2009 Goals

It is hard to believe that almost six months have passed since we started our TIPS group here in Little Rock. Transformation is often a complex process, and I think our lives have reflected the process fairly accurately. We have each accomplished many steps in our journey to see our goals met and our dreams come true. Lessons have been learned, among them the necessity of support, accountablilty, and the challenge to keep motivated and focused on our goals. Most of us have made the traditional New Year's Resolutions in the past, only to let them fall by the wayside by February. This time is different, we are different, changed. Although we have our ups and downs, our successes and failures, we keep striving, and we don't let any member fall by the wayside. We are all in this journey together, a sisterhood, in fact. Now that the year is almost half over, we are reassessing our goals, narrowing them down so that we are not overwhelmed by the sheer number of them, breaking down steps to accomplish them, and in effect, tweaking them.

We have renewed resolve to climb our personal mountains, which are those things that are blocking our progress, and joyfully make it to the other side to reach the destination of our goals. Happy Trekking, Ladies

Meeting Mar. 28, 2009

We had a glorious meeting Saturday morning in the River Market.  Laura, our member from Florida and Carol's sister, had flown in.  It was our first chance to meet with her, and it was fantastic.  Cynthia opened with a beautiful blessing.  We chatted, then celebrated Cynthia's, Beth's and Nancy's birthdays.  Beth brought lovely vases of flowers. What fun!  In addition, Laura brought beautiful pins for everyone.  What a sweet, thoughtful gesture!  We took turns talking about our goals, progress made and challenges.  We also shared where we wanted to be, in relation to our goals, in three months.  It was fun  and enlightening to hear everyone's visions.

Afterwards, Nancy shared a spring ritual including the flower pots, seeds and sage.  It is a time of renewal and growth.  A perfect time to contemplate the journey we are each on, and where we are headed.  Carol and Laura's brother Tom dropped by and inspired us with his vision of our group!

We ended by each sharing a favorite quote and big group hug.  Jennifer was not able to make it down because of the unexpected ice up north, and we missed her, but look forward to seeing her next time!

How to start your own group

The first thing you need to do is to find a quiet spot and have a long talk with yourself.  Be honest, completely true with yourself,  forget all the excuses that you usually tell yourself.

  What do you want out of life?  What are your goals?  What does a day in your ideal life look like?  What do you need to change?  What are the obstacles in your path?  What can you do to eliminate or go around those obstacles? What are you hungry for?  What do you need to release in order to move forward?  

Once you've examined your life and written down your findings, you are ready for the next step.  Write your Goals down, then break them up into manageable steps, which I like to call baby steps in my case.   This is called your Action Plan.  Set up a time line, and give yourself some leeway to accomplish your goals.

Now look around in your life, and see who your like minded friends are, the ones that you find it easy to work with, are supportive, and who have goals that they want to address right now.

  Email or call these friends and invite them to join your makeover group.  Find a meeting place and time and get your friends together and brainstorm your personal goals, the goals for your group, and how you plan to create your best life.  At your meetings, each person should have a time to tell about their goals, action plans, progress met, and setbacks.  It is helpful to have some support articles to hand out, or questions that each member can work on until you meet again.  Exchange contact information with each other so that you may keep in touch in between meeting dates.  This support is critical!  You must be in contact so that each person feels they have support and are not alone in their mission to improve their life. 

 We each have a notebook in our group divided into sections.  These sections include Goals, Action Plans, Group Goals, Motivation, Calendar, etc.  Depending on your tastes, you can add separate sections for each goal, such as Creativity, Exercise, etc and put helpful hints and ideas in there. 

 Confidentiality is a must in any support group.  You must respect each person's right to share their innermost feelings, concerns and fears without the threat of it going any further.  Our meetings, emails and conversations are sacred to us, and we respect that special bond that we have together.  We are on a fascinating journey together and are learning much along the way.

Our group is based on the strong love and respect we have for each other.  When one person succeeds in a goal, we all succeed and celebrate it!  The point is not to feel competitive with your group members, but to feel competitive with yourself.  You want to live the best life for YOU!  You are the one with the power to change whatever you feel is necessary in your life.

Good luck with your group, and let us know how you are doing with it.

Welcome to T.I.P.S.

Welcome to T.I.P.S., otherwise known as the Transformations in Progress Sisterhood! We are a small group of like minded women determined to overcome obstacles in our path to achieve our best lives possible. We began our group on Jan. 10, 2009 in Little Rock, AR at the River Market.  We shared our dreams and goals and came up with action plans to achieve them.  We meet every three weeks, and in between meetings, we keep in contact by email, phone calls and visits to encourage each other to reach for the stars and live life to the fullest.