Goal setting is important to me. I never start into a big project until I know what my end goal is. This applies to my work life, my home life, my blog life etc. It’s important to set goals so that you aren’t shooting aimlessly into the dark night. Goals keep you focused on the outcomes you want.
Goal setting is easy. You sit down, you write specific, measurable goals, and you set out to achieve them.
That last part though? Achievement? Not always so easy. We write down our goal and then we forget that we even set it. We didn’t create an action plan for those goals. The goal wasn’t quite as important to us as we originally thought and it fade into the background.
In 2018 let’s say “goodbye” to forgotten goals and say “Hello” to crushing them. Today I’m going to share my goals along with my simple guide for how to set and achieve your own goals.
5 things to consider before you set your goals:
- Consider the past year. What about it would you go back and change? Would you take more time off of work? Do you wish there were more photos of your family get-togethers? Do you wish you had more family get-togethers?
- Consider what you can control. There is no use in shooting for goals that are beyond your control. Make sure that whatever you want to achieve is within your realm of influence.
- Consider the potential impact of working to achieve this goal. Will it mean 10 hours a week in the gym? Will you have to spend more money to achieve it? Will you have to spend less money to achieve it? Will it affect the life of others around you?
- Consider how you will measure your progress. How will you know when you achieved this goal?
- Consider how you will hold yourself accountable. Are you the type who can easily be held accountable to yourself, or do you need a manager to help make sure you’re on track?
Here’s one last bonus tip before you jump into your goal setting: Consider creating an overarching theme for your goals. Mine is “Consistency”. Every goal I set requires consistency. That means that I will need routines in place that will allow me to produce the results I want to see. Good luck and may you set your goals with the confidence that you will be able to achieve them!
Here are my big goals for 2018
1// Improve time management
Time management has been a huge struggle for me in 2017. I have never felt like I’ve had enough time to complete everything that needs to be done. I’ll know that I’ve achieved this goal when I can sit down and read a book and not feel stressed that I should really be doing something else.
2// Spend more consciously
Starting January 1, I’m restarting the spending fast…I’ll share more about how I’m going to do that and how you can zero in on your big financial goals in 2018. This goal comes with a support group and simple steps to follow, however it will have a large impact on my life and my family. It will be important to be prepared for that. I’ll know I achieved this goal when I pay off 100% of my debt.
3// Maintain a consistent fitness routine
Looking back on 2017 I feel I could have been much more successful with my fitness goals had I just been a little more consistent. Consistency means a minimum of 4 days a week at the gym, weighing and measuring my food, and daily tracking of my macros and water consumption in MyFitnessPal. This will have a big impact on my life, but hopefully the time management goal will help me out with this one. I’ll know I achieve this one when I reach my specific fitness goals. I’ll talk about those more in a future post.
4// Keep a clean house…and car…
If anyone in my family is reading they’re laughing at this one. I struggle to keep things clean. I don’t know why, but I have such a hard time keeping shit clean. I am bound and determined to find some ways to DESTROY this goal in 2018. Again, I think the time management goal will help! The impact here will be on me and my family. Corey is going to become a professional at cleaning. I’ll know I achieved this goal when my house and car are clean for longer than 2 weeks in a row and I’m not overwhelmed by laundry piles or lunch containers.
