Let's talk goals! Don't worry, this isn't another "it's 2024, time to set some New Years resolutions" post. I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions, but I do believe in always pushing to be the best mom and teacher that we can be. As a homeschool mom who runs a business, I swear by weekly and monthly goal setting, not yearly. I'm going to share all the goal setting secrets here with you today that will help you with your family planning, and if you happen to want to start a business, I can help with that too, just click here. I'm also going to share with you a goal planner that will completely change how you're setting AND ACHIEVING your goals. Buckle up, because you're about to have the most amazing, stress free year yet!
1. Break down your goals. Use the master goal sheet to write down the goals you want to achieve in the next year. From there break them down into quarters and then into months. I realize this post is specifically talking about family and homeschool, but I'd recommend using these sheets for both business and personal goals simultaneously if you wear both hats. No need to overcomplicate your goal setting, just do it. What I've found throughout the years is 1-3 personal goals (focusing on YOU mom) and 1-3 homeschool/family goals are good. If you run a business also, try doing 1-2 in each category; I wouldn't suggest more than 6-8 large goals TOTAL for the year. You don't want to overwhelm yourself and if you're new to goal setting, just set out to hit 1 or 2 total. You can always add more throughout the year if you choose, but the goal here, no pun intended haha, is just to keep it simple.
2. Be Smart with your goals. Let's break this down with one of my homeschool goals. We value quality time in our home and do very little screen related activities. We love playing games! My initial goal for 2023 was to play more games with Glori. Take a look on the left as to how I got S.M.A.R.T with that goal. You would repeat this process with each major goal that you have on your list. If at any time you can't read the graphics on the left or would like more clarification on a particular step, be sure to tune into the corresponding training video (coming soon) to this blog that breaks everything down in detail for you.
3. Connect with your goals on an emotional level. As you're writing out your S.M.A.R.T. goal, you're going to notice an excited feeling and a motivation that you can't explain. Yeah, that's not going to last at 1 am when you're working on your business goal after a long day at your 9-5. You need to connect deeper to your goals on paper by attaching them to an emotion. When your motivation waivers, read through your connections sheet a few times in order to reignite that feeling of excitement toward your goal. I'm not using my current goal as an example because I'm not ready to share my emotional connection with it publicly. This step is going to be a very personal one for you, and that's the point. It needs to be deeply personal to YOU. What I did share was a goal I had (and hit) in 2016. I've been setting goals using the S.M.A.R.T. system since I was in college. I didn't create this system, I just created the planner that goes with it.
4. Take action. Once you have your S.M.A.R.T goal, it's time to break it down into actions goals with manageable task lists attached to each. You may need to print out more than one sheet for you goal depending on how large it is. Some goals are going to have several actions steps and some a few. For this goal of more games all I need to do make up a trackers, and then consistently play games and consistently update my tracker. On the left I've included one of my business goals because the action steps are much more intense, so you can see how I break everything down. I currently have 3 planners, a homeschool planner, a business planner, and a goal planner. In 2023 I'll be taking them from only digital and converting them into physical products sold through Amazon as well as expanding my planner to a full fledged Lifestyle Planner Series. For my goal, I'll need multiple action sheets. My goal is to have a new planner out each month, so in 7 months I'll have all 7 planners finished. Month 8 I will use as a research month to reach out to friends of mine that have products available on Amazon to see the steps needed there. Month 9 I'll fill out the necessary forms to put my products on Amazon and then the ball will be in their court. All the while I'll be selling digital copies as well as copies that I make myself, so I'm not waiting to make money until my goal is reached. I'm simply learning to work smarter not harder AS I'm making money doing what is currently working for my business. Your goal shouldn't push pause on your current life. We're moms, there's no pause button. Instead, our goals need to be able to be managed right alongside our normal lives.
5. Run a monthly assessment on your goals. This sheet you use once a month and you assess every part of your life. Start by writing down all the different goals from the previous month under the "area" column. Then to the left of each goal, rate yourself 1-10 for how well you hit those goals (or the part of the goal designated for that month). 1 being I sucked and 10 being boom, killed it! To the right of the goal write ONE THING that you can do over the next 30 days to move the needle closer to that goal. In addition to goals, I write every hat that I wear under the "area" column as well (mom, teacher, coach, musician, etc.) and I rate myself in that category as well as identify one thing I can do better in that specific area of my life over the next 30 days. At the top of the assessment sheet write AT LEAST one area you excelled in in the last 30 days. Celebrate your wins! Then out of all of your goals and areas of life, choose three that you want to focus on for the next month. These could be three that you fell behind in the previous month or something you have a deadline for. As I said up top, everyone sets up New Year's resolutions; high performers assess their goals monthly and sometimes even weekly.
6. Create a vision board! Put your goals in a place where they're visually appealing, and you can see them every single day. Read them out loud and visualize yourself hitting them.
Now, you an absolutely grab a notebook and do this all completely for free, OR you can grab the BossMom Goal Planner and let me do all the heavy lifting for you, so you can focus on achieving YOUR goals and YOU showing up as the best mom and teacher you can possibly be going into the new year. This will go for well over $35; HOWEVER, that's not what you're paying today, not even close! So let's talk a minute about what you get with this.
You get all of the pages we've already shown you PLUS you get 7 complete color schemes that you can pick from. You get all of them when you order, so you can use a different color for each goal, you can pick one set and use it all year, or you can let your kids pick their favorite color and help them learn to set goals as well. You get everything! It's 2024, make this the year that you become the very best version of yourself and continue showing up as the mom and wife that your family deserves without adding any extra stress to your plate.
Use the button below to order your Goal Planner today and don't hesitate to reach out to me @helpingheartshomeschool and let me know what your goals are for 2023. I'm cheering for you, and I hope you get everything you want and more this year.