Every New Year, I like to watch stuff to increase my vision and my children’s vision for what’s possible. Here’s what I recommend:

I heard about Mully, the documentary, from my friend/cousin KeeNan. (We were friends for years and then I discovered we are third cousins.) It is the most amazing true story of Charles Mulli. I was blown away. This man has literally lived a rags-to-riches story in Africa. He was abandoned by his parents and uncle at age 6 so he had to beg for food. Incredibly, he grew up to become a millionaire, providing well for his wife and nine children. God, however, had even bigger and better plans for him. I won’t give it away, you’ll have to watch it. Amazon Prime video has it, and your public library probably has the DVD, as mine does. After watching this, I know I have no excuse for not achieving my dreams. If you watch only one movie/documentary this year, watch this one!

Moving on, let’s talk about vision boards. This video here, tells you all about them. Tim Thomas, from BYU-Idaho, gives the presentation. I’ve watched it for three years straight now and still absolutely love it. The stories he tells of vision boards and why it’s so important to make outrageous goals are just amazing.

Then this video below of a speech by Elder Randall K. Ridd is phenomenal. I love that he uses the phrase, “real intent,” and illustrates what the real intent is with the story of two different employees buying oranges for a boss. It’s so enlightening!

What about some books to inspire?

There’s the book about Mully. It’s on my “to-read” list.

For now, I am reading these two below.

This first one is by a couple, Erik and Emily Orton, who are parents of five children. They describe the process of taking what seemed like an impossible dream, that of living on a sailboat for an extended vacation with five children, to amazing fruition. I read it at night, while snuggled in bed. It’s a great bedtime story just for me! Actually, my hubby is reading it too, but at different times. It’s fun to share with him what we are thinking and learning as we read.

I’m listening to this one after hearing so much about it, like on the Trim Healthy Mama podcast.

I love that the author talks about the difference between goals and systems. Very fascinating! It reminds me of the idea of lead and lag that I heard from my friend Kelsey in my Family Foundations class last year in our homeschool group.

Here are a few great quotes from the book:

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.”

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

“Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.”
― James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones