Last week we talked about the three things you need to set focused, effective goals, which are:
- Choose something you can control
- Make it specific and measurable
- Focus on systems you can improve, not one-time events
As I said in that post and video, SUCCESS IS THE PRODUCT OF DAILY HABITS – NOT ONCE IN A LIFETIME TRANSFORMATIONS. Goals that are a one-time outcome or event will not change your life as much as a system will. A “system” is the process of small improvements, your habits, that will actually change your life!
If you missed part one, go watch it here!
But if you’re ready, today I’m sharing my five-step goal-setting system, including the change I made to it this year.
Let’s break it down.
Step One: Your Life Pie
- First, draw a circle and create segments for these categories:
- Work
- Family
- Friends
- Spirituality
- Health
- Romance and Adventure
- Fun
Add to this or change the terms if you need, to encompass the aspects of your life and what you want to include.
2. Draw a dot to mark where you are right now in each – closer to the middle means “not good” and further out to the edge of the circle means “great.”
3. Connect the dots. If your pie looks pretty wonky right now, that’s okay! This pie will help you determine where to focus right now. Every quarter or maybe halfway through the year, we can do this again to see how things have shifted to become more balanced.
Step 2: Brainstorm Goals
Brainstorm potential sub-goals and ways to improve: For example, under “Work,” if I wanted to work on my writing specifically, I could brainstorm:
- Research writing routines
- Write for 15 minutes a day
- Blog once a week
- Take a blogging class
- Start writing a book proposal
Each of my categories of goals could have several sub-goals or ideas. Don’t get too locked into these. Dream a little!
Also, DO NOT think that you have to all of them at once! If I have five sub-goals for each of my 9 goals, that’s an impossible amount of things to do at one time! That’s why the next step is so important…
Step 3: Your Season’s Goals
Instead of goal-setting for the next 12 months, I’ve found it much more effective to think of the year in terms of seasons. Each season will have its own focus. Some are more about rest, some are more about productivity, etc.
Once I’ve made my pie and brainstormed sub-goals, a theme usually emerges. I focus on whatever is lowest in my pie right now.
Sometimes there’s a common thread and it could be my word of the season. Sometimes it comes through a Bible verse or a quote, a song, or some other means.
Every three months, I’ll stop and evaluate in my weekly time (I’ll get to that) and see whether that word of the season still fits, or if things are shifting.
Step 4: Monthly Goals Bullet Journal Spread
On a Sunday afternoon at the beginning of the month, I’ll create the month’s spread in my bullet journal. If you’re not familiar with bullet journaling, here’s a collection of videos on YouTube that explain it well. It’s a system that you make work for you – it can be as elaborate or as simple as you want.
My spreads consist of two pages, and they’re not the most artistic bullet journal pages out there, but I’ll show you what it looks like. I use a Leuchtturm 1917 dotted notebook.
At the top are my Monthly goals. In the pictures above, I have 10 categories listed – THIS IS WAY TOO MUCH. Now that I’m doing a life pie, I only have three categories!
After each, I’ll add my goals – using the three things I talked about last week to make sure they’re focused and effective. I can add them throughout the month too, but I try to have at least one in each category.
In the free space I’ll also add lists of things that I want to be reminded of throughout the month, like blog post ideas, self-care ideas, etc.
Step 5: Weekly and Daily Bullet Journal Spreads
Each daily or weekly goal is part of a habit or practice that connects to one of my Monthly Goals. Doing yoga every day is connected to my health Monthly Goal, as is being gluten- and dairy-free. Sleeping without electronics is connected to my writing goal, health goal, and spiritual goals because it helps me get up earlier in the morning so I can do yoga, read my Bible, and write.
Once a week, usually on a Sunday afternoon, I sit down with my bullet journal and pens and fill in the boxes for each day. I also look at my Monthly Goals, and then, I create a one page Weekly Spread, that looks like this:
Here, I’ll copy over some of the Monthly Goals that I can accomplish this week, or break them into smaller goals to work towards them. I also record any events and appointments for the week. Then I have a Planning Meeting with my husband to go over it.
I’ll create my daily task lists (right side of the notebook) each morning. I’ll refer back to my Weekly Spread to make sure I’m crossing things off my list. Then on Sunday, I’ll sit down for 15-30 minutes to review my Monthly Goals again, fill in my trackers, and make my Weekly Spread.
WHY IT WORKS
- Flexibility. By starting the year with categories and varying the monthly goals, I can fit the goals to my season of life. Busy with work? I’ll make more monthly work goals and fewer Home and Fun goals, while still keeping some balance in my life. I may not accomplish all of my weekly or monthly goals, but I can move them to the next month. Or, I might realize halfway through the year that I actually don’t want to run a 10k after all … I’m more of a yoga girl. I can pivot to a new goal.
- Specific when it needs to be. Instead of starting the year with the goal of “lose weight,” in the Health category one of my Monthly Goals could be losing 2.5 lbs. My Daily Goal could be going for a run, and my Weekly Goal could be meal planning healthy meals. Even if I don’t lose all 2.5 lbs, if I’ve gone for a lot of runs and made healthy meals, I’ve still made great progress.
- Achievable. If there’s a major goal like starting a business or running a marathon, you can break it down to things you can do every day. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
I believe we can take make those big life changes one step at a time. Even something as simple as sleeping without my phone each night has made it possible to get up earlier, work out every day, read my Bible and journal, start writing, and get my workday off on a better foot. That increases my family’s happiness and helps me be more successful at work. The ripple effects of that one choice every day are enormous!
If you’re not sure where to start, I recommend getting a bullet journal and downloading the Strides app. With those two tools, you can build a system that works for you.
If you try this, let me know how it goes! Tag me in a photo of your spreads on Instagram, or comment below.
What’s your word of this season, or a goal you’d like to accomplish this month?
