So one month in, how are you now traveling with your goals? Data from the Planning With Kids survey (more on this to come in another post) found that 41% of readers set goals but forget about them after the first month and 21% did not set any goals.
On top of my list of personal goals for 2013, I am going to write each month to provide tips and motivation to help those who have set goals to stick to them and remind those who haven’t how worthwhile the goal setting process can be.
Plan – set your schedule
This month’s focus is on setting a work plan or a time table, schedule what ever you would like to call it for yourself. Back in October I shared what my week roughly looks like. You can see that it has time allocated for:
- Me
- Kids
- Household
- Work
It is interesting to note that there is one category missing here, that has been a category in my goal setting structure. It also is the category which has had a goal I have failed to meet for two years in a row. The category is my relationship with my husband and the goal has been to have a weekend away.
While I can’t factor a weekend away into my weekly schedule, I really should have time for us. It doesn’t need to be as formal as it sounds, but I do need to make sure that we are spending time when neither of us is completing a household task, has a device in our hands or are in front of the TV. Some time where it is just us and we talk.
Over the holidays, we had a couple of short walks together on our own and I really liked it and I want to make sure we do more of this. It will be far more likely to happen if it is part of my weekly plan.
Also one of my goals in 2013 is to read some books. In my weekly schedule above there is no time allocated to reading. No real surprise then that I barely read anything in 2012.
So below is my first draft of a weekly schedule for 2013:
As I have mentioned before, this is not something that has to be done 100% to the letter. It gives me the best idea of where I am spending my time. Allows me to prioritise activities so I can spend time on the ones that will help me achieve my goals for this year.
To that end, you will notice the weekly schedule now has time for reading and my partner. I need to work as hard in those areas to stick to it as I do in getting up every morning to exercise. Achieving your goals does require discipline, perseverance and very often hard work.
For me planning out what I need to do to achieve my goals, has been a way I have achieved success. In 2013 I am working on improving my planning so I can achieve even more success with my goals.
My monthly goal review
Goals | Progress |
|---|---|
Me - I am less rushed and healthier. |
|
| Continue to improve my diet: one meat free meal a week, reduce consumption of sugar and carbs. | Work in progress. Have planned to try four new veg recipes in Feb. |
| Read six books by the end of the year. | At the request of readers will compile my list and share it on the blog. Have committed to making reading part of my night time routine. |
| Add variety to my exercise regime. | Have started a new type of exercise which I am loving! |
| Sleep at least 6 hours a night on a regular basis. | Have been very good with this, but once we get back to school term I need to make sure bad habits don't creep back in. |
Family - We spend more time doing things together. |
|
| Monthly family meetings. | First one for the year has been held. |
| Eat out together on a quarterly basis. | n/a this month |
| Have an active family holiday. | Have started to talk dates and places. |
| Two big bush walks throughout the year. | n/a this month |
Relationship - We have more time together on our own and support each others interests. |
|
| A weekend away in 2013. | n/a this month |
| Attend an event in the Comedy Festival, see 1 play, see 1 live music gig and a attend one event at the Melbourne Festival. | The list of events which are already on sale for the Melbourne Comedy Festival are here and we are working out who we want to see. |
| Mr I will play football, cricket and cycle. | Preseason training has started for football and there is a chance his cricket team will make it into the finals. |
| I will continue exercising 5 - 6 times a week. | I even kept this up when we were away on holidays. |
Work - Improved usability and resources on the blog and improved blogging skills. |
|
| Analyse PWK survey and implement changes to the blog by quarter one. | About 75% complete on survey analysis. Will be writing about the results in Feb. |
| Develop the calendar to the next stage by quarter two. | Haven't started this yet, but will do so this month. |
| Take course at Australian Writers Centre by quarter three. | Need to check available dates. |
| Release new product by quarter four. | n/a this month |
Would love to hear how your first month of goal setting has been? And it is never to late to set goals if you haven’t already done so!