Category Archives: journal

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My Reflection on My Personal and Professional Goals for 2023 and The Best Advice I Received

A Year Ago I Published a Blog Here Stating I Would Podcast How I Did With My Goals

Happy New Year to you.

(Last year I wrote the blog post “Goals for 2023” and shared I would record a podcast of how I did at the end of the year. Hit play above to listen episode I promised.)

Regardless of age or circumstance, there’s something truly enchanting about the beginning of a new year. It’s a time to set goals, make resolutions, and dream big. I’m a firm believer in the power of intentional goal-setting, and I want to share some insights and tools that have significantly enhanced my own journey.

Having just wrapped up a fantastic winter break with my family, I’m fueled by the warmth of shared experiences and the anticipation of what lies ahead. I’m a dedicated goal-setter, and I find that setting objectives and journaling are invaluable tools for planning and living a fulfilling life.

I just hit publish on ​Episode 235 of my Wired Educator Podcast​. It’s a personal reflection on the highs, lows, and everything in between that defined my journey in 2023. In this special episode, I delve into the impact I made, the setbacks I encountered, and the successes I celebrated. It’s a candid exploration of the lessons learned and the growth experienced over the past year.

Overall, 2023 was a fantastic year. That doesn’t mean I hit all my goals or even most; it means I made progress.

Exactly one year ago, armed with my trusty Moleskine Journal, I set forth a comprehensive list of over 50 personal and professional goals for 2023. To hold myself accountable and invite you into this journey, I committed to breaking down each goal in a dedicated podcast episode. It wasn’t an easy task, but transparency and accountability are crucial for personal development. ​Join me as I share the results of this ambitious goal-setting venture.​ Discover the achievements, the lessons in resilience, and the unexpected turns that shaped my year. I hope this episode serves as both an honest account of my journey and an inspiration for you to set and pursue your own goals.

This was a humbling but fun recording. So, why do I do it? It’s not about bragging; it’s about the belief that sharing our experiences and knowledge can genuinely help others. Just like a classroom setting, I see blogging, newsletters, and podcasting as platforms where we can learn and grow together.

Listen to the episode here: • On my website: ​https://wirededucator.com/goalreviewof2023/​ • On Spotify: ​https://open.spotify.com/episode/3odj9QW0OSYfMpf33ANECO?si=2uicDM73T7OgYCbG_qHawA​ • On Apple Podcasts: ​https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wired-educator-podcast/id974270220?i=1000640159417​

Best Advice I Received in 2023: I collect inspirational words and excellent advice. In fact, I write them down in the front of my journal under a section titled “Words to Live By.” This year the best advice I received was: “The magic fix you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.” I don’t know where I found this gem, or who said it. They’re not my words, but it has guided me in 2023. I love it. Another inspirational bit of advice I received was from author, Jon Acuff. He said, quite simply, “Stay in the game!” This spoke to me because I almost let my podcast go. I was being inconsistent in several areas of life because I had broken the streak. He emphasized to me the importance of sticking with my art and work. Love these two bits of advice. I hope they serve you.

Also,I’m offering a Coaching Opportunity: Want to start a podcast, speak on stage, publish a book, build a website, start a blog, become a better leader, complete the goal of your dreams? I have helped many educators publish books, start podcasts, and begin their service as keynote speakers and EDU consultants. I haven’t offered this in a while, and I am only going to keep this link open for a short time. I ONLY work with three people a year. If you are serious about moving forward complete the following form. Click here to learn about a paid coaching opportunity with Kelly: https://forms.gle/S3PK5194CyEGqT3o6

Always forward,

Kelly

I am a professional speaker, and I would like to speak at your event.

Order Kelly’s books, Along Came a Leader and Unthink Before Bed: A Children’s Book on Mindfulness for your personal library.

Educator, Author, Keynote Speaker
Twitter: @kellycroy
Instagram: @kcroy
Website: kellycroy.com and wirededucator.com
Podcast: The Wired Educator Podcast
and of course: Facebook.

Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here.

 

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Greatness is…

Redefining How to Bring Greatness Into Your Life

I love the absolute brilliance of variety and diversity in our world. Every sunset is a unique masterpiece. So many different and colorful birds. Music collections of countless genres and masters in so many differing styles, instruments and vocals. Galleries of enchanting art of differing styles and tastes. Social media content creators sharing their talents of seeming unbelievable abilities. I love them all.  I could write volumes on all the amazing varieties of our world.

(U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas with my wife, Lori.)

What I call greatness may or may not be appreciated by those around me, and boy do we have the means to overshare about that. Still, what I call greatness matters to me, and it’s worth pursuing and worth sharing.

My thirty-three years in education and many travels have introduced me to so many who sadly believe there is nothing great about them, nor ever will be. A good part of my career and passion as a parent, educator, author and speaker has been to convince otherwise.

I remember teaching one of my daughters to drive and in that very special time being alone in the car and free from the chains of devices, she shared a thought on life, “I just want to be great at something, dad.” She was. She is. I told her.

We all want the experience of greatness. Society’s measurements of greatness are harmful. This toxicity spreads into our homes, workplace, leisure and it spoils the living of life in the sense that things we should be proud and happy about are soured by the awfulness of comparison. Comparison can paralyze and impede.

Greatness is not a template or scale that we stand upon to be measured and weighed. I do not need a publisher to tell me my story is worth reading. I do not need a gallery’s invitation to give my art value and meaning. I do not need a calculation of likes or hearts to make a post worthy of sharing. Greatness is not a number in a record book. No, greatness to me is in fact defined quite differently.

Greatness is…

  • triumph over your greatest challenge.
  • positively impacting the life of another.
  • the courage to share something of which you are deeply proud.
  • the pursuit of a dream or personal improvement.
  • helping others to feel valued.
  • deeply personal.

Find your greatness. It looks different for everyone.

Be kind to yourself as you pursue it and measure your greatness against no one but yourself.

Feeling a bit braver? Offer authentic encouragement and joy to another for their efforts.

Getting your feet on the floor in the morning or taking one small step to toward your greatest challenge may seem personally insignificant, but in reality its greatness is as significant as the Olympian who shaved seconds of their last time.

You have greatness inside of you at this very moment. It’s waiting to be released. At any moment you have the capability to do great things. Immerse yourself in the positivity of this knowledge. In that moment of choice to move forward and advance, something wonderful is happening. Greatness.

It takes to courage to be great. The only way we can find the courage is to say ‘yes’ and take action.

Always forward,

Kelly

I am a professional speaker, and I would like to speak at your event.

Order Kelly’s books, Along Came a Leader and Unthink Before Bed: A Children’s Book on Mindfulness for your personal library.

Educator, Author, Keynote Speaker
Twitter: @kellycroy
Instagram: @kcroy
Website: kellycroy.com and wirededucator.com
Podcast: The Wired Educator Podcast
and of course: Facebook.

Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here.

 

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My Secret Board of Directors

A Collection of Amazing People Who Unknowingly Guide Many of My Decisions

I have a secret board of directors. They unknowingly guide many of my decisions. They are without a doubt the greatest assembly of mind, virtue and practice ever collected. I kid you not.

I assembled them years ago after being inspired by the writings of Dale Carnegie, Brian Tracy and Andy Andrews.

Just imagine if you had access to the sharpest minds in the world, or in all of history, to offer you advice in the areas of finance, health, relationships, professional success or whatever decision you are currently facing. Well, you do.

These board members I assembled were at first were just people I admired and whose point of view and values I would apply to major decisions I was facing. Some of them from history, long since deceased, and others so famous and successful that I would be unable to gain actual access to them. Still, I could study their lives. Their work. I could learn from their lessons, and I could apply their success and failures to my own life. And… I have.

