Orthodox Motherhood

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How to Create Weekly Goals

I was talking with a dear friend last night, catching up on life events.  She mentioned that she has been reading my blog lately (which made me really happy!), and that she was impressed that I made goals for myself.

 

“My goals,” she quipped, “are getting up in the morning and going to bed at night!”

 

Now, my friend is a truly accomplished lady whom I have always admired.  She is well-educated and has an amazing sense of fashion and style.  She is one of the most hospitable and generous people that I know, always opening her home to others.  She remembers my birthday without fail and sends me a card each year.  She has incredibly insightful comments about faith, culture, and human nature that add a richness to our conversations.

 

On top of all of that she is a stay at home mom with three small children!

 

Her comment reminded me that something that has become second nature to me–goal setting–can seem foreign or out of reach to others.  When we are in the trenches of motherhood, especially with young children in the house, goal setting can appear impractical.

 

I have written before about my reasons for creating goals and my personal goals for 2015.  I thought it might be helpful now to describe how to create weekly goals and to give you an example of my goals for this week.

 

Make Priorities

First, decide on 3-5 things that are important to you.  Ten years from now, what will still be a significant part of your life?  These are your priorities.  Mine are faith, family, personal growth, and career.

 

I make sure that my weekly goals line up with these priorities by asking myself, “What can I do this week that will help center my life on what I know is important?”

 

Create Long-Term Goals

Once you have those 3-5 priorities, spend some time dreaming.  What would you love to see happen within those priorities?  Do you want to write a book?  run a marathon?  become a project leader?  start an etsy shop?  build memories with your children? maintain a solid relationship with your spouse? These are your long-term goals.

 

I create goals for myself at the beginning of each year.  Here is an example long-term goal for each of my priorities:

 

Faith–Say Morning Prayers 4 times a week (we really struggle with this in our house!)

Family–Go on one family outing each month

Personal Growth–Read 100 books

Career–Add 10 products to my Teachers Pay Teachers store

 

Break It Down

Now that you have the big picture in mind, it’s time to break things down into more manageable pieces.  This is where weekly goals come in.  If you can figure out small ways to work a little toward your goal each week, you will see progress.  And, that progress will snowball into more motivation, which leads to more progress.

 

This is the critical step in goal-setting.  Many people have big dreams, but few turn theirs into reality.  And it all comes down to setting small goals for yourself–mile markers on the path to your dream.

 

These are my goals for the week:

 

Faith

  1. Read 7 chapters of the book of Acts.
  2. Read 3 chapters of Job and the corresponding chapters in The Trial of Job
  3. Say the Morning Prayers together 4 days

 

Family

  1. Have an in-house date night with the husband
  2. Play a game as a family
  3. Read a Magic Tree House book with Big Brother

 

Personal Growth

  1. Read 2 books
  2.  Exercise two times
  3. Have a Ladies Night out

 

Professional

  1. Add one new product to my Teachers Pay Teachers store
  2. Get all caught up on grading (any teachers reading this are welcome to laugh–like we’re ever “all caught up”!)
  3. Write six blog posts

 

As you can see, none of my goals are insanely big.  I’m not planning on writing an entire book or running a complete marathon this week.  I’ve simply made small steps toward my yearly goals.

 

I write down my goals each week and post them on the refrigerator, where I’ll see them several times a day.  This helps motivate me because I am a nerd who loves lists!  I love to cross things off of lists more than I love chocolate (that may be a slight exaggeration…).

 

Do I complete my goals each week?  Not always.  But, by making goals, I’m know I am heading in the right direction.
Do you make weekly goals?  How do you do it?  What are your goals for the week?

(Linked to Tips and Tricks, Thrifty Thursday.)

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