I CANNOT believe that another year has flown by. My wedding anniversary is actually on New Year’s Eve so I LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year. I’m a HUGE fan of goal setting all.year.around. so a time of the year that’s particularly notorious for setting goals and offering a fresh start is my absolute FAV.
I always sit down sometime before New Year’s Eve to think about some goals that I would like to set for myself on a year-long basis. I ALWAYS make weekly goals for myself, 90-day goals for myself, and quarterly goals for myself. (I told ya’ll I’m all about some planning!) However, there’s something so empowering about laying out goals a year at a time and watching them come to life over the next 12 months. Before I dive into what I’m wanting to accomplish in 2020, I wanted to talk about some tips and tricks I use to keep myself on track and continually on fire for checking off the boxes and reaching my goals!
My top 3 FAVORITE ways to stay on track when it comes to New Year planning are:
1. Using a detailed planner (both digital and traditional): I’ve always loved planners, but I have to give a HUUUUGGEEEE shout out to the totally customizable planner from Plum Paper. Not only does this bad boy have a daily habit tracker, prayer and praise reflection guide for each week, and space for my shopping lists, but it’s also fully customizable by blocking off to-dos for the day. Here’s an example of what a week in my planner looks like. As you can see, I have different spaces each day that are already labeled for my TpT work, Blogging, Creating for my Classroom, and lesson planning! I schedule everything I want to accomplish a week in advance. I break it into pieces and write each piece on a day that feels doable to me. When I see it in black and white, I’m WAY more likely to accomplish the task rather than just thinking “oh yeah, I need to do that sometime.” I also use an app on my phone called Wunderlust. This is a virtual to-do list and I use it for everything from keeping track of shows I want to watch to what I need to buy at Target. You simply make a list, add items to it, and then tap to “check off” the item once it’s complete. It makes the most satisfying magic wand noise when you check off items, too!
2. Using a modified accountability mirror! I became obsessed with all of the actionable plans for goal setting and GOAL-ACHIEVING in David Goggins’ book, Can’t Hurt Me. I love a good slap-in-the-face, nitty-gritty, unapologetically tail kickin’ kind of motivation. I actually love this book so much that I gave it to my principal to read, too. (Warning: If cursing bothers you, or you’re triggered by reading about childhood trauma, you may want to skip this read and just view his steps for success found here.) Goggins’ life story is INCREDIBLE, but he also seamlessly weaves in advice, motivation, and an action plan for taking control of your life and accomplishing things that you never thought possible for yourself. I’ve modified his accountability mirror step just slightly as a means to achieve my goals. I make a list of my top 5 goals, make it pretty, print it on brightly colored card stock, laminate it, and hang it somewhere I have to see it every day, multiple times a day if at all possible. My goal sheet isn’t on my mirror, but it’s in my closet where I have to see it every day at least twice a day. I can also see it from when I step out of the shower so that I’m reading in multiple places. When you’re constantly reminded of your goals, you’re far more likely to be inspired to achieve them. A couple of my top goals on 2019’s “accountability mirror” were to be debt-free and travel to two new countries. I met these goals within the first 4 months of 2019. WOO!
3. Delete what Distracts You: Hey, did you know that you really will survive without social media? Heading into 2019, I realized that I was spending FAR too much time watching what other people were doing. Not only did Facebook really trigger my anxiety, but I was wasting COUNTLESS hours a day mindlessly scrolling when I could have been working toward meeting my own goals (instead of watching other people filter their lives and pretend to meet their goals – insert Kermit sipping tea here.). I deleted Facebook completely. As in, I didn’t just delete the app, I DELETED IT altogether. Ya’ll. This was THE BEST decision. The people that I love and care about are still in my life because I have to make a real effort to reach out to them, talk to them, and tell them how much I love them. I no longer have to silently watch behind a screen. Also, my productivity SKY ROCKETED when I wasn’t distracted by this meaningless app. If you don’t believe me, I can show you REAL data that proves it. I was able to grow my TpT business by 115% in revenue this year. With this extra cash flow, my husband and I were able to visit 5 countries and one state we’ve never been to in the US. We were able to pay off our debt, have a really fun Christmas, and give to others in a way that we never thought we could do. I’m fully aware that deleting Facebook wasn’t the single cause of this kind of business growth, BUT I do believe that it was a catalyst that helped me fan the flame of productivity. Take a minute to think about all the ways that you’re distracting yourself when you could be working to accomplish something really freakin’ cool. Just an extra hour or two a day can completely change your life and I am proof of that!
Moving on to 2020…
I’m always setting goals that are BIG, LOFTY, AND OFTEN SCARY. I am an all or nothing kind of girl and I truly aim to pour my heart and soul into everything that I dare to tackle. That being said, I have a big problem with “waiting until it’s perfect” to do it or present it to others. My business coach (yep, hired one of those in 2019 and she is my QUEEN) tells me all of the time to do it scared. I’ve tried to embody that as I, for the first time, reveal to the world (or my little corner of the blogging world) what my goals are for the upcoming year. I’m nervous about posting these because I always think wow, will I look stupid or ridiculous if I don’t reach all of those? But I think about Allison saying to me, “Do it scared.” So here we go, I’m presenting to you my top goals of 2020 in hope that I can encourage you to be a little braver and push yourself to reach the biggest, best goals of your life! I’m doing it scared.
EEEK! Now I have to grind extra hard so I can show up at the end of 2020 with lots of checkmarks beside my boxes. I’d LOVE to know your tips and tricks for sticking with what you want to achieve AND what exactly your goals are for 2020!
