How do you want to better your life in 2015?
January just isn’t my favorite month. Can I get an Amen? My body wants to hibernate, I seem to suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, plus I’m experiencing the post-holiday let down. It’s a great time for some introspection!
Not given to resolutions, I do like goal-setting. We’ve all heard these adages:
‘To fail to plan is to plan to fail’
‘Shoot for the moon and you’ll land among the stars’
So, I’ve been doing a lot of planning, goal-setting, and researching the past few weeks. I’m a perpetual learner, so I guess blogging suits me – I can’t seem to learn enough about it!!
What are your goals for 2015? For the next 3, 5, 10 years??
Here are my tips for goal-setting:
- FOCUS. Take it from the voice of experience. When your brain is all over the place, it’s hard to pin down a goal! One of the best ways to focus is in front of a sheet of paper. If necessary, several sheets of paper. You can title each each with one of the segments of your life: Home, Faith, Family, Business, Well-Being and so on.
- LIST. There is something about a list. It does help us focus. Sit down and brainstorm about what goals you would like to see accomplished in each of the categories that you titled on your sheets. In no particular order, just start writing.
- PRIORITIZE. Yep, there’s that word! Seems to be a huge buzzword these days. Maybe because we stay so busy, that there’s not much space left in our lives or anything new. A great resource on this topic is a book called Margin by Dr. Richard Swenson. He explains in his book that we have so filled up our lives that we have no room left for anything spontaneous or unscheduled. Therefore, when something happens to us that is unforseen, instead of dealing with it we often erupt, unable to handle the additional stress. I think he’s onto something!
- CHOOSE. Circle your top 3 goals on each list. You’re not saying that you can’t accomplish all of the goals you are listing, but choosing 3 from each category will help you take it back to the first step: FOCUS. We all know it is far easier to fulfill goals when we break them down into baby steps, right?
- PLAN. Get yourself a great planner and use it. Whether you like to use an electronic version, or the old-fashioned paper kind, develop a system for putting those goals into an action plan. A great one for bloggers is THIS ONE.
- ACT. As you plan, break each goal into steps of action. This is more difficult for some of us than others! Some are better planners than executors. Some are better at getting things done than planning. Find some resources that will help you compensate for some of those deficits. I am good at planning, but sometimes procrastinate when it comes time to execution. And I am forgetful sometimes. So I set the alarm on my phone to remind me when I have an appointment or webinar or something I don’t need to miss. The point is – get a system!
I truly hope these 6 steps to goal-setting will help you through the remainder of winter! Toodle-Loo!
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