education

How to Set and Achieve a Goal The SMART Way

December 27, 2018 By crystal chapman 1 Comment

Why is it Important to Set a Goal?

Much of our lives begins with a dream. A dream to have a more financially free life, a dream to be able to spend time how you’d prefer and not how you have to, a dream to own your own business or become a master at a skill you love. The limiting factor behind a dream is yourself. Do you believe enough in yourself to pursue it and have the grit necessary to continue pushing for it? Do you have a goal with a map to get you there? Often times, it’s the lack of a concrete goal with an action plan to get there that holds people up.

A goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time sensitive – it’s a SMART goal! Let’s dive into how to set and achieve a goal the smart way so you an dominate your goal and reach your dream!

Steps to Setting a Goal

1. Specific – What do you want to achieve? Get really specific by not setting an open-ended goal.

2. Measurable – Break your goal down into daily, weekly or monthly steps.

3. Achievable – Is your goal one that’s realistic and achievable? You’ll determine a time-frame in step 5 and that will help tremendously with setting yourself up for success.

4. Relevant – Your goal needs to fit a need in your needs because adding something new to your plate when already pulled thin won’t serve you well. If you’re at capacity with your time, maybe adding the goal of a new hobby into your life isn’t well timed.

5. Time Sensitive – When are you going to achieve this goal? Set a timeline for your goal to be completed so you can have that finish line to work towards.

What Does a SMART Goal Look Like?

Goal – I want to increase my sales this year.

SMART Goal – I want to double my current monthly sales goal this year by reaching $2,000 in sales each month by the end of the first quarter. In order to hit my goal, I will need to sell 5 additional items each week (20 in a month), which I will do by adding two additional income producing activities each week, as well as being more active in my community group.

Goal – I want to lose weight

SMART Goal – I want to lose 50 pounds by the end of four months. I will need to average slightly more than 3 pounds in a single week in order to achieve this goal. I will accomplish this by meal planning, limiting my snacking to fresh vegetables, walking during my two breaks at work, and doing a Zumba class five times at week.

What’s Your Goal?

Be sure to comment below with your goal because I can’t wait to hear what you decide to work on this year!! It might be the beginning of a new year right now but goals aren’t limited to starting only then. You can be successful regardless of when you set your goal if you are mindful of exactly what it’ll take to accomplish it. Make it specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-sensitive, and you’re sure to be successful! If you don’t reach your goal before the end of your time-frame, reevaluate to see where you went wrong or what could have been done differently, and set a new goal with that information!

If you enjoyed this post, take a look at my 8 Must Have New Year’s Goals and see if any of those ideas speak to you!

8 Must Have New Year’s Goals

December 26, 2018 By crystal chapman 2 Comments

A New Year is Upon Us!

As with any new year, it’s always accompanied with the want to improve areas within our lives. I encourage you to select a goal to strive for within each category. Keep in mind that these do not have to be massive undertakings that are life changing, they are small but mighty. Let’s get started on the 8 Must Have New Year’s Goals to help you start the New Year on the right foot.

Goal setting plays such a big role in helping us push to do better and achieve our dreams. The first step in achieving a dream is to write it down and create a goal. Let’s get to crushing some goals this year!

8 Must Have New Year’s Goals

1. Intellectual

How are you going to challenge yourself this coming year? Are you going to read a book a month? Maybe you’ll learn a new skill or hobby. Whatever it is, you need to challenge your brain.

2. Physical

A common New Year’s goal is weight loss. A physical goal is so much more than that though! You can focus on being more active by getting out for a 30 minute walk five times a week, achieving that advanced yoga pose, successfully completing a marathon, etc. A physical goal is one that challenges you exactly where you are and helps you get to where you want to be.

3. Spiritual

A spiritual goal is so much more than religion, so be open-minded! Sure, this might be where you strive to get to church every week, but it might not be! Meditation and taking time for self-reflection are also great goals to have within this category! Maybe your bucket is filled by giving back to others and you’ll choose to volunteer a certain amount of your time! Be creative!

4. Family

This is a wonderful goal to have! We get so caught up in the day to day and rushing to each requirement that before we know it, the month is over…or maybe even the year. Will your goal be to eat dinner at the table 4 days a week, schedule in time away with your partner, mommy/daddy dates with your child individually, or even lessening the amount of extracurricular activities you say yes to. It’s okay to say no, especially if it means your family is served best!

5. Social

For the most part, we are social beings but those daily responsibilities push our wants to the side. Who are you going to prioritize seeing or talking? Or maybe you say yes too much and feel burned out with so much social stimulation. Determine your limits if that’s the case and be okay with them!

6. Career

While work isn’t everything, it plays a huge role in our lives. Are you wanting to push for a certain promotion? Maybe you’re burned out from your current job and want to begin looking for a new income opportunity? Or dare I suggest it’s time to ask for a well deserved raise? If so, it’s time to ask!

7. Financial

Are you wanting to get out of debt this year? Save for a big purchase? Start your retirement or child’s college fund? Set your goal and work backwards – what will it take to achieve that goal and does it align with your current career? While these are all independent goal categories, they all spill into the other!

