is to “decide you can bloom” ☀️🌱🌿🪴
Blooming takes a flower: sprouting through the dark soil, growing towards the light, soaking up the nutrients necessary to stay refreshed, and then uses that diligent energy to start budding open – with all its might – until bursting into a gorgeous bloom 🌻
I am so happy to be feeling like myself and back at it! This month, Jared and I also celebrated 10 years together which blows my mind. I still have a lot of recovering to do, and a potential second surgery. For now, I am enjoying: the first of the flowers blooming in the 2023 garden bed, hosting a master class this Friday (6/30/23 @ 7 pm EST; click here to register), the Accountability Collective opening up, working with current ACL Clients and onboarding new clients (learn more here), letting God lead, and digging into the Fresh Start Powersheets for Grace + Goals (see how I use two sets of Powersheets here.)
In case you didn’t know, here on Living the Chronic Illness Life you now have access to the
🎉 Grace + Goals Resource Library 🎉
which helps you tailor your goal setting and powersheets to seasons of uncertainty. You can find all the info here!
Grace + Goals Current Coaching Opportunities:
Want 10% off all of your Cultivate Orders? Use the code GRACEANDGOALS at checkout!
I am #teampapaya this 2023 (and I use the Fresh Start Powersheets for my business goals) and in this Collection my top three must haves are: the Goal Setting Sticker Book (I have had every sticker book Cultivate has ever made and this one is by FAR my favorite 🤩), the Break it Down Notepad (regular and the mini!), and the Blooms Accessory Pouch!
Click the link below to shop, and this link will automatically apply this code to your check out!
Cassie Nolin is a married spoonie who lives the chronic illness life with EDS + Co. (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and it’s comorbid conditions.) She challenges others to choose grace over guilt while goal setting, and is in ministry part time serving the online community through Grace + Goals and The Spoonie Study. She loves planting, confetti, hand lettering, and sharing the hope she has found in Jesus. Her blog, Living the Chronic Illness Life, is in the top 100 chronic illness blogs and in 2019 she launched her podcast, Chronically Cultivating, where Cassie encourages women to live authentic and intentional lives through their diagnosis’ not in spite of them. She is on a mission to help other women learn how to trade guilt for God’s grace and control for confetti! You can learn more about her at www.livingthechronicillnesslife.com
This post may contain affiliate links
Grace + Goals Resources
Click a box below to get started!
“New to Grace + Goals? Start Here!” or click a box below to learn more about the Grace + Goals Resources available to you!
Living the Chronic Illness Life 