How to Set Goals You’ll Actually Accomplish – With a Free Download!

How to Set Goals You'll Actually Accomplish – With a Free Download! – Thirty-Something Angie

How to Set Goals You’ll Actually Accomplish – With a Free Download!

I talk a lot on the blog about setting goals and being intentional with your actions.  That’s because I believe that setting goals works!  When you set goals, you are giving yourself a direction and a plan.  I thought I’d take a minute today and talk about

I set my goals and also how I break down my yearly goals into manageable steps.

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How I Prioritize and Set Goals

I don’t know when exactly I decided that I need to set my yearly goals in January.  I’m going to blame it on all of the hype around the new year’s resolutions and new beginnings.  Or, maybe it’s the fact that I’m exhausted from the chaos of the holidays, which makes January an ideal time to focus on change and organization.  Either way, I set goals every January, but you can set yours any time that makes sense to you.

What Are Your Priorities?

The first thing you need to do when you’re planning out your goals is to figure out your priorities.  I used to sit down and make these

lists of goals for each year, and always wondered why I never actually accomplished them.  The reason, it turns out, is because I was trying to focus on too many things that weren’t really important to me.

Figure out your priorities first and goals second. These should be your focus all year! #goalsetting

Instead of overwhelming yourself, try choosing just a few areas of your life that you really want to improve. I like to make a maximum of 5 goals each year because I feel like any more and I won’t be able to dedicate the right amount of time to each one.

Side note: if you haven’t read

Time Management Mama

yet, she discusses this in her book!

There are a lot of different options for setting priorities, but some of my favorites are:

Personal/Relationships

OOLA for Women: A Review

This list could go on and on.  Anything that is a priority for you can automatically become a category. Once I decide what my top 5 goal categories are, I write them down and then set goals for each category. I used to use the goal setting sheet in my

Inkwell Press Planner

exclusively, but I like to have something I can hang on my bulletin board in a place I’ll see it every day, so I made a fun printable that I’ll share with you today.

Click here to gain access to my FREE printable library and download this goal setting sheet!

Write Down Your Goals

Once I figure out my top 5 priorities, I sit down and figure out which goals I want to accomplish within that category.  Then, I write down some actionable steps that will help me accomplish those goals this year.

One area I want to focus on this year is my finances.  My big goal in that area is to

.  In order to do that, I plan to:

Cut back on eating out

Pay off our credit card by putting it away and paying extra each month

Once the credit card is paid off, take those payments and put them towards my car note

Now, I’ve gone from wanting to get my finances under control, to establishing a clear goal (paying off debt), to 3 actionable steps I can start working on today.

Break Your Goals Down

Once all of my goals are figured out for the year, I make it a point to break them up into manageable chunks.  Saying “I want to pay off all of my debt this year,” sounds really big and scary (I mean, we have a brand new car and took

big vacations this summer on the credit card).  Instead, I want to look at a manageable chunk.

By breaking up my goals into yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily tasks, the whole thing looks a lot more manageable and a lot less scary.

Your Planner Isn’t Helping You Get More Done

Going back to my example from above, my

goal is to eliminate our debt.  My monthly goal for January is going to be to cut back on eating out and frivolous spending.  One of the ways to reduce our spending and stop eating out is to create a meal plan each week before grocery shopping.  Then, once I write my meal plan in my weekly calendar, I just need to remember to pull out any meat or prep any veggies with plenty of time to have dinner ready each night.

So, as you can see, I was able to take a big goal that will span the entire year and break it down into manageable steps.

Quit Making Excuses

As you can see in the photo above, I added a little section at the bottom of my goal setting sheet titled “What excuses will I stop using?”  When I decided I wanted to make yoga a daily habit, I was advised that I needed to write down every excuse I could use to

do yoga that day.  The theory is that when you write it down, you acknowledge that it’s an excuse, and then you’ll be able to tell yourself that when you inevitably use it to get out of what you planned to do.  Some of my excuses for not doing yoga were:

I didn’t sleep well last night

I’ve already had some wine tonight

I don’t have time today

Going back to my financial goal example, some of my excuses could be:

I don’t have time to cook

I forgot to pull meat out of the freezer

The kids have worn me out

Those are things I’ve been saying

to justify take-out, and it’s created a huge issue with our budget (and health) lately.  So, starting this week, cooking at home and planning my meals has become a priority again, and I will not be using any of these excuses.

is how you accomplish big goals.  By prioritizing your most important tasks, writing them down, acknowledging your common excuses, and making a plan.

Do you struggle with accomplishing big goals? What’s your biggest hang-up when making big changes in your life? Let me know in the comments below!

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