8. Personal

Taking time for yourself is vital. We spend so much giving that we often find our own buckets empty and it’s impossible to give from an empty bucket. Is this the year your prioritize taking time for yourself even if it’s only an afternoon a month? Heck, a good bubble bath with some music or audible book is just as rejuvenating for some!

Are Your New Year’s Goals Ready?

I’m excited to hear how you’ll be catapulting yourself into success with this list of 8 Must Have New Year’s Goals! Comment below and share what you’ll be focusing on!

If you enjoyed this post, How to Set and Achieve a Goal the SMART Way is another post about goal setting and setting yourself up for success!

6 Reasons Why You Should Put Your Child into Sports

November 7, 2018 By crystal chapman 3 Comments

Your Children Need Sports

It’s an endless list when it comes to why sports are important for children, and I’m going to outline 6 reasons why you should put your child into sports.

1. Healthy Habits

It’s no secret, we are at a time in our society in which physical activity is at an all-time low for children. Unfortunately, it’s also a standard across all age groups, but it doesn’t have to be! Being on an organized team instills an early love and appreciation for physical activity. What a life skill to have so early in life!

2. Confidence

Our tiny people are learning about who they are, how to navigate in this world and find their voice. There’s something about an organized sport to help pull confidence out of a child, and confidence is something your child will carry with them their entire life. It allows them to realize their capabilities on their own and grow into who they’re going to be. The adolescent years are challenging. Building up their confidence before peer pressure starts to become an issue will help soften those obstacles, and the sting of rejection. When you’re child is confident in who they are and what they believe, they are less apt to experience bullying.

3. Respect

A lot can be said about the amount of respect learned through being on a team. There are coaches, teammates, rival teams and referees/umpires. Having respect for others doesn’t mean you fold whenever someone of a ranking balks orders at you, but it does mean there are times when you simply listen. An early introduction will teach your child there is a time and a place for everything, and sometimes they won’t like what they’re told, but that’s life.

4. Responsibility

Being a member of a team means others rely on you because you have a role to play and a position to fill. Certain tasks need to be accomplished or else you will let your team down – talk about pressure to perform! To clarify, I’m not talking about needing to be an amazing athlete in order to learn responsibility. What I’m talking about is showing up. This is about knowing the importance of showing up and doing your best regardless of how difficult times get. That’s a standard life skill every person needs to have. Life will get hard and times will be tough, but that doesn’t matter because it won’t change anything unless you choose to show up and do your best to improve the situation.

5. Pride

There isn’t a much better feeling than seeing your hard work pay off, and a solid competition that makes you grit your teeth and do your best will do just that. As wonderful as it is to win, pride is there regardless because you know you gave it your best. Pride is there when you are the one to score a goal, or assist someone else in doing so. Those small victories your child will experience on the field will reinforce why they work hard and help them appreciate their achievements. It feels good to be good at something. It’s motivating to know hard work does eventually payoff!

6. How to Lose but Not Quit

Things have changed since I was a child. Nowadays, everyone gets a trophy at the end of a season, and some teams don’t even keep score. But the fact of the matter is you will have times when you win and lose in life. Just because you’re better than most at a skill doesn’t mean someone else isn’t better than you. We’re doing a disservice to our children by allowing them to think everything in life is fair because it’s not. They won’t always be a winner – they need to lose and learn how to do so gracefully. Being on a team allows for the opportunity to experience winning and losing, both of which are equally of value.

Let Them Play

I encourage you to get your child enrolled in an organized sport. You will notice a difference in your child pretty quickly and it’s a difference they’ll thank you for later in life. Organized sports not only get your child moving and enjoying physical activity, but it teaches them about who they are and what they like. Empower your child with the opportunity to navigate their way through these life skills without you to lean on. As much as we want to be the ones that teach our children everything, there are things we need to let them learn on their own or experience from others.

Gluten Free Unicorn Cheesecake

April 7, 2018 By crystal chapman 1 Comment

Unicorn Cheesecake?!

Yup! That’s what I said! I’ve been making this cheesecake for 10 years now and I couldn’t rave about this recipe more than I do. I initially found it in a magazine that’s now called Gluten Free Living. I absolutely LOVE this gluten free cheesecake recipe and have tweaked it over time to be the perfect dessert for my household.

My daughter has been on a unicorn (unitorn) kick for almost a year and a half now, and upon seeing a fun unicorn dipping creation on Pinterest, my children asked to make it. I was in the mood for cheesecake though so we went with that and it was a huge success! So much fun with all the colors and it’s what got them excited to start helping me in the kitchen.

Ingredients You’ll Need

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese or dairy-free cream cheese, room temperature
1½ cups sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
2 cups sour cream or Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 package of Glutino Chocolate or Vanilla Cookies or Gluten Free graham crackers
5 tbsp unsalted butter

Topping of choice

How to Make Unicorn Cheesecake!

