This year I am trying something new. No, it’s nothing as exotic as learning how to salsa dance or taking a cooking class (though I would love to do either of those!). Instead, I am changing the way I set goals.
As I explained last week, I am now setting quarterly goals for myself. (You can read more about how I did it here.) Each quarter of the year, I will set four goals for myself that align with my big picture priorities. I am hoping that this will give me a sense of relevance, immediacy, and focus.
But, it is not enough to set quarterly goals. I also need to set monthly goals to help me reach those quarterly goals. (I know, I know, I seem a bit too Type A at this point!) This helps me decide how to focus on my quarterly goals that month.
At the end of this month, I am seeing how I did on those goals.
January Goals 2019
Quarterly Goal #1:
Spiritual Goal–Reserve one day per week for rest and spiritual refreshment.
January Goal #1: Make a list of restful activities.
I enjoyed this! Making a list of activities that I find restful was fun and, well….restful! Some items on my list included: going on a walk, reading, praying outside, drinking a cup of tea slowly, and taking a nap.
January Goal #2: Read a book on rest.
I read Sacred Rest by Dr. Sandra Dalton-Smith. I enjoyed parts of the book, but overall I found it a bit repetitive. My biggest takeaways were: there are different types of rest (physical rest, emotional rest, sensory rest, etc.), and it is important to get each type of rest.
January Goal #3: Block out days of rest on my calendar.
In January I blocked out Saturdays as my day of rest. I have read books, gone on walks with the kids, visited museums with my family, taken naps, gone to Vespers, played board games, and slept in.
Quarterly Goal #2:
Personal Goal–Start a daily strength training routine and track my progress.
January Goal #1: Make strength training charts in my bullet journal.
I made a few simple charts. One chart was for tracking my strength training plan–do five push-ups, 40 crunches, and 15 squats per day. Also, I made a chart to track daily movement–15 minutes of movement/ exercise per day.
January Goal #2: Read 2 books on strength training.
My favorite book was Lift to Get Lean.
January Goal #3: Do the strength training movements each day and record.
I didn’t make my goal of doing strength training and movement each day. However, I certainly did more than I would have without the goal!
Quarterly Goal #3:
Relationship Goal–Plan a weekly in-house or out of the house date with Dan.
January Goal #1: Talk with Dan about weekly date goal.
We agreed that finding times to have dates would be a priority this year. We also defined a “date” as two hours of focused time together. It could take place in our home or out of it. It could also involve a double date with another couple.
January Goal #2: Brainstorm ideas for dates.
Next, we came up with a list of possible dates. These included: playing games, watching a movie, getting take-out food, going on a walk, reading a book out loud together, sitting outside and talking while drinking a glass of wine, and working in the garden together.
January Goal #3: Plan and schedule January dates.
We put date nights on the calendar and then followed-through. Some of our January date nights were: watching Crazy Rich Asians while eating take out Chinese food, having a game night with another couple after our children went to bed, and watching the Cowboys playoff game while eating from a cheese and charcuterie tray.
Quarterly Goal #4:
Professional Goal–Get two months ahead on blog posts.
January Goal #1: Write the Ancient Faith Women’s Retreat post that I owe Melinda.
I did this! Take a look at my post on Hunting for Treasure at the Ancient Faith Women’s Conference.
January Goal #2: Make an editorial calendar (list of blog posts) for the first quarter.
I always like making a list of blog posts to write! Writing them, however, can sometimes be a different story…..:)
January Goal #3: Write 3-4 blog posts per week.
I didn’t make this goal. Some weeks I wrote several posts, but others I slacked off a bit. However, overall I was happy with my output. I managed to post two articles per week on the blog. That’s quite a bit of writing!
As you can see, many of these goals are quite simple, but they are the building blocks necessary to reach my Quarterly Goals. I am happy to say that I have already crossed several of them off!
Do you set goals for yourself? What is your system?
Pro Tip: I get a lot of the ideas on goal-setting that I use from Laura Vanderkam. She is an author and speaker who has a fabulous website and podcast. I also have appreciated her books 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think and Off the Clock. Be sure to check them out if you are interested in time management or goal-setting.
Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are affiliate links. If you click through and purchase a product, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting this blog.
