The Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting
I love the start of a new month! Time may be an illusion, but damn does a clean state feel good. A new month always feels like a breath of fresh air, such a good feeling! This feeling isn’t just because it’s a new month though, the reason I feel rejuvenated is because I set goals. Setting goals gives me a sense of purpose and reminds me why I do what I do.
Now, there’s all sorts of goal setting techniques out there. Mine is slightly different though. I feel like a majority of the goal oriented people out there are much less squirrel brained than me, so I HAVE to have a simple process that gets ALL of my thoughts on paper. Once my thoughts are out, I can organize them. Ya feel me? If you can relate, I hope that my system works for you too!
Step One: Brain Dump
I don’t know if you’re like me, but I always have so many thoughts going on at once which makes goal setting and organizing my month a nightmare! It really helps me to literally just write out everything I can think of in no particular order. Just make sure you’re covering all the areas of your life that are important to you!
For example, my main focuses are my health, my relationship, and my businesses.
Step Two: Prioritize
After you’ve listed all the things that are important to you, prioritize! If you try to do everything, you’ll burn out. So decide what your non-negotiable’s are and save the other stuff for if you have the time and mental energy to do it.
This is SO important because if you do it all, you’ll unconsciously put more effort on what’s easy & less important. Subconsciously, we all want to be comfortable which means we’ll give our best effort to hide in our comfort zone.
So get REAL. What un-glamorous things HAVE to get done?
Step Three: Make a List for Each Goal Category
Now that you’ve gotten all of your tasks prioritized, list them out and dig even deeper. So for example, I am a blogger, wellness coach, and affiliate marketer. So my Business Goal List may look like this:
November Goals
Blogging:
-Write 15 blog posts
-Increase views by 1,000
Affiliate Marketing:
-Amazon income goal – $200
So even if you’re just goal setting for your normal day to day life and keeping up with laundry is your goal, dig in deeper! How often will you do it? How will you change things to make it different? Will you f
old clothes after you dry them VS throwing them in a hamper and doing it “later” (never)? REALLY take time to break down how you’re going to make this goal happen.
Step Four: Put your goals where you can see them
You have your goals, yay! They’re specific and they’re prioritized. You’re feeling pumped up now, and can’t wait to crush these goals! But what happens in a week or two when you’re not feeling motivated? If you don’t have your goals & your why for your goals around at all times – you WILL lose focus.
Some tips:
- Change your passwords to your income goal
- Create a post it note to put on your bathroom mirror
- Create alarms in your phone to do your tasks
- Set it as your phone background
- Create affirmations that you’ll say first thing in the morning and at night
Step Five: Keep a Planner to Stay on Track
Planners are my jam! I keep everything in 1 place so that I don’t forget
anything! Each day I know exactly what I need to focus on. Once you have your monthly goals, you can divide them up weekly and daily. Staying focused day to day is what will keep you going! If you give yourself the whole month you’re just asking to procrastinate.
Get my new favorite planner here!
I also really love the Happy Planner if you’re motivated by crafting and using stickers!
What are your goals for November? I would love to hear from you!
Related: 6 Creative Ways to Use Journals
