It is said that the most successful people in life set goals and look at them daily. This seems like such a simple (or tedious depending on your personality) thing, and yet the more I have worked with regular setting and tracking of goals, the more I see the truth behind this.
It is so very easy to get caught up in life, especially for anyone who has a busy life. Most of the time, I have the opposite problem. I have so much available time that I feel like I can do a ton of things. But I also have quite diverse interests, and if I don't pay attention to where I am spending my time, the day zips by and half the things I intended to do don't get done.
I think the phrase 'spending your time' is very important. Time is definitely a resource and we should pay as much attention to it as we do to money (time is money after all). Time is a currency we have a limited amount of, and we use to pay for the things we want to do. Sometimes we have things we need to do, and these take away from our time too.
What goals and planning do is help you manage your time. When you set goals, you are prioritizing the things you spend your time on. You are making a deliberate decision to focus on this one thing, and setting aside a time to do it.
Goals can be intimidating for a lot of people. Some take to goal setting like a duck to water, while for others it's like pulling teeth. What you need to do is realize that goal setting doesn't work the same way for everyone, and you need to figure out what works for you.
I like structure, but I also don't want my days ordered to death. I am going to outline what I have been doing this year, as it's been working really well for me, as well as talk about some other options, in case one of them might be more appealing to you.
The first thing I did this year, at the turn of the year, was make a vision board for the coming year. I spent some time, thinking about what I wanted to accomplish this year. Not in terms of specific things (though I definitely did more specific things on last years vision board, so that is a fine choice if that appeals to you), but more the feelings and experiences I wanted to have. I flipped through magazines, clipping out pictures and words that jumped out at me. Then I used some paint to put colors on my little canvas board...nothing fancy, I just grabbed a brush and some colors that looked nice and swirled them around so the board wasn't really white anymore. Most of the board will end up covered with clippings, so you could do anything you want underneath. You could write out your goals, then paint over it with a single color that symbolizes what your theme for the year is. You could splatter pain or let it drip in any direction. Or you could leave it white!
Then I laid out my big pictures...no words yet. I picked pictures that spoke to me. This year it was pretty abstract, there is a picture of a sunset/sunrise, some swirling water, a flower, a compass and a tea set among other things. Some of them I couldn't tell you why I wanted them on my board, I just knew I did, so they went on. I placed them around until I liked what I saw, then pasted them onto my board. Then I did the same with words, looking for phrases or single words that jumped out at me. One of my main focuses this year is on mindfulness...on being in the now. And almost all those 'in the now' terms end in -ing, so there are a lot of -ing words that I clipped, and the best ones made it to the board...plus I clipped a lot of interesting looking "ing" endings from words to add in to remind myself to just be in the moment. I pasted the words on, then added a bit more paint, some silver and gold metallic paint I have, to add a bit of accent.
This vision board sits on my desk, where I can see it pretty much all day long. I try to consciously look at it at least once a day. It helps remind me of what I want to work on, the energy I want to call to me, and just to take a moment to breathe (that is on my board!)
The second thing I started doing this year is a daily calendar. I do a daily rune pull, and last year I tried to use the calendar to jot down things I learned or inspiration I got during the day as well. That didn't work so well for me (I am more productive in the morning, so things that require reflection at the end of the day aren't well suited to me). This year, I am using my daily squares on my calendar to schedule what I want/need to do each day.
Some things are written down every day: meditation and self-joy (things that I do just for me). Not only does this remind me to keep up with them every day, but it also helps me track if I need to adjust my goals..which I have. The year started out with yoga every day, but while I love yoga and definitely need to keep active daily, I have found that I keep running into blocks that I think I need to work through (I have been working on regular exercise for years now....I'll go along good for a couple of months and then hit a block and not do much of anything for months). So now I have adjusted from daily yoga to daily meditation...and still trying to get that to where I want it to be. I wrote a previous blog post about how self-care became self-joy (which can be found here if you are interested). I don't schedule everything I do every day, just the things that I want to be aware of.
I also don't schedule every task I have for every day. It's sort of a loose thing. Today for instance, I have blog on my schedule as well as out of the house errands I need to run. I don't always put down errands, it really depends on whether or not I think I might forget to run them. I also don't always put down things that I do on a regular weekly basis. I am in a group that helps with goal-support, and I haven't been scheduling my posts there in my calendar, but if I start slipping up on doing them, then I will add it to my calendar until I get back on track.
That is the big thing I like about the calendar. I can write things down, and refer to it several times a day. It lets me not have to think constantly about what I have to do that day. It also lets me tick things off as I get them done, which for me is very rewarding. I choose not to put times for any of my tasks, as I don't like having that regimented of a schedule, but if you like or need to, that is a great way to help keep on track as well. I know quite a few people who will absolutely schedule specific times for things (even lovely self-joy actions like having a bath or reading a novel) because when they put it on their calendar, it sets that time aside for that action, and they can schedule all the other things that have to be done that day around the things they want to do...and seeing it all on the calendar allows them to take the time they need for themselves, and still feel secure in knowing that all the other things will get done.
My other main goal-setting tool this year is moon tracking. I have been working with the moon cycles and phases since the start of the year. This gives me a monthly cycle of planning, work and reflection aimed at different areas in my life. I have definitely enjoyed working the cycles, and am thinking about how I might continue it in the future. It gives me a chance to work on specific things, over a shortish period of time, with dedicated steps along the way. It has both structure and openness (as I can use each phase in the way I feel appropriate for my goals). And, because I am using the full moon energies to guide my path this year, I have a theme for each moon that I can pick a goal to work on, so that also gives me a bit of structure.
Finally, I am in a lovely facebook group that is designed to support us all on any goals we are working on or struggles we find along the way. A lot of people find facebook a very toxic place, but I absolutely think it can be a great thing if you surround yourself with great people. I have lots of great groups, but this one is specifically geared to help all the members accomplish whatever they set their mind to. We recently started doing weekly goals, a mid-week work in progress check in and an end of the week reflection.
This weekly structure is really nice. I find myself really thinking ahead as to what kinds of things I want to do over the course of the week. Plus, with a group structure, I always find more motivation to stick to my goals....having other people to cheer me on makes me want to stick to things more than just on my own (even when the other people will never think poorly of me for not reaching a goal...just them being there motivates me).
I think that outside support is something that is very individual as well. Some people really thrive under a drill-sergeant type of hard push, while others would find that horrible. I don't really like when people are on my back constantly, but I definitely know I perform better when there are other people involved. Some people need more regular encouragement (especially at the start or when things get rough). You should always find the right group for you, the people who drive you to do bigger and better things. If you have people who are not supporting you in the right way...find ones who will!
Looking at all the different tools I use to keep on track, I will also say that having multiple size goals and tasks is definitely important. Using just a daily calendar, I don't look at larger goals, I am so focused on what needs to be done that day. It is very hard, just working daily, to reach those bigger goals, because you don't have a larger timeline. With just the vision board, I have a lovely tool for the greater picture of my year, but absolutely nothing that helps me work in a concrete way towards it. The moon cycles and weekly checkins help tie things together, but they are less effective without the larger picture (where do I want to be a year from now...or five or ten years, it can often be helpful to do big long term goals as well). And without the daily tasks, it can be easy to loose track of where you need to be focused today, and find yourself at the end of the week/month with great intentions and no progress. And whether or not you involve other people in your goals, you should always check in with yourself. If you aren't tracking whether you are accomplishing your tasks, you won't know if you need to change your process.
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