Kick Yourself Into Gear & Max Out Those Q4 Goals 🥅

If you’re anything like me, you set some goals at the beginning of the year, whether it was the calendar year or your birth year. Like most people, I’ve been known to run out of steam in the first month or two & never look back. This year has been different though, & I owe it to better planning with my own product. 🗓️

Setting Goals Pre-2024 🎉

Any serial goal-setters in the house? 🏠 I might be the captain of that squad. I’ll come up with goals each year around New Year’s Day, & by my birthday in March they’ve magically disappeared. I mean disappeared like a figment of my imagination. 

     Most of the time, I let life get in the way of handling what I wanted to strive for. I don’t think I’m ever not working, whether it’s at my full-time job or handling things for Intentional. Add in kids’ crazy schedules, husbae’s busy life, & being a payee for a family member, & you’ve got one exhausted chick! 😮‍💨 Sometimes I feel like I don’t know if I’m coming or goinf because it’s so much going on. 

     In all actuality, I was getting in my own way. 💯 Like the saying goes “if you fail to plan you plan to fail.” ALL FACTS! I was good when it came to handling appointments that I put on my schedule, like doctor & dental appointments, cheerleading events, & social gatherings. But when it came to my goals, I was flying by the seat of my pants without a solid plan. 

     When I say “without a solid plan,” I mean I set goals & didn’t even think about how or what I’d do to achieve them. I just set them & did what I could when I could. And this is exactly why most of my goals from previous years didn’t get accomplished. I needed more structure, more accountability, & to know exactly where I was allotting my time. ⌚️🤷🏽‍♀️

Setting Goals January 2024 💪🏽

I can definitely say this year’s quest to achieve some goals has been very different! I was better prepared this time around & knew I needed to change my game up to get different results. No more Groundhog’s Day goals over here. We’re putting feet to pavement & making 💩 happen!

     My first move in this journey was to practice what I preach & grab one of my own Intentional Planners. I had brainstormed my new goals in my Notes app while enjoying the beautiful mountains on my anniversary getaway, but I needed to write them out as well. ✍🏽 Writing something down is the only way I really remember or learn it. Imagine how much my hand hurt when I studied in grad school since reading & highlighting wasn’t enough…

     Once I got my planner, I started with an overview & worked my way backwards. Our adult planner has a vision board at the beginning; the perfect way to kick off a new year, whether it’s on New Year’s Day or any other day. I was able to think about each category of life & see what I wanted for 2024. 💭 This made it easier to break down my goals.

    Once I put my vision on paper, it was time to break my goals down into smaller steps each month. 👣 That was done with the use of the monthly goal-planner, which suggests using the SMART goal method. SMART stands for:

• Specific
• Measurable 
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound.

Making sure your goals are structured like this helps with creating a plan that’s appropriate & that you can hold yourself accountable for. It makes it easier to break things down into baby steps so you can make progress & track how close you are to attaining your goals. For more info on writing SMART goals, follow this link.

     After I know what small steps I was going to take towards my vision board goals, I break them down even further each week. With the daily planner section, I have 30-minute increments from 4am-10pm that I can block off for tasks each day. Being able to visually see how much time I have to dedicate to tasks helps me track progress easier & holds me accountable. Being able to check off items at the end of the day when I’m planning for the next day allows me to pat myself on the back. ✅

Conquering Goals in 2024 🏆

I keep tabs on my goals in my phone as well as my Intentional Planner. 📱That way, if I don’t have my planner I can still track my progress. I had 32 goals this year total: 16 for personal & 16 for Intentional. It seems a little excessive, but they weren’t big goals. Most of them correlated with other ones. Like me getting into better shape: I aimed to work out 3 times a week & meal plan. Not gonna lie, I haven’t stayed consistent with working out, but the last couple of months I have unless I was exhausted. 👟

     When I reflect on my mindset at the beginning of 2024 & my current one, I’ve come a long way. There was something major that affected my family literally every month this year, but we’re still standing, still pushing forward, & still strong. 💪🏽 I’ve been busier than I’ve ever been but have been able to balance way more effectively than before. I’ve developed healthier habits, & I intend to keep them up in the years to come. 

     If you don’t track your goals & progress, I urge you to start. It’s a great way to see how far you’ve come, whether it’s 1 or 1000 steps ahead. Our planners are great tools to use for that & other things that need a little extra to navigate a busy life. Check them out on our website. Black Friday is coming, & so is a sale…😉