With arms wide open, we welcome 2021. At this point you’re just so ready for a new start, goal setting seems like icing on the cake. I want to show you the best (and easiest) goal setting worksheet you’ll find. I’ve created the Unhurried Life Starter Kit as a cohesive approach to making and seeing true change in your life and I’m sharing it with you.
What you’ll find in this blog post is the steps, methods, and ideas behind the goal setting worksheet inside the Unhurried life starter kit.
This is probably one of my most favorite resources and I’m thrilled to share it with you. When you set goals you’re giving yourself a long-term vision (or dream) and then the short-term motivation (steps) to get there! This is progress, moving forward and sometimes, as a mom, you have the tendency to feel stuck.
Before we totally dive in and dust off our hands with 2020 I want to remind you that there was a lot of good in this past year. Here are some of the fun things I want to remember about 2020: we had a baby, we bought a new house (and land), my oldest started kindergarten, we got a dog, and so much more.
To keep from forgetting these moments I make sure to create a family photo album every year (even the ones with pandemics) and I’d love to invite you to do the same!
Coming up I have a live workshop where I’ll be walking you through the process to organize and prep your photos from the whole year so you can easily and quickly make a family photo album. More on that coming … but make sure to save your seat for the workshop by clicking here!
Now onto goal setting and the easiest way I’ve found to do do this and see success and keep the momentum going!
The Unhurried Life Starter Kit: FREE RESOURCE & Goal setting Worksheet!
How Do You Set Goals?
How do you set goals? With your yoga pants on and a glass of wine!
But really. I’m not a corporate CEO, I’m a mom blogger/podcaster and I work out of my closet so my goal setting is totally different than it may be for you. Or it may look very similar.
When it comes to goal setting, especially for 2021 I’m giving it my all in. My very best.
First, when setting goals, plan for the time. If the time is not planned it won’t happen and then 2022 will creep up and, “oops”.
Second, use your time wisely. You’re reading this or you may hop over to The Unhurried Life podcast and go deeper with this week’s episode so you’re prepared for goal setting! Make sure you’ve printed your worksheet out from the Unhurried Life Starter Kit and you have a sharpened number 2 pencil on the ready!
Lastly, when it comes to setting goals, give grace. Understand this is not a time to reflect on past shortcomings. This is a time to dream. This is a time to start fresh. I would seriously love nothing more than to be whispering in your ear (in a non-creepy way) all the encouragement you need, all the words of affirmation that a dear friend would say.
Try to look at the deeper meaning of this verse. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says “so we don’t lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day”. What I believe this means (never mind the reference to my 34 years and 3 babies later wasting away body!) Is that I’m to be renewed everyday. Find fresh grace in my inner self, in my heart.
Types of Goal Setting
It helps to know there is a strategy for goal setting. When you’re getting hyped up for the new year and fresh beginnings it can be easy to just dive in. But like with all things I write and talk about, true action comes when you have a plan and when you have planned.
There are a few different ways you can approach goal setting but the way I’ve found works for me in my stage and life is through a worksheet I created in the Unhurried Life Starter Kit. The reason why this is a whole kit is because to see progress in one area you need to be making adjustments across the board.
For example, I’m not a sailor but I could imagine that a sailboat needs a lot of adjustments in different areas in order to catch the full force of the wind and move the boat. Tight lines, knots, sails. These are different areas that when worked on individually you can see success when the boat begins to move through the water.
Let me tell you about some types of goal setting so you come into this process fully prepared!
The 5 SMART Goals
By this point in life I”m sure you’ve heard of SMART goals. I’m not reinventing the wheel by any stretch of the imagination! However, as a mama, my brain power is not always at it’s finest and so let me fill you in a simple way to remember SMART goals (or the gist of them at least).
SMART stands for: Specific (or simple), Measurable (motivating), Achievable (attainable), Relevant (realistic) and Time.
I’ve set up my goal setting worksheet inside the Unhurried Life Starter kit to have this built in. Which means you don’t have to stress about including each of the letters in s.m.a.r.t. Let me explain how my worksheet is set up by telling you about the simple 3 types of goals.
3 Types of Goals
Knowing there are types of goals helps you narrow down the process even more. And having a little extra guidance when it comes to the seemingly vast task of goal setting is welcome! When it comes to goals each of these 3 have a different level of control.
Here are the 3 types of goals you can set for yourself:
- Process
- Performance
- Outcome
Let me give you an example for each so you can pull out which one you’ll be using the Unhurried Life Starter kit goal setting worksheet for.
Process
Process goals are totally controlled by you. I love process goals and I tend to disguise them as routines in our house. When I started my healthy living makeover in the beginning of Covid (perfect timing, right?) I built my life around process goals.
These are behaviors and strategies that will get you to performance and outcome goals. If your overall (outcome) goal is to lose weight this is the how part. Only eat 1200 calories a day, exercise 30 minutes, get 8 hours of sleep each night (wouldn’t that be nice!). See how each of these process goals are setting the stage for a nice routine in order to accomplish them?
