Last year, I began having quarterly meetings with myself in order to reflect on things that either worked well for my life or needed improvement from the previous year. Reflecting by the quarter also enabled me to look at my goals in smaller chunks, thus making them more achievable. As I look back on my goal-setting worksheets, I realized many things were a success, and I generally remained on track with where I said I wanted to be mentally, physically, spiritually, and financially. Others, however, might need to be altered or revisited, but that's ok!
The above mentioned are things I've noticed many people need a little assistance with holding themselves accountable to, and I've also been alongside many friends, family members, and coworkers who are hoping to set and reach some new goals. So I decided to start the production of a planner to help keep up with our goals a little bit better! The first step: identifying my big goals.
Let's first dive in to what S.M.A.R.T. goals are.
You may or may not have heard of this, but as an educator we use it A LOT. It's a simple tool that allows us to assist our students with planning and achieving their goals. One of the ways we all succeed is by proper planning: knowing what we want to achieve and how we want to achieve it. There are a few versions of what this acronym means, but in general you should set goals that are:
Specific
What exactly do I want to see happen?
What do I hope to do or accomplish?
Measurable
How will I know that I accomplished what I wanted to do?
How will I track my progress?
Attainable
Is this goal actually something I know I can achieve?
Do I have what I need to make it possible?
What resources will I need?
Relevant
Why am I doing this?
Is this goal in alignment with my overall mission?
Time-Bound
Do I have a definite time-frame when I wish to achieve this goal?
When will I have this completed?
When you take some time to visualize and write your goals out, it could really give you a boost in confidence that you can, in fact, achieve the goals you set for yourself as long as you know what, when, how, and why you are working to achieve them. Rule of thumb: always make sure they are aligned with your life's purpose!
I'm hoping to complete the creation of my first yearly planner in time for 2021 (yes, I will be completing a S.M.A.R.T. Goals plan for this to make sure I get it done!), so I thought I might get started NOW to test a few pages out with my readers by sharing a few freebies! Try out this template as a guide to start writing your goals down, and please share with me in the comments or in the emails how it worked for you!
You can fill out this form for as many goals as you like, but as you prepare for the month ahead, I would recommend focusing on one big goal so you don't overwhelm yourself. You may have already set some big goals for this last quarter of the year. How will you finish them off? Based on the big goals you have set for yourself, how much of that do you plan to accomplish during the next 30 days? Feel free to share your big goals below, or use this as an opportunity to start brainstorming how you envision the next month going for you.
"It's never too late or too early to start planning."
While we can't control everything, we are still given free will to make our own choices in this life. Pray about the plans you have set in your heart, keep an open mind for what God wants to do in your life, and keep moving forward.
Happy Planning!
"May he grant your heart's desires and make all your plans succeed." -Psalms 20:4 NLT
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