In all honesty, I didn't feel like I had a good start to a new year, but you know what, life happens and sometimes things do not go as planned. This is not to say that you have to wait until a specific day to write your vision and your goals, but there is definitely that energy that you sense that helps in the motivational process.
So how do you write out what you want to accomplish and then actually accomplish it instead of falling off track as soon as March hits?
Statistically speaking, it is really true that most people give up a few months into the process. I think we all have been there. I personally believe that most people end up falling off course because they either just made a mental note of what they want to accomplish instead of writing it down or they wrote down unrealistic goals that only end up frustrating them in the process. So in their mind the task was too big so it was just abandoned.
Even though, we wrote out our vision earlier in the year as a family, I usually like to sit down and write down my own goals while keeping a visual on our overall family vision board.
I recently came across an article written by Dave Ramsey that talks about a SMART system that you can use to write your goals out and accomplish them. So it's almost like a check list of questions you can ask yourself when including a specific goal onto your list.
So if you don't know what your categories could be, here are 7 great ones to start with that pretty much cover everything: Spiritual Goals, Family/Marriage Goals, Fitness, Educational, Career, Social, Financial.
I actually created a pretty PDF for those of you who would like to download it and put it on your fridge or into a binder once you fill it in. (Because pretty paper or a pretty planner makes hard work that much easier) :) There is also something about seeing your goals visually everyday that helps to push and motivate you in the long run.
So when you write down goals here is the SMART check system that you can use to make sure that your goals are very strategic.
Ask yourself, is this goal....
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Relevant (the "why")
T - Time-Sensitive
Specific goals are goals that show you exactly what you want to accomplish. For example, writing down 'becoming debt free' is not as measurable as 'getting rid of $10,000 debt by the end of 2020.' This specific goal will help you think through what you need to do every week and every month in order to chip away at this goal. (Creating Time-Lines) This is the way you accomplish a goal. You have to be specific with everything that you list down and give yourself time-lines that will keep you accountable and help you to mark those things off as you hit them one at a time. Not only that, but doing so, will help you see a full visual of where you are going which will keep you on track even when you see others fall off.
It may seem like a lot of work if this is not a part of your yearly planning, but once you make this a habit, you will learn to expand on it and really see how much you will end up accomplishing in one year span.
I've noticed that we have a growing list every year and we are learning to work effectively and efficiently so that every decision that we make as a family contributes to the overall vision of what we want to accomplish that year.
You have to start somewhere. Maybe this was never a part of your yearly planning, but this is a great way for you to be accountable to yourself and to what you really want to accomplish. It will take a few hours of brainstorming, but think of the load that will be lifted off of your mind. Those things will no longer occupy the space in your mind and will help you to be organized as you chip away everyday towards something big that you are trying to accomplish this year.
If you already know your goals for 2020 but haven't written them down, use the template I created to get you started. Use the SMART system that I talked about above to make sure that those goals are strategic.
Invest in a planner so that you can stay on top of those time-lines. It doesn't have to be expensive. You can find great ones at target in store or online. My favorite brand of planners is Blue Sky. I've personally been using that same brand for several years and I find it very helpful. Here is the link to my current planner.
Let's be accountable together, so when March comes around, I will be back here cheering you on to keep pushing and working hard towards your goals.
Stay connected with me:)
Create Coleture, Be You
Viktoriya Cole
Photo by Renáta-Adrienn on Unsplash