Performance
Performance goals are your own standards and so you mostly have control. I think of performance goals as a way of putting your process goals together.
Again with my health journey. I knew I wanted to lose 30 lbs (outcome goal) and I knew I needed to do a few things to get there (process). When I put my processes together – I will exercise 30 minutes a day 5 days a week while maintaining a 1200 calorie diet 6 days a week I was setting my performance goals.
Outcome
Outcome goals are what happens as a result of something else. These are the most difficult to achieve because they are the most long term and we have the least control. Plus as mama’s long term is easy to let go by the wayside. Been there! Yes you need to have outcome goals but you can not ONLY have outcome goals.
Wanting to lose weight or get a certain job are both outcome goals and in the long term when you’re setting process and performance goals you’re setting the stage to achieve your main outcome goal. This is the end result, not the process to get there. In the goal setting worksheet in the starter kit I’ve set up a very easy and straightforward way of incorporating all 3 goals the way you need to.
Why Use a Goal Setting Worksheet?
Why is it important to have a goal setting worksheet on hand as you sit down to crank out your dreams? Well dear friend, there is some cool stuff that happens to our brain when we put pen to paper.
Memory and retention improve when we write and just the act of using real (old fashioned) paper activates parts of the brain that can increase comprehension. More of the little neurons in our head start to fire too! I’ve loved reading more and more about the brain in a few really great books. If this interests you too check these out: The Whole Brained Child and Switch on Your Brain!
It took me a little while to develop the method I use in the Unhurried Life Starter kit and I did it with you in mind. The reason the goal setting worksheet in not a 1 pager is because I believe this is a lifestyle change.
Goal Setting Examples
Setting goals can be so motivational. But then the motivation wears off after some time. When you haven’t had the chance to see goals come to completion it gets harder to stay on task. We all love a good story and motivation when it comes to setting goals so here are a few goal setting examples that will fire you up (and give you some fun table talk at the New Years Eve party you’re headed to in a few days!)
This first example is of a mom with 3 kids, one 6 weeks old, one 2 years and one very active 5 year old. 1 week prior to COVID quarantine that mama set an outcome goal for herself to lose 30 lbs and get back on the healthy bus!
Then gyms closed, school stopped and her 2100 square feet of home never looked so dim. Until using process goals (ie – extreme routines) led her to accomplish what she never (in her whole life) had done. Lose that weight and feel aaaamazing! Yay, that one was me.
A young boy from Singapore got to meet his gold medal hero. The young boy left his encounter in a dream, motivated to set an outcome goal that would impress. Years later this 14 year old boy was a 22 year old man and wound up beating his hero in the 100m butterfly, Michale Felps!
There are so many other inspirational examples of what happens when you take the time to set goals for your life. When you are giving yourself the room to dream you are changing the way you live and those little people around you see that and learn from that.
5 Goal Setting Tips
Let’s be real for a second. When it comes to motherhood and trying to set goals for our dreams there are a lot of other things we need to do first. Goal setting can get pushed to the bottom of the list and things that keep us in the “now” take over. Check out this post on Survival Mode.
For example, when we’re just trying to get dinner on the table, homework done, nurse a baby, discipline a 2 year old – your goal setting and striving can seem a tiny bit unimportant. I totally get that and I’ve been there.
When you’re in a quiet place and have half a second to yourself allow some dreaming to take place. And I don’t mean fall asleep, although that would be nice. Allow your brain to imagine and hope. Here are a few goal setting tips to get you started.
- Don’t forget there are both short term and long term goals, pick from both categories
- Have a quiet place to work
- Use the worksheet inside the Unhurried Life Starter Kit AND the rest of the starter kit to start reshaping your life as a whole
- Know what type of goal you’re setting (check out the types above)
- Have your goals somewhere you can easily see them
My bonus tip is to come back to your goals and reassess. Decide if you’re on track or veering. Then analyze your progress. Life happens and shifts need to be made, a shift is not a failure.
When an airline pilot takes off from LA to DC he doesn’t set his course then kick up his feet to take a nap. He’s making tiny adjustments the whole trip. Not to mention the planning and calculating that went into this journey just to get off the ground.
Consider yourself your own pilot because, well you are! Don’t let this trip just happen to you, chances are you won’t hit your final destination.
Let’s talk in real life over on The Unhurried Life Podcast where I go even more in depth on how to use this goal setting worksheet you can find inside my starter kit.
2021 deserves some attention and a plan. YOU deserve some attention and a plan!
Related Posts:
–How to get out of Survival Mode
–Why you Shouldn’t set Goals (Trust me This one is Good)
MENTIONS:
The Unhurried Life Starter Kit || The Whole-Brain Child || Switch on Your Brain || The Unhurried Life Podcast
