Today is an exciting day. You will take your first step toward some positive changes. Do you have your list of goals? If not, check the previous post in this series here. If so, today we’re going to select a few to work on and start taking action. These first steps can change the trajectory of your life, so let’s press on toward that prize. Here we go…
First, select 2-4 goals to work on in the next 3 months.
What do you feel God calling you to focus on FIRST, in this season? It may be easy for you to pick out the few that are the highest priority for you. Or you may need to pray and seek out what God wants you to do NOW. If you’re not sure how many to choose, I would opt for fewer versus more. It’s better to focus on fewer goals for shorter spans of time to reduce the fractured thinking that comes with a larger number of longer-term goals.
Why 3 months? In 3 months, you can achieve quite a lot toward your goals. It’s enough time to instill new habits and begin to unravel unhelpful ones. But it’s not so long that you will tend to procrastinate. Imagine how it will feel in 3 months when you have accomplished these objectives. Now hold on to that picture.
If your goal will take longer than 3 months (running a marathon, moving across the country, losing 50 pounds), then make one of your goals to meet a milestone along the way. For the examples above, you might set a goal to run 3 times a week, increasing your weekly mileage to 15 miles or to finish your resume and submit for 1 new job in your goal destination per week, or to lose 12 pounds. You get the idea. We’re breaking larger goals down into smaller ones that can be achieved in 3 months.
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Second, write your goals for this season and post them where you can see them.
This is important! When we write down our goals, we are much more likely to achieve them. In fact, according to a recent study, we are 42% more likely to achieve our goals if we write them down. If you also share your goals with a friend who believes in you, you are even more likely to get there.
Michael Hyatt talks about this in his book, Living Forward, which I absolutely recommend for anyone who wants to live a more intentional, directed life. He suggests spending an entire uninterrupted 8 hour day to create a “life plan” and write down your priorities and goals. Creating a life plan can be a powerful experience and help you clarify where your focus belongs, but Moms rarely have the luxury of 8 hours of uninterrupted time. Sometimes it is downright impossible to carve out that kind of time. If you can, then definitely read his book and schedule it! But if you’re like me and it’s just not the season for that, we we can still use this idea of regularly seeking God’s direction for our lives and make any necessary corrections toward His calling.
So get an index card or a post-it note and write down your 2-4 goals for this quarter, writing the timeframe on the top. Now put it on your fridge, or hang it above your desk. You could frame it or put it in your reminders app. You could hang it on your dog. You want it to be someplace that you will see it every day.
Be sure to tell a friend or your spouse, preferably someone who will be encouraging and hold you accountable.
Third, decide what actions you will do this week to move toward your goals and schedule the actions.
Take a few minutes to jot down at least 2-3 actions that you can do THIS week to move toward these goals. It might be to schedule 3-4 exercise sessions, prep healthy meals for the week, do some research on your destination city, go to the library and focus on that project that’s been floating around in your head, or cleaning out your kitchen cabinets.
Whatever they are, write them down and put them on your calendar. Set a reminder. Even better, schedule them at the same time each day. For example, every morning after breakfast I will exercise, and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I will run 3 miles. Or every day after lunch I will spend 30 minutes doing research for that house project on my list. Or I will lose 1 pound this week by: walking every day after breakfast, planning my meals on Sunday afternoon, eating 3 meals plus one healthy snack per day at 3:00, and choose one of a list of 5 acceptable snack options.
It’s important that you get specific! Write down when and where you will do these. Do you need any tools or special equipment? Do you have workout clothes and good shoes? If not, that would be your first scheduled action! Do you need to go to the library to do your research? When will you plan your meals and go to the store? Visualizing these things specifically will reduce the number of decisions you need to make later and increase your willpower.
If your goal is to create a new habit, be sure to schedule it in your day at the same time. It will be much easier to do it each day if you have made the decision of when and where ahead of time.
Fourth, honor your commitments to yourself.
If you had a doctor’s appointment, an appointment with your child’s teacher, or even a coffee date with a friend on your schedule, you would not skip it. You would do everything in your power to make it happen. Now, look at your goals and decide how important they are to you. If you feel God leading you to do these things, then they should be a top priority. They should be more important than an appointment with anyone else. You only have one life and you thought these things were important enough to get this far, so make sure you do them! Keep picturing how it will feel to accomplish them.
Fifth, when life happens, give yourself the same grace you would give a friend.
Yes, you will do your very best to keep these appointments with yourself. But life does happen. Kids get sick. The dog throws up on the carpet. Someone you love really needs you NOW.
It’s ok. Give yourself grace, then RESCHEDULE it.
Read point four again.
Finally, don’t forget about your other goals – the ones that didn’t make the cut for this season.
What about your other goals that you didn’t schedule for this season? You’ll get to those in the right season. Keep them someplace safe and in 3 months, go back to them, prayerfully seeking which ones to select next. I would recommend putting them on a “Someday” list kept in your Reminders app or a similar app on your phone. You could also keep these in Evernote.
Focusing on seasonal goals and writing them down keeps them fresh.
Now, before you forget, make an appointment for yourself in 3 months for another goal-setting session, taking at least an hour to pray and seek God’s direction for the new season.
Be sure to leave a comment to let me know what actions you plan to take this week so that I can pray for you and cheer you on! Then go to the next post in this series, Do the Important Things – Part 1, and learn how you can make it easier to actually DO these actions that you want to do!
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