This idea of a secret board of directors began to take on new iterations over time. I wondered, “What if I could ask them real questions and get immediate feedback?” I studied my friend circle and the connections I had made over the years and started categorizing acquaintances in particular categories that I admired. I would send them scenarios or questions and they readily shared their thoughts. I then shared their ideas with others in the same category of brilliance to gauge their response and development of the ideas.

 

In deep reflection, I would pose a questions to my diverse board. Perhaps I was making an expensive purchase for the family, what would my assembled board say, and how would they vote. These are big life questions, not grocery shopping mind you. I would journal the names of my ‘acting’ board. Pose the question. (Applying for a job, buying a home, etc,) I’d jot down notes of different perspectives, and tally the votes. Maybe this sounds crazy, but it works. You can’t consider every perspective or you’d remain indecisive.

My secret board of directors has served me well. Perhaps you are on mine. Seriously. You wouldn’t know. Click to Read More

 

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Sharing My Goals for 2023

I've Never Shared My Goals Before. Trying to Hold Myself Accountable and Encourage Others

Goals can be a very private endeavor and perhaps they should be. There are TED Talks and Stoic Philosophy to support why you should NOT share what your are working toward. There is also some research to suggest maybe you should as it helps you accomplish your goals. I know several writers that I admire who share their goals, and I find it inspiring. Regardless of which is truly right and best, I have decided to share my goals this year.

As the first month of the year comes to a close, and I’ve shared ideas and tools to help you design a better year, I thought perhaps I would share some of my goals and the thoughts behind them to help hold myself more accountable, and I hope one or two may inspire others to get outside their comfort zone, set some of their own, and make some progress.

Typically the majority of goals around the world and over time fall into three primary categories: health, finances, and relationships.

I typically make a long list of my hopes and dreams for the new year. I also have five categories that I focus on with my goals setting which are: physical, financial, family, professional and business. From all of these I also pick the top three overall goals as my primary focus.

I keep everything organized in my journal.

Again, this is my first time sharing online ever! It may be my last too.

My top three goals for 2023 are: Click to Read More

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My Habit Trackers, To-Do Lists and Journals

If you want something done you either do it now or you schedule it. Since you can’t do everything at once, you might be creating a pretty long list.

I’m proud of the accomplishments in my life, but I’ve got more on the way. In fact, I think I am just getting started.

I’m proud of what I accomplish each year, month, week and most days. It’s not luck. What I finish is the result of goal setting in my journals, habit tracking, and a daily to-do list.

I am sharing with you the exact tools I use, both physical and digital, of how I work in hopes you will find some value in them and try them out, as well as share some of your tools and processes in the comments.

Click to Read More

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When Imbalance is Needed

This evening I received a wonderful email from someone who read my book, Along Came a Leader: A Guide to Personal and Professional Leadership. It is always awesome to get a message like this, and this email from Devon asked a great question.

“What measures can I use to prioritize the dozen areas of my life I am passionate about? There are so many projects in which I long to go full speed ahead. However, I have only so much gas and horsepower.” ~Devon

This was my reply:

A balanced life? Hmmmm…

I wish I knew that secret but I will share some of my thoughts on this.

I keep a journal. It helps. I track some basic daily habits in a grid.
I write down my goals for the year. I write monthly goals as the months arrive.
I have a daily to-do list of a few items.
There is honestly always leftovers.

I review my goals often.

The problem I have noticed is that some years my goals are the same as the previous year.
That is when imbalance is necessary.

Click to Read More
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Five Tools I Use for Note-Taking, Journaling and Organizing My Ideas

I have been journaling now for over 20 years. I use my journal to improve my life by taking notes, planning projects, reflecting on successes and failures, brainstorming ideas, planning books, writing speeches, capturing magical moments with my family and so much more.

My process has evolved over the years. The very first year I wrote things down in a spiral notebook just like the one you would use in a high school classroom. Now my notes sync electronically across all of my devices and a plan special projects in a leather Moleskine journal.

