Goal Setting – How is it going this January?

Happy New Year!

Happy January! This is my first non-recipe blog post of the new year so I thought I would talk about something that is very January appropriate – goal setting.

I mean, lots of people right around this time of year may be falling off of the wagon they jumped on at new years … the death of the resolution so to speak – Generally starts to happen week two of January or a bit longer… I stopped making ‘resolutions’ a while ago. They have always been the same really (mostly starting with lose 20 lbs but whatever…).

Last year, I did something different. And I liked it.

So much that I did it again this year – weird!

It was goal setting. Wanna know the number one reasons goal setting doesn’t work? People don’t write down their goals. Seriously, that’s it. If you write them down you are some bigger than you would thing percentage closer to actually acheiving them. Of course you have to do the work but still, just writing them down gets you that much closer so what have you really got to lose?

In this post, I will share with you a super simple goal setting method I was shown last year in a fabulous group I belonged to so that you can be well on your way too.

Sound good? Ok lets go.

Goal Setting tools

Ok so really all you need for this goal setting method is you and your honest self, a pen and a blank sheet of paper. But if you are really wanting to improve on what you accomplish off of your goal setting list this year I really recommend a daily planner. I really like this one pictured above- I had the same for 2018 and I got it recently at Indigo for $14 (it was on sale last week). More on the planner later.

Goal Setting How To

Here is all you do:

Get a blank sheet of paper and at the top write “5 Personal Goals”

Half way down write “5 Professional Goals”

Then be honest with yourself about what you want and don’t hesitate to reach a bit – even if you “don’t think it is possible to reach that goal in one year” if it occurs to you write it down. Be specific. Use numbers if it is appropirate (weight loss goals, income goals, exercise goals – use times per week etc…). The more specific you make it the better.

Once you have written 5 things in each category (it can be more if you wish) you are done the goal setting bit. Seriously that is it. Fold up the piece of paper and tape it into the front of your journal and don’t really look at it till next year.

That’s not really it though – things wont just come true if you write them down right?

so what is next?

Goal Setting Magic

So now that you have written down your goals. Here is where the planner come in to bring the magic.

Even though you aren’t looking at the goals you have written down every day or really at all till the next time you do this exercise, you know what they are in your head. So here is the magic part.

Every day do something (or several little things) that get you closer to that goal.

Here is an example of a fairly typical week from my planner last year and what this week looks like right now for me…

I find that writing down what I do during the day regarding professional and personal goals helps me accomplish more.

Overnight success after a year of work…

What do you know you have to do to accomplish the things on your goal setting list? You know what they are….. Here is a tip – do the thing you hate most first. Eat the biggest frog first so to speak. Everything from there is downhill and easy.

For me at work that is “sales calls” – what does this mean for a chiropractor? No I am not cold calling looking for patients – what I do is call businesses or groups to offer to do free lunch and learns. I speak about a variety of health related topics like stress, diet, ergonomics, lifting technique and I even run guided meditation sessions. I love doing these workshops. BUT… I hate calling random places to find places to speak. Why? I have no idea – totally mental I guess. The places I call love it and everyone I have ever called has been super nice even if not interested… None the less, I don’t like making the calls.

So I try to set a number amount of calls to do daily when I need to start booking in advance. And I try to get these calls out of the way as early in the day as I can. I am not perfect at it but by having this in my head I do it far more often than I otherwise would. This got me to accomplish the goal I set last year of having at least one speaking engagement per week.

Goal Setting Fun

Last week, I got to open my goal sheet from 2018 when I sat down to write my new one for 2019.

I couldn’t remember exactly what was on it but somehow I accomplished 3/5 personal goals and 5/6 professional ones (yep, I did 6 – overachiever to the last).

So this year when I wrote my new goals I carried over one of the 2 I still wanted to accomplish from the personal goals (the other one I decided to drop as it no longer seems important or needed to me) and the 1 professional goal I was reaching toward but didn’t quite get to yet.

All good, I will keep striving for those, and I set 4 more new goals in each category.

I would love to hear about your goals – and what you think about all of this so please leave me a comment – I hope you find this helpful and fun!

Go get ’em this year. It’s gonna be great.