I’m so excited to kick off our 31 Days to Your Goal series today as we ring in the New Year!
New Year’s resolutions often get a bad rap because we traditionally set lofty, unrealistic goals for ourselves — as if we will suddenly become a new person just because the calendar turned a page — but goal-setting is actually a really important practice that allows you to make slow and steady progress toward improving your life and achieving your dreams.
We’re hosting this series on the work channel only because that’s where we talk about personal growth most often, but it’s for anyone who has any type of goal: Whether you want to run a marathon, yell less, read more books in 2013, start a new business or take your blog to the next level (or any of a million other possible goals), I hope you’ll join us for the next 31 days to make actual, real progress toward your goal!
Today, we’re going to write down — not just think about, but actually write down — all of our goals. So often we carry around this idealized picture of who we’d like to be and what we’d like to accomplish without ever stopping to define it on paper. We carry the burden of these “goals” without any real hope of accomplishing them, and they weigh us down and prevent us from making progress in any area.
Instead of keeping this idealized picture in our head, start the year with a classic brain dump and put it on paper so you can prioritize, decide what’s realistic and let go of the burden of unrealistic goals.
Open a notebook (or a document on your computer) and start writing:
Without worrying about whether they’re realistic or how you’ll accomplish them, make a list of every goal or idea in your head about who you should or want to be. Include the mundane (“clean up the house each night”), the lofty (“run a marathon”) and any big dreams you have (“open a boutique shop on main street”).
Even if they feel silly or you’ve given up on ever actually accomplishing them, write ‘em down.
Think through each area of your life, one at a time, such as home, family, personal growth, health and business.
Keep your list handy and keep adding to it throughout the day. Don’t worry about which ones you’ll actually accomplish; the goal for today is just to get them all in writing!
What goals are on your list? Was this exercise easier or harder than you expected? How realistic do you think your list is?
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Mandi Ehman is the founder and publisher behind Life Your Way and the co-author of All in Good Time, as well as a wife and the homeschooling mom to four beautiful girls. She lives with her family on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia and loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces. |