For day-to-day journaling, I use:

• Day One: Day One is an electronic journal that is on all of my devices. It is passcode and security protected. It prompts me each day to write an entry. I have multiple journals inside the app. One for my personal life, one for work, and a Kudos journal to inspire and improve my mindset. I really like Day One. It has a lot of advanced features and it is searchable. Easy to find what you are looking for with a quick search. You can include photos, sketches, text, voice and more. I highly recommend Day One. The best journal is the one you have with you, and Day One is on your iPhone, your Apple Watch, your iPad, and Your MacBook.

• Moleskine Journal: I like to use paper and pen sometimes to plan projects although my iPad and the Apple Pencil are replacing this need more frequently. The best physical journal is this Moleskine Journal: My journal of choice is: extra-large, softcover, Moleskine Carnet ligne’ lined 192 paged journal measuring 7 and 1/2 inches by 9 and 3/4 inches. I know because I have tried them all.

For Note-Taking and Sketch-noting: 

• GoodNotes: GoodNotes is the app I use with my iPad and Apple Pencil for note-taking. The ability to use the Apple Pencil and write with it makes it awesome! It’s searchable and versatile. You can create notebooks or quick notes. It has so many great features and lots of incredible templates. GoodNotes is the tool that is quickly replacing my Moleskine Journal for everything. It syncs with all of my devices so ALL of my notes are with me wherever I go. They are on my phone, iPad, and MacBook. They look great and it is perfect for sketch noting too. You can even search handwritten words and you can also convert handwriting to typed text. I take my iPad to meetings or work on my notes or review wherever I go.

• Procreate: Procreate is the best app for creating art. Boom! I said it. I have tried every art app imaginable. Procreate is fun, easy to use and powerful. I love Procreate. I do all of my art here now except for my painting, and even my paintings begin here as sketches. I sometimes use Procreate for Sketch-noting.

• Drafts: Drafts is an app I use to quickly capture and idea for a blog post or crudely capture a thought that enters my head while listening to a blog post. Everything inside my Drafts app is captured quickly, crudely, and is reviewed and put into one of my other tools later. I also store hashtags and other copy that I will tweet, or copy and paste into something else on a regular basis. Drafts is where I dump my brain. I really enjoy it.

I’ll share how I put these tools to work in a later post.

You can use these tools to level-up your journaling and note-taking game to become more productive and successful.

Reach out to me with any questions you may have.

Kelly

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Looking for a dynamic speaker for your event? • Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. Want to learn more? Send me an email. • Sign-up for Kelly’s Newsletter. Listen to Kelly’s other podcast The Wired Educator Podcast with over 150 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

 

 

 

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Reboot Your Resolutions!

It’s June. Time to take a hard look at the resolutions and goals you made for the year.

What’s working? What’s not?

Read through them. (You wrote them down! Right? If not, write them down.)

Do you still have the fire, grit, spunk, and resolve you did on the first of January? Or has it waned?

I want you to look at the span of this year of your life a little differently. The past six months is valuable feedback on how you live in comparison to what you want. Look at your year, which still is half full, like you would an artist’s work in single year and ask yourself, “What will I be remembered for this year?” Also, examine the barriers, internally or externally, that have kept you from making progress, or pushed you forward. This first half of the year is feedback. Record it. Reflect on it. Redesign a plan for what needs to be done.

Six months is a tremendous amount of time. You can create a masterpiece in six months. A masterpiece of art, health, finance, or side hustle.

The year is still your’s!

What’s it going to take?

Here are SIX things you can do to reboot your resolutions and see them to completion:

  1. Rebuild your mindset. Get fired up! Make your reason for doing this passionate.
  2. Reflect on the past six months. This is how we learn!
  3. Record what worked well and what didn’t. Write down what worked and any obstacles you discovered.
  4. Redesign your plan. Write down what you are going to do over the next six months.
  5. Remind yourself daily of your why.
  6. Repeat at least one action daily that will take you closer toward that goal.

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Looking for a dynamic speaker for your event? • Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. Want to learn more? Send me an email. • Sign-up for Kelly’s Newsletter. Listen to Kelly’s other podcast The Wired Educator Podcast with over 121 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram