Happy Cultivate What Matters Week!

We have so many new faces in the Cultivate family (hi, friends!), and many of you loved celebrating this week alongside us last year!

Your calendars likely have Valentine’s Day marked already, but in our office, we’re celebrating something bigger than candy and flowers. Last year, we created a brand new holiday to combat a scary statistic we saw, and we’re excited to dig in again this week with you!

Did you know February is statistically the month that gym membership attendance goes down, and fast food consumption goes up? Makes you think, doesn’t it? The forward momentum of January can leave us burned out and feeling guilty for not starting the new year as well as we had hoped. It’s why we chant “There’s nothing magical about January 1st” over and over again.

Here’s what happens: people set goals and New Year’s resolutions on January. Come February 15th (this week!), 80% of those goals are forgotten completely. They’ve decided it’s just not worth the time and energy.

If I had to guess, there’s a chance you might be feeling that, too. Maybe you haven’t opened your PowerSheets in weeks, or maybe you’ve made some progress but need a little extra motivation right about now!

Either way, this week, you have a choice.

We get to make a choice, and we are choosing to flip this statistic on its head together. We are Cultivating What Matters!

No matter how imperfect our progress has been so far, we are not caving. We are saying yes to being a community of cultivators together.

What exactly is a Cultivator?

According to Merriam-Webster, a cultivator is one that cultivates, loosening the soil while crops are growing.

That means you are making a mess while the things in your life are growing. You aren’t doing it perfectly, but you’re making one seemingly small intentional decision after another.

A cultivator uncovers her own unique goal and path. Instead of looking to other people’s goals or social media feeds to define her own, she puts in the hard work of uncovering a path that fires her up.

A cultivator embraces little by little progress. She doesn’t believe in quick fixes or overnight results, but she knows it’s okay to grow slow.

A cultivator gets her hands dirty and takes action. Waiting for perfection might sound like a good idea, but she knows it’s worth it to dig in right now instead of waiting for the perfect timing or circumstances.

A cultivator examines where she is in order to leap to what’s next. Instead of ignoring what isn’t working, she takes the time to evaluate everything–both the good and the bad–to uncover the path forward.

A cultivator creates a long-term vision and gets after it. She refuses to keep going through the motions, doing the same things she’s always done. Instead, she steps forward into a new path.

A cultivator sets out on a purposeful path by uncovering cultivated goals. She’s tired of wandering aimlessly, with no goal, and she embraces her path with excitement and enthusiasm.

A cultivator finds joy in the journey instead of placing all her value in the finish line. She knows there is much to be learned in the in-between.

A cultivator doesn’t just embrace imperfect progress; she celebrates it. She’s tired of abandoning ship at the first bump in the road, and she knows that the best things in life grow slowly.

A cultivator believes in community. She shares her goals, encouraging others along the way, instead of trying to do it all alone.

Whether you realize it or not, we just described you. Every decision we make has an arrow attached to it, pointing us in one direction or another. Your decision arrows have the power to fly through all the distractions and fear and hit the target, or they can float around and miss it completely. So how can you shoot one of your decision arrows in the right direction? It’s easier than it seems, because it’s not a giant leap. It’s in the small decisions you make each and every day.

Putting the phone down in favor of climbing down to the floor to build legos with your son? You’re a cultivator.

Choosing to embrace conflict at work instead of brushing it under the rug? You’re a cultivator.

Saying no to an event with an acquaintance in lieu of a night at home with your husband? You’re a cultivator.

Climbing out of bed instead of hitting the snooze button so you can lace up those running shoes? You’re a cultivator.

Make a choice this week to aim your arrows in the right direction and to embrace little by little progress. Need some tips on how to get started? Check out these starting steps:

• Get unstuck. It’s easier than you think, and we have 10 tips to help you get started today!
• Follow us on Instagram. We’ll be sharing some personal examples from real-life PowerSheets users and different products in the Cultivate Shop that will help you make progress on your goals.
• Create a Tending List. Whether you’re a PowerSheets user or not, you can start taking the small steps to make progress on your goals with our best tips for creating a Tending List.
• Join our newsletter family. We promise not to spam you! Instead, our hope is to keep you encouraged and inspired all year long. Bonus: our newsletter list is the first to know about new products launching, and trust me, we have some really fun ones we’ve been keeping a secret!
• Download our Cultivate What Matters manifesto, and hang it somewhere you’ll be inspired!
• Use the code LETSCULTIVATE for 25% off your entire shop order this week! Stock up on stickers, one of our companion goal guides, Lara’s books, or our best-selling Write the Word journals!

While Cultivate What Matters Week is only a week long, it’s a week that serves as a marker in your year. Join us as we kick those preconceived notions about goals and resolutions to the side and say yes to embracing the little by little progress of cultivating what matters.

What do you say? Are you with us? If so, leave us a comment and let us know! We’ll choose a lucky winner tomorrow to receive a $25 gift card to the Cultivate Shop!