New Year, New Goals…In Writing

I’m more of a journaler than a planner…and more of a hey, look at this pretty new planner person than a hey, I’m crushing my to-do list person. But, in part, because I do love planners and office supplies and all of that good stuff, in part because I’m badly in need of a to-do list, I’m buckling down and getting to it. Buckling down and setting goals, writing them down and everything!

So I just wanted to tell you a little about what I’m doing. I know a lot of people set goals in like November, December of the last year, which sounds fantastic. One day, maybe I’ll do that, but I always find myself getting into the goal-setting stuff in January. And here I am again!

I’ve read a lot about and learned a lot about goal setting and I’ve come and gone with it. As I said, I like looking at planners and picking out planners more than I’m actually good at writing in planners. So one of the things that I wanted to focus on this year is being more of a planner, more intentional. I like to go with the flow and I’ll allow myself that room to kind of go with the flow in certain areas. But I think if I have a plan in place, it will help me do what I want to do.

Writing your goals down makes it more likely that you will reach them.

I’ve realized that in the areas that I have been successful and consistent, I’ve had a plan in place. For example, with exercise. I’ve been exercising for almost 10 years consistently now when I was never an exercise person in my life. I was borderline anti-exercise. And I think part of my success in turning that around, part of the reason that I’ve stuck with it, is that I followed a plan.

Mindset first. Then a plan to guide the process.

When I started exercising I followed a program. (I still do most of the time!) There’s something that clicks about that for me. So I think in other areas of my life where I might want to make changes, having a plan would do well for me or would work for me also.

The PUSH Journal

I felt called to this PUSH Journal, created by Chalene Johnson. (She is a famous fitness trainer, but she’s also a famous business person) I find her very motivating. I’d heard about her PUSH program a while back. When I saw these on sale after Christmas  I scooped it up and that’s what I’m using to set my goals right now.

So if you’re not a goal-setting kind of person, you know, there is research that shows that writing your goals down makes it more likely that you’ll stick with it and that kind of thing. I like the system that Chalene Johnson shares in this PUSH journal about how to come up with a main goal. You look at different areas of your life, see where you’re at with satisfaction in those different areas, where you maybe you could use some improvement, and then you kind of narrow it down.

The main goal, and more…

So you do end up setting a bunch of goals for the year, but you have one main goal that’s called a push goal. And the idea is that that one main goal will be so strong and so powerful that it will push the other goals into being as well. I like that because I’ve done some planning things where you’re only supposed to pick one thing to work on with the mindset that, you know, you don’t want to spread your energy around too much. That makes sense, but I also find myself feeling a little stifled with that. I want to set more goals (especially when I’m caught up in a goal-setting kinda mood)!

Chalene Johnson’s push strategy allows you to set more goals, but also hone that energy into one main one. I like the domino effect that she describes.

Well, I’m still in Week 1, but, fingers crossed, I’m gonna stick with this planner. I really like it so far. Just planning the last few days has made me feel very productive. Today I have my to-do list and a more intentional map of my time, which I’m not very good at. I kind of get distracted easily. So far I’m loving it and I would love to hear from you about your goals…

Do you set goals? Do you have a daily planner or to-do list? Are you a list-maker? Please share! You can comment here, email me at mary@stayathomefit.com, or find me on Facebook or Instagram!  For a blast from the past goal-setting post read this old post!

I don’t think it matters so much how you go about goal-setting as it does that you do it. Think about your goals, write them down, read them each day.

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