As an ENFP who is totally willy-nilly, I don’t need goals to achieve more or be more…I need goals to just keep me on track or I will end up in a totally different place than I intended. I have shiny-idea syndrome and if I don’t aim at something and purpose to stay in that direction, I’ll abandon everything without even thinking twice.
So, I’m not married to my goals as much as I use them to line my time up with to make sure I’m on the right track.
So, that’s the heart behind this linkup, Goals with Grace. It’s not that we’d be a community of achievers and strivers, because I’ve seen what setting your heart on high-achieving does to your soul. But, I’d love for us to know where we’d like to go and aim in that direction, touching back to our hopes and our goals along the way.
That said, I’ve learned a ton about goal-setting this past year in doing Goals with Grace. This post may look like a departure from my normal 3 simple goals, but really it’s just showing you where I’m starting from.
Here are my favorite resources for learning to set good goals:
- Lara Casey, everything. Particularly PowerSheets and her new book, Make It Happen (and CRAZY, it’s available on Kindle as of 1/5 for $4.74!!).
- Nancy Ray, her monthly goal blog posts. She and her husband Will are super intentional and it shows!
- Whitney English’s Day Designer (I love the undated Mini), particularly this free download of her MASSIVELY successful Day Designer page.
How I am going about goal setting this year:
I am setting 10 year “themes” or broad goals that point me to where I’d like to see growth by January 2016. I spent about 2 hours praying and thinking on where I needed to grow, and then when I sat down to write these themes they just poured out naturally. Ten is probably too many for me (because I get distracted easily), but I’m not a stickler so I’m okay if I drop a couple of them throughout the year.
My themes/yearly goals:
- Intimacy and Adventure-pursue closeness and excitement, be willing to risk and be undone
- Wellness and Wholeness-establish healthy habits and good self-care routines
- Routine and Rhythm-become comfortable with routine, establish 1 new routine per month
- Work and Money-work smarter, set goals, hit goals, make more money to give and invest
- Write Well and Often-work on traditional book publishing, other publications, blog regualarly
- Grow, Step Into-grow as a wife, mother friend, leader, writer, and businesswoman (in other words, grow up in areas God has already established me)
- Cheer and Encourage-be a person who KNOWS and is THERE in important life events of others
- Minimal Wardrobe-get to the point where getting dressed well is mindless
- Healthy Work Rhythms-get to a sweet spot where I enjoy working from home
- Great Support Team-get people set up around our family to help us thrive
Then, I take those goals and break them into more bite-sized chunks into Monthly Goals. These are the hardest to set for me, because they need to be “top-level” enough that you don’t get bogged down in minutiae, but they also need to be actionable. I like to match them up with their coordinating theme or yearly goal, just so I make sure I’m not just doing junk that sounds fun or helpful, but isn’t actually moving me in the right direction.
My big goals for January:
- Hire new nanny and 2 interns. Goal 10
- Sign important contract. (will reveal which goal this relates to when the time is right!)
- Plan and lead Influence Core Team Retreat. Goal 6 and 7
- Plan January and February dates with Mike. Goal 1
- No Brainer Wardrobe myself AGAIN. Document process for new No Brainer Wardrobe update and site. Goal 8
- Read 1 Fiction Book. Goal 2 and 5
- Read 1 Non-Fiction Book. Goal 5 and 6
- Purge and clean bathroom/self-care area. Goal 2
- Plan meeting with Jenni (my literary agent) about direction of writing career. Goal 6
My weekly goals for January (these should become new rhythms by the end of the month):
- Say thank you to someone in writing. Goal 7
- Say good job to someone in writing. Goal 7
- Get all clothes back in closets and drawers by Monday mornings. Goal 3
- Have encouraging Influence Core Team meeting
- Have strategic Wildly Co. meeting
My daily patterns:
- Time in the Word
- Workout
- Write
- Pray
- Bless Someone Else, mindfully
Now, here’s the fun part:
We get to do it together. Just like every month last year, I’ll have a link-up here at The Tiny Twig letting you know how I did on my own goals. I’ll be brutally honest and then I’ll tell you my goals for the next month. I’ll invite you to link-up and encourage one another in your goal setting. I’m not an expert at goals or planning, by any stretch, but I’m interested in getting better and aiming myself in the right direction!
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