Making Monthly Goals a Priority
To be very honest, how excited are you today?!
This is going to be amazing because after today, you will be on your way to starting the next season with a better leg up. Which makes living well so much easier.
When I say goals, what does that mean to you?
Goals are very subjective and can mean many different things to you then it does to me. You might be a big go-getter and one that likes to accomplish many different things on a weekly basis, or perhaps you’re more relaxed and just want to be able to get a few things done a week.
Regardless of what it is, let’s jump into the day and see what our goals are.
Monthly Goals
Why did I choose goals by the month?
Mostly because many things take time and in a month’s time, that is long enough to get something done very well, but not too long where you can lose focus. From weight loss to cleaning up the house, it takes time without the overwhelm or exhaustion.
Being intimidated by what you need to do? That’s not what I’m going for.
Spring clean your life is only a week but it might take a whole month to fully get everything done to your liking. This all depends if you’ve done it before or how much you have to “clean up”.
A month is a good enough time to look forward and you can see the finish line.
Also, even if you take a yearly goal but break it down monthly – then it is also achievable!
Why you need monthly goals
In order to have some control in your life, making goals will work wonders!
It is up to you and your personality to see how detailed you will want it. But for the majority of people it’s not necessary to schedule everything and also have monthly goals.
Although, for some of us, we need a little bit of structure.
The reason why it works so well is because when we are trying to get done so many things our brain can’t focus, but we have something on paper were able to look at it and see it therefore it most likely can become a reality.
Best way to start a monthly goal is to see what you want be like in the next month (or next year) and work backwards.
This is where you need to be completely honest with yourself.
It doesn’t make sense to lie just to make yourself feel better because in the end it won’t do you any good. After you decided what you need to do, break it down further. Now you have what you need to do per month in order to achieve the goal. Look and see what can you do each week to make it happen.
The reason why I love this technique is because anything that seems near impossible can be achieved! You just need to take into consideration time. That’s why you have to write everything down, not only that you won’t forget but also make it more tangible. When you write things down it creates a sense of a reality
Many women, such as myself, feel better when something achieved. Having your monthly goal written down and seeing progress (even the smallest amounts) each month makes you stronger. This feeling radiates and you can do more. The side effect of productivity is MORE productivity! It just might be difficult to get the ball rolling.
But it is possible! Just start with little monthly goals.
Setting Personal Goals
I do this on a regular basis.
Partly because I love feeling productive and getting things done but also because it truly helps to keep me focused. When I look at my life today, I like to think of what I need to do in order to reach my next goal.
Maybe you are in a rut and you need to try to get out of it (winter does this all the time to so many people, myself included), setting your personal goals will help you get out of it and keep climbing higher. It also acts as a distraction to prevent you from falling into a rut.
So I like to break down my life into sections.
One being “work”. This is anything revolving my site here, any of my books or products and my other job.
The next is “home”. Home can encompass a large umbrella but I tend to stick to the chores and other tasks I can do to make it feel like a better and cozier home. For example, I’ll be decorating for spring soon. Keeping a home is such a busy yet satisfying and rewarding jobs!
Third one is “meal plans”. Eating healthier and having prepared meals goes a long way to feeling productive and being better but this is coming up on day 4!
The last one is “me”. This is about me and everything that I want to become. What do I need to work on myself and how I want to look the start of the next month. My “me” goals encompass what I want from life.
Who do I want to look like and what do I others to think of myself as. This is fitness goals, eating goals, productivity goals and other little personal thoughts about myself. But it doesn’t need to be overly complicated. Just start with what affects you today and grow from there.
Setting Monthly Goals – What do I do first?
I am a big pen and paper person. I like to write down everything. When I do this, I feel that I can keep track of everything that I want to do and in this case, my goals.
1) Write down what I want to look like in a month from now. What do I want have accomplished in my life. This is very general and can be about anything. It doesn’t need to get specific.
2) Look at your list and see what pops out at you. What can you tackle easily this month? What seems almost impossible (at least in this stage in our life) and what can you do to start making this thought a reality.
3) Pick the maximum of 3 tasks that you want to accomplish this month. It could be editing your wardrobe, having a tidy home every night before you go to bed, or even just drinking enough water every day!
4) Write down WHY you want to have these as your goals. Emotion can become a big help and can instigate and promote better-ness. When you are feeling like this is too much and you want to quit you can always look back to this list to help inspire!
5) Break it down week by week but still looking at exactly what you need to do. What is it that you need to do to reach those goals. It doesn’t need to be so black and white but it does need to be written down or else you will forget! Being structured might work for some and others it can turn them off from trying to better yourself, find what works for you and work with it.
6) Enjoy the process. Remember that you are doing t his to better yourself, not to create more stress in your life and make it harder.
Is this even necessary?
Good question.
Do you need to do this?
Is it possible to make your life better without having to improve what you are doing by making goals?
Well, yes it is. But one reason why it is easier to make goals is because most of us are stiriving to become soemthing. Either someone better and something or that we want to accomplish something amxazing. By making goals and sticking to them we are able to get so much done!
More than you would ever believe so!
What to work on today:
- Focus on getting your life goals written down on paper. Write it ALL down, even if there are 23 things, write them. This way you can take a better look. Some of them may overlap and others might not seem as important afterwards.
- Limit to 3 different goals that you know will make a big difference. If this is the first time you’ve ever done this, then I suggest going to three easier ones that you know for sure you can handle. This will increase your confidence to help you achieve more later!
- Start planning out your weeks and seeing how with each passing day how you can work towards that goal!
What to remember:
- This is not a race. It takes time and you might only get to one goal and that’s okay! There is no time limit because the only thing that truly matters is that you are doing this well. There’s no point in reaching your goals if you are making you or your family miserable. Try to get to your little goals and if it takes a week longer then so be it. But don’t get yourself angry.
- It is about you. This is not about keeping up with anyone else or comparing lives. This is about how you are making your life better.
See you tomorrow for the next Spring Cleaning Your Life where we talk about clutter!
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Course for setting goals! Setting New Year’s Resolutions – and Actually Doing Them– great for any time of the year and wanting to achieve goals to make them your reality
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