Dear Friends,

Every year we come up with a new motto. I always like to make it something that is easy to remember and emphasizes a key point of FLYing!

The first year we had a motto was 2003. It was “Be Kind to Me in 2003”. Being kind to myself was a New Year’s Resolution when I got organized. We have to quit beating ourselves up with our perfectionism. This resolution changed my life along with my way of thinking. After all you can’t change your circumstances without changing your attitude.

The next year our motto was “Less is More in 2004”. We have held on to so much stuff thinking that we would need it one day. Our homes have become storage units filled with stuff we don’t love or use! The clutter in our life makes keeping our homes impossible. You can’t organize clutter you can only get rid of it. This is why focusing on eliminating clutter with this motto changed many attitudes.

In 2005 our motto was “FLY to Thrive in 2005”! Finally Loving Yourself is what we teach. I realize that you come to use to figure out how to keep your home clean. This is the key to not just existing day to day but flourishing! When you love yourself, you have enough love to go around. Your love blesses others. If your loving cup is empty you had nothing to share. That is when the martyr comes out.

2006 had another great motto that is one of the key components to FLYing! “Simple Routines Do the Trick in 2006”! We try to make everything more difficult than it has to be. We build elaborate routines only to find ourselves unable to do them. Then we forget our other mottos about loving kindness and we beat ourselves up. Simple routines like simple mottos stick in our heads. Building those routines out of our monthly habits sets the foundation for keeping your home ready to bless you and anyone who comes through your door.

Every year a new motto set the stage for an attitude adjustment. 2007’s motto washed over us like a warm breeze and it fills our hearts with love. “Progress not Perfection in 2007”! Do you see how those simple words free us to take little steps to get things done? We don’t have to push ourselves to the brink of exhaustion. We can pace ourselves. This motto has become part of us!

The longest motto we ever had was in 2008. Do it now! Don’t wait! Get things done in 2008! This mottos hits us right in the heart of our procrastination! Procrastination is the result of perfectionism. When we don’t think we have time to do something we put it off. The reason we put it off is really because we don’t think we have time to do it right! What we learned in 2008 was to not put things off. When you hear yourself say “I don’t have time!” just set your timer for 2 minutes and do something. Anything is better than nothing! We got things done in 2008!

In 2009 we focused on our path. One BabyStep at a time, PEACE is mine in 2009! In our excitement to get organized and get our homes clean we want to “hurry up and get there”! It took me nine months to get rid of my clutter and establish routines. It was like giving birth to a new me! Taking those babysteps helped me to accomplish much more than I ever dreamed. Each month I practiced a new habit! Each new habit piggy-backed on the previous month’s habit, before I knew it, I had routines! Those babysteps opened up a little window of peace in my life and in our home. It was immediate! Just like the joy and peace we feel when we look at a shining sink! The peace comes from not having to tackle a sink full of dirty dishes! You can have this peace too! All you have to do is take babysteps and be happy with your progress.

2010’s motto helped us get more done than any tool we have in our toolbox. Our motto was My Timer is my Friend in 2010. Timers are everywhere; your stove, your arm, your microwave. You can even use commercials on TV as timers or songs on the Radio. I use my coffee brewing as a timer to dust mop my floors every day. Most anything can be a timer if you just get creative. A timer helps us to make a game of mundane things. It keeps us focused and tells us when to quit. It gives us a sense of accomplishment. We all just want to have fun. Make friends with your timer this year! It is a friendship that keeps giving you more peace.

2011’s motto; Let’s Go for Seven in 2011, helped us to realize that we can get a lot done in seven minute! We used the seven to play games. Make it fun and it will get done.

2012’s motto; Perfectionism is Shelved in 2012, perfectionism stands in our way on every corner of our lives. When we put perfectionism up on a shelf it reminds us that it is always with us. Sometimes that little reminder helps us to nip perfectionism in the bud. My friend left a section of light out on her otherwise perfect Christmas tree. It was a daily reminder that life is still great even if all the bulbs don’t light up. Think about it.

2013’s motto; Words Can Be KIND or MEAN; the Choice is Yours in 2013. This was one of the hardest motto for me to come up with, but it is the closest to my heart. For one of my original resolution was to be kind to myself. Our voices can be the meanest of anyone’s.

Here is one more little thought I want to leave you with it is at the bottom of every email.

You are not behind! I don’t want you to try to catch up; I just want you to jump in where we are. O.K.?

Now don’t you feel better?