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

2. I use The Perfect Oreo Cookie Crust Recipe from Crazy for Crust. Her recipe isn’t a gluten free recipe but it’s so easy to make it gluten free. Start with half the amount of butter and add it to it as needed. We all know gluten free substitutes can have a different consistency, so start off with half the amount and work from there!

3. Beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the sugar and continue beating for a few minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating to combine. Then beat in remaining ingredients.

4. Divide the cream cheese mixture into a bowl for each color you want to use. I have colored all of the mixture using 6-8 colors, but this time I poured half into the pan and divided the other half into four other bowls for coloring.

5. Slowly begin to add one color at a time with a spoon and kind of scatter it around the pan. Don’t use all of each color at once though. Once you add all of the colors in once, take a fork and swirl it around a little. Repeat this step until all cheesecake mixture is used.

6. Pour the filling into a springform pan that contains a cooled prebaked crust.

7. Bake in preheated oven on the middle rack for 2 hours or until the top is golden and feels firm yet soft like a baked custard. Begin checking after 90 minutes. Internal temperature should be 150 degrees.

8. Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake inside for about an hour. Five minutes after shutting off the oven, run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan to help prevent cheesecake from cracking as it cools and settles.

9. Remove cheesecake from the oven and cool completely before chilling in the refrigerator. Cover with toppings of your choice. Slice and serve.

Chill, Slice and Enjoy!

Please let me know how much you enjoy this recipe! And please, hop on over to my Facebook group to share a photo and let us know how you liked it!! Be sure to subscribe to my blog to keep up with other gluten free treats such as Monster Cookies, Sugar Cookies and delicious Brownies.

What is Celiac Disease?

February 17, 2018 By crystal chapman 3 Comments

What is Celiac Disease?

What is Celiac Disease? It’s an autoimmune disorder in which the body is unable to process gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley and rye). Consuming gluten as someone with Celiac Disease, the body begins to attack the small intestine. This attack leads to damage of the villi, which are small fingerlike projections that line the small intestine, and are meant to promote nutrient absorption. When these villi get damaged, nutrients are unable to be absorbed properly into the body. Think of it this way, no matter how healthy your diet is, you’re malnourished.

Is it Hereditary?

Celiac Disease is hereditary and there is a 1 in 10 chance of first degree relatives developing it. If you have this disease or have a family member that does and you don’t feel right, get checked out. More importantly ( in my opinion), if a family member has Celiac Disease and your child is having difficulty with foods and belly aches, get them check out. Be their advocate and don’t chalk it up to whining. I say this for a few reasons – stop the suffering early on if you can, but also know malnourishment during childhood can lead to stunted growth.

Symptoms of Celiac Disease in Children

From the Celiac Disease Foundation, these are the symptoms to look for in children. It’s important to note digestive symptoms are far more common in infants and children.

abdominal bloating and pain
chronic diarrhea
vomiting
constipation
pale, foul-smelling, or fatty stool
weight loss
fatigue
irritability and behavioral issues
dental enamel defects of the permanent teeth
delayed growth and puberty
short stature
failure to thrive
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Symptoms of Celiac Disease in Adults

From the Celiac Disease Foundation, these are the symptoms to look for in adults. Digestive symptoms are less common in adults, with only about a third experiencing diarrhea. The below listed symptoms are most commonly found in adults.

unexplained iron-deficiency anemia
fatigue
bone or joint pain
arthritis
osteoporosis or osteopenia (bone loss)
liver and biliary tract disorders (transaminitis, fatty liver, primary sclerosing cholangitis, etc.)
depression or anxiety
peripheral neuropathy ( tingling, numbness or pain in the hands and feet)
seizures or migraines
missed menstrual periods
infertility or recurrent miscarriage
canker sores inside the mouth
dermatitis herpetiformis (itchy skin rash)

What Does All of This Even Mean?

I’m sure those lists of symptoms have you analyzing your body, or your child’s body, even more than before. It’s important to remember nobody will ever fit inside a single box. You probably won’t even have most of the listed symptoms, but that’s because we are all so different. We’re individuals and things impact our bodies differently.

If you suspect this could be the cause of your troubles, I urge you to speak with your provider before making any changes in your diet. It takes between 30-90 days to eliminate gluten from your body after removing it from your diet. If you make changes before seeking testing, it could impact your test results, and delay getting answers.

Living life gluten free isn’t as scary as it sounds, you simply have to learn something new.

Does Any of This Speak to You?

I know this a lot to take in, and your head is likely spinning by now, but I encourage you to continue digging if any of this speaks to you. Thankfully, a lot has changed in the world of living gluten free, which only helps ease the transition. Overtime, I promise you all of this will become second-nature, and you’ll be helping others before you know it.

I am not a medical provider and have no medical expertise, I’m simply sharing my Celiac Disease and Gluten Free journey with those I meet along the way. Please seek guidance from your provider before making any changes, as a gluten free diet before blood testing can skew your results. Always remember, the greatest advocate you or your child will ever have is YOU – speak up and continue seeking answers to your questions until you’re satisfied.

Be sure to take a look at some of my great gluten-free recipes! Monster Cookies, Sugar Cookies and French Onion Soup, are just a few of my favorites!