Thursday, January 7, 2016

Things to Think About When Goal Planning: Free Printable Goal Planning Sheet


It never fails! Every year the week after New Years the January blues start to set in. The shiny and sparkly holiday season is over and the dark reality of winter has set in.  The exciting break in routine over Christmas vacation is gone, replaced with having to wake up early to warm the car and scrape the windshield.  I actually really love winter. I may be the only person in all of Kentucky who loves snow.Trudging to the car on those insanely cold and dark winter mornings is not my idea of winter fun. 

Check out the selfie that I took trying to convince myself that waking up at 5:30am on a Monday is the most wonderful thing ever. Don't let the smile fool you!

Lists are my thing!  Crossing something off of my to-do list is gratifying. I may even put waking up and taking a shower on my list. Some days those tasks are hard to accomplish! The act of goal setting and getting things done is extremely motivating for me. 

Goal setting is important any time of year, not just for the new year. I set daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals and yearly goals. While I am constantly setting goals, the new year does offer a new beginning, the perfect opportunity to look back and assess your life. 

Here are a few tips for setting goals...

#1: Decide what isn't working

Think about your habits and those actions that make life more difficult. For me, I have the habit of procrastinating on my lesson plans, leaving them unfinished until Sunday.  Monday morning I have to fight the crowds in the copy room to get my materials printed. It's not a great way to start off my week. One of my goals this year is to have my lesson plans done by Thursday and have all my copies made by that afternoon. It's a realistic goal, but is going to require me to spread the planning and prep out throughout the week.

#2: Choose what is working for you

What is working for you? If you find going to bed earlier works for you then continue doing that. Take a look at the actions and habits that are working in your life and resolve to keep doing those things.


#3: What do you want to add to your life this year?

For me this is the most fun step in the process of goal planning. Think about the different areas in your life. What is important to you? What hats do you wear? Are you a wife? Do you work?  Being a wife, a Christian, a reader, and an employee are several of the hats that I wear in life.  When setting goals I take a look at the roles that I play and choose goals that fit with those roles. Serving other people is important to me, so I set a goal that I will take part in 1+ service activities per month. Decide what is important to you and tailor your goals to fit those roles. 

When choosing your goals remember the acronym S.M.A.R.T ! 

It's also important to remember to not set too many goals., I find it easiest to choose only one goal for each of my life roles, at the MOST!  Honestly I may not have goals set for each life role at the same time. Start with a few goals at a time, adding more later. 





Setting and accomplishing goals can become addicting. Remember to spend some time asking yourself if what you are doing is working or not.

What are some of your goals for this year?  


Here are a few links to articles about living life on purpose. 


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