Goals. I’m not talking New Year’s Resolutions that get dumped as soon as February hits here, I’m talking well defined, measurable, realistic, goals that we follow through with throughout the year. The start of the New Year means it’s time to evaluate the past year and make some changes to be implemented in the next.
**Get your FREE Goal Setting Worksheet Below!**
Each year I take some time at the end of December to figure out my goals for the upcoming year. To do this I start out by looking back on things that went well and didn’t go so well in the different areas of my life (for me they are Marriage & Parenting, Personal/Spiritual Growth, and Home & Homemaking). I don’t spend a huge amount of time on this, maybe 10 minutes, to get down the main things that stick out to me.
I also like to take some time to think of a word that will be almost like a motto for the upcoming year. You could have a word like “joy” if you want to add more joy into the next year or “refresh” if you are hoping for a year to focus on doing things that are more life-giving to you. You don’t have to choose a word, but I think it’s fun!
After the time of reflection, I like to set goals in each of the areas that I previously mentioned. Sometimes I have other areas, depending on my season of life, and maybe you have others that are more applicable to you, you can change them or add to them as you see fit. Something to keep in mind as you are writing out your goals is the SMART acronym:
“SMART is an acronym that you can use to guide your goal setting.
Its criteria are commonly attributed to Peter Drucker's Management by Objectives concept. The first known use of the term occurs in the November 1981 issue of Management Review by George T. Doran. Since then, Professor Robert S. Rubin (Saint Louis University) wrote about SMART in an article for The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. He stated that SMART has come to mean different things to different people, as shown below.
To make sure your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be:
Specific (simple, sensible, significant).
Measurable (meaningful, motivating).
Achievable (agreed, attainable).
Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).
Professor Rubin also notes that the definition of the SMART acronym may need updating to reflect the importance of efficacy and feedback. However, some authors have expanded it to include extra focus areas; SMARTER, for example, includes Evaluated and Reviewed.”*
So once I check all my goals to make sure they are in line with the SMART acronym I make a plan for how I will accomplish the goals that I have set for myself, some “bite-sized” pieces of how I will make it happen.
Some tips on how to be successful in reaching your goals are:
- Have them somewhere you can see them to keep them fresh in your mind
- Have monthly checkpoints to see how you are doing
- Share your goals with someone, a spouse, a friend and hold each other accountable
- Celebrate when you reach a goal! It encourages you to want to keep pressing on with others
So what are some of my goals this year (honestly I haven’t really sat down to go through all these steps yet but I have some big ideas)
- Create a better morning routine
- Read 25 books
- Learn to homeschool from rest, with joy, so it's a pleasurable experience for both me and my children
That’s my few starter points. I have a bit more I’d like to add but still need to refine.
If you are looking for a Goal Setting Worksheet to help you plan out your goals for 2019, check out this one I made here, specially for Morgantown Macaroni Kid subscribers! You will have it sent directly to your inbox to either print and fill out with your fav glittery gel pen, or you can fill in the PDF directly on your computer (not on your phone) and print it out that way. I hope you find it useful!
Happy Goal Setting! Watch out 2019!
*Source: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm
