Goal Setting 101: Part 1/3 - The basics + introduction

Hi all! I've gotten a bunch of questions on Goal Setting and Planning so I figured; let's talk some more about this.

I'm not sharing this advice with you because I'm a goal-accomplishing expert who has always completed tons of goals every single year. We all have a bunch of goals or wishes that won't get accomplished and that's fine, you're not a failure if you're not crossing off all the goals you have for yourself. Some take more time and some will not fit you or you will outgrow them. We're going to be diving deeper into the goal-setting system through this 3-part blog series. I'm trés excited about this guys! 

While I still don't have it all figured out, not even close, I definitely have made a lot of progress over the years, and I want to share some easy tips with you.

TIP 1: PREP

Prepping is the keyword for goal-setting, in my humble opinion. And with that I don't mean to start on December 31st with your New Year Resolutions, of course, that is a fun part of goal setting. But start sooner, if possible. I will take time to really reflect on the past year, mostly at the beginning of December for New Year goals. I will write down what has made me happy, what didn't, parts I can personally improve on, parts I want improving on (meaning, relationships influenced by others, job/business-wise etcetera). Putting it all to paper will help you see things more clear. But goals change, during the year. So take time for this process a couple of times a year, schedule in some 'reflect-time'. 

TIP 2: PRIORITIZE PRIORITIZE PRIORITIZE

I like to start with no more than 3-4 big goals at a time. Once you get those done, move on to the next part. If you have started with the prep work you will have all your goals written down already, which is great because all you have to do is rank them in priority level. And this will take some time & thought. Think about what is most important to you right now, which of your goals you'd want to complete first or maybe go with the easiest, tiniest goal to start off easy and give yourself some extra motivation for the bigger goals.  

In the next part of this blog series, I will walk you through this process some more.

I have a couple of goals this year, most of them are not too big. One is I want to better in maintaining our household, so I've joined the Clean Mama Homekeeping Society which motivates me in keeping up with my chores and the daily/weekly routine has made such a difference. Chopping it up into smaller sections gives me so much ease when it comes to housekeeping. The routines are becoming a habit and it's taking me less time and it all feels less like ugh-obstacles. 

Another one of my goals is exercising more, I'm trying to get into the habit of having a daily walk around the neighbourhood. I would do this on my days off but not always while working. Now I push myself on work (-from home) days to get out and take a walk. 

Another very important goal to me is spending more time offline. I find myself scrolling mindlessly through Instagram and Facebook way too often. This goal will take some time getting used to. So I've started with an offline night. Turn off notifications, put the phone away and something that brings you joy. This is my first step. 

But, that goal does collide a bit with my goal of growing my blog and my Social Media accounts + my role with the DLS Design team. Those 'jobs' are mostly online, so I have to find a good balance between these two goals. I don't want to be spending every night offline, because I also want to connect with you online. I want to participate in the DLS events online. That is why cutting goals up into smaller tasks is important, this way I can see what will fit my life and if it won't I can still adjust it. 

So my goals aren't too complicated or too big. I also try to focus on just a couple and not a list of 10. If you do have a long list, try to take it one goal at a time or maybe two. Just so you don't get overwhelmed. 
Your goals can be as big or as small as you want to; buy a new house, plan a wedding, fix the front porch, redo the bathroom, do a time management course, follow a seminar, go to an event, read 20 books, go on a spa trip, start a youtube channel, find a new job, decorate a room, buy a new sofa. Whatever you want to achieve this year for you! 

TIP 3: CREATE HABITS

As I've said above, cutting things up into smaller bits will help you get things done. And, making a habit of it will make it super easy eventually. The process of making things a habit will take some time though. 

When things become a habit, they will become natural to you. Which is great for getting things done without too much hassle. So I like to think of my goals as new-to-set habits. It takes time to create a habit, but once you've made it a habit, you will be so much more productive in your accomplishing your goals. 

Habits are ongoing tasks that you want to do on a regular basis for a long time. For example: every morning you will brush your teeth, make breakfast, go for a walk (whatever is in your morning routine). Most of these habits are done on auto-pilot, you will not dread brushing your teeth, nope it's a daily habit that comes naturally to you.

When you're in the processing of making things a habit, remember to take it easy on yourself. Don't take on too much. I find the best thing is to focus on one or two habits each month. We don't want you getting overwhelmed which will then result in not reaching your goals. Give yourself enough time for each habit to really feel natural before you add something else.  Many experts say this takes 21 days, but it's okay if it takes you longer. Not everything will be this easy to turn into a habit. 

If your goals are really big, try looking at them as projects instead of habits. You can cut the big goal up into smaller habits, and again this will take some time getting used to. 

I do this by starting each week with a weekly plan (if you're more of a daily planner, definitely make a daily plan). I will sit down on Sunday and plan out my week, I will take into consideration my appointments, to do's and then prioritize. I will try to put just 3-5 as a top priority and it has to be reasonable but also important to me. I will get in the habit of checking those things off daily. And remember it can be something simple as a daily load of laundry for example. Don't overthink it. 

This method will definitely motivate your ability to accomplishing things. 

FINAL TIP TODAY: GIVE YOURSELF GRACE

As I have said over on the Holiday Planning blog: Give yourself grace! Plan in some time for yourself, to nourish your soul and mind. Self-care is so important! Accomplishing goals and creating habits is tough. Give yourself some grace. If you mess up, that's fine, just keep going. Do not give up on your goal, start again or continue with it and be proud of the steps you're already taking! We got this!

I hope these tips will help you with your goal planning. I'd love to hear what your goals are and how you're accomplishing them. Feel free to send me a DM over on my Instagram and connect with me! Stay tuned for the next part of this series! I will be taking you with me on how to implement goal-setting into your daily life and daily planning. It will be fun!