Goals

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”
– Tony Robbins
If you are going to achieve your best life the first step is visualizing it... and then create a plan to get there. That's where goals come in. They are the first step towards achieving your dreams and building a life you love. There are many methods to creating goals and visualizing the life you want. Try out different methods and pick what works best for you! I've tried several different methods myself including: 
  • S.M.A.R.T. Goals
  • One Word Challenge
  • Vision Boards
In past years my goal setting has included either a vision board for the visual reminder each morning (or wherever it is posted) or a list of written goals. Last year I decided to change to a two pronged method combining both for a one-two punch of the visual and verbal (written) variety and I'm loving it. I find that this helps me to fully hash out what I really want and keep me motivated. I am also choosing goals in each sector of my life for a more well rounded approach to goal setting. If you would like a copy of my goals worksheet please click below for a downloadable worksheet.

S.M.A.R.T. GOALS

Goals that are "SMART" have the highest chance of being achieved as they are well developed with a timeline to keep you on track. What is a S.M.A.R.T. goal you ask? Simply put, "SMART" is an acronym that describes the qualities of an achievable goal. A goal should be:
Specific
Measurable​
Attainable
Realistic​​
Timely
One thing to remember is that even though you are creating your goals for the year, month, etc. you likely won't work on every goal you come up with at the same time. Also, you should make sure to not overload yourself with goals to the point that you will not be able to complete them or stress yourself out trying to get everything done on the timeline you set. Give yourself some grace and be ok with setting limits for your goal setting. If you complete a goal early its perfectly ok to add another goal but failing to complete a goal set on an impossible timeline may derail your goal completion for a long time to come as it can be demoralizing. Know your limits and stretch but never break them. I currently have a TON of goals but at any one time I may only be working on 3-4 of them actively.

Career/Business

Since most of my career goals are either long term or relate directly to my current place of employment I'm keeping them offline. They exist, promise!
  1. Create a weekly plan that allows for me to write more blogs and keep to a consistent posting schedule.

Relationship & Romance

  1. Remain open to a new relationship.

Household & Home Life

  1. Keep Bella’s anxiety under control.
  2. Decorate the office (fully funded sinking fund in 2020).
  3. Install garage storage (half funded sinking fund in 2020).
  4. Decide on landscaping needs and save for re-doing the front lawn.

Social & Recreation

  1. Make time to socialize with friends on a monthly basis.
  2. Purchase a grill (half funded sinking fund in 2020) and host a backyard cookout with friends.

Financial​

  1. Credit card debt free by the end of 2021.
  2. 800+ Credit Score for all of 2021.
  3. Emergency Fund of 2-3 months fully funded by the end of 2021.
  4. Begin to save for needed home updates: paint, fencing, bathroom door & baseboards.

 Education & Personal Development

  1. Learn to do V-lookup tables.
  2. Read at least 6 new books before the end of the year.

Health & Wellness

  1. Work out for at least 20 minutes a day, 4 days per week.
  2. Lose 50 pounds before the end of the year.
  3. Take time for self-care weekly.

Spiritual

  1. Complete the F260 Reading Plan.
Note: Goals come and go on my list as my life changes and/or I accomplish them or decide they no longer have a place in my life due to changing circumstances. They are rarely static and always a work in progress, like myself.

One Word Challenge

I also choose one word to focus on for the year.  I pray on it and really do some soul-searching to figure out what word will help me on my journey. If you're interested in choosing one word for yourself as well I suggest the website Get One Word for free resources and ideas.

This year my word is:

Bloom

My word for this year was not one that I had anticipated picking. It was actually decided after I purchased my planner for the year. The beautiful cover design called to me and I loved the layout of the weeks as well so I picked it up. Setting up the planner while brainstorming words for this annual project was next on the task list and bloom naturally came to my mind. For some reason I kept coming back to it, even though I wasn't sure exactly why. So I decided to take a look at the meaning of the word and see if I could decide once and for all whether or not to choose it for 2021. I have popped a hyperlink in the sentence above if you want to look at the full definition. The parts that spoke to me were as follows:
a state or time of beauty, freshness, and vigor
a state or time of high development or achievement
to mature into achievement of one's potential
to flourish in youthful beauty, freshness, or excellence
to shine out (glow)
These really spoke to me as 2021 will be the year I accomplish several financial goals, true, but it's also a time that I have committed to really feeding my mind and taking care of myself in all aspects of my life. I look forward to 2021 being a year of blooming potential and growth.

Previous years' words were:
2020: Presence
My goal for 2020 was to be more present... and then COVID hit, making being physically present in most parts of my life next to impossible. I found that having this word specifically kept me working towards keeping relationships going through the year- be it through Zoom practices, Girl's Night TeleParties, Google Hangouts with my friends nationwide, or just casual last minute game nights on Discord/Steam. It forced me to find new ways to be with people without physically being with them. I didn't do a fabulous job of limiting my multi-tasking but I did limit the photo taking and etc. that I used to put myself in charge of rather than experiencing the important events in my life. Part of this was because of my Presence goal but part of it was also because those moments were so rare this year which meant really learning to appreciate them and not wanting to miss any moment with loved ones because I felt obligated to multi-task.
2019: Growth
In 2019 I decided I wanted to focus on growing as a person in all areas of my life. To me this meant making sure my time commitments align with my goals and passions while leaving space in my schedule to take care of my mental health (read: not become a stressed mess).
2018: Balance
Focusing on balance in 2018 was a difficult task and caused a lot of introspection throughout the year. It meant saying no to things I really wanted to do but it also meant accepting that I'm not Wonder Woman and need to take time for my mental health when I start getting stressed. This looked like taking a step back from some major things in my life (such as the blog after my Oma passed and singing in various functions when my work life got a little crazy). I'm going to try to remember to keep this word's lessons present in my life going forward.
2017: Joy
Focusing on 'joy' throughout the year led me to live my social life to its fullest, go to an awesome conference, start learning new skills that brought me happiness, and surround myself with awesome friends. It meant that this year I needed to chose the word 'balance' as I had over-committed myself but I love my life and all the crazy that sometimes comes with it.
2016: Peace
I chose this word when I moved back to Texas. A focus on 'peace' helped me to heal after my divorce. This was the first year I chose a single word to focus on... it was also the year I decided I needed to choose a word every year due to its effect on my life.

Vision Boards

Vision boards are great for people who are very visual... but they're also great for those of us who need reminders daily of what we want out life to look like so that we don't settle into status quo. I'm not going to post my vision board on here right now as its in the process of being redone right now (but also, I'm not sure that all the photos would be public domain to use... I'll have to look into that).  I will however share my process!

I start the same way as I do for my S.M.A.R.T. goals- by writing down each area of my life:
  • Career/Business
  • Financial
  • Health & Wellness
  • Relationship/Romance
  • Social & Recreation
  • Household & Home Life
  • Education & Personal Development
  • Spiritual

Next I try to visualize what my perfect life would look like and why I would like it to look like this. Then I focus in on each of those areas and find a particular photo or word that sums that area up. Once I have every area covered I lay them all out and look to see if it represents my ideal life accurately and cohesively. Pasting them down is the last step. It may be a multi-session process, it is for me. The last couple of times I've done this I simply did it in Word rather than doing it physically but I did print it out for my bathroom mirror so that I would see it at least twice a day while I was brushing my teeth.  
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