Guest Post: Three Steps To Making Purposeful Goals
Hi! I’m Julia Mary from Julia-Mary.com and I’m so excited to share part two of our three part series on Goal Setting. Today I’m sharing a few thoughts on HOW I set goals.
Ready to dive in?
1. Get specific and be purposeful!
Here’s an example:
- Bad goal: I want to get healthy.
- Good goal: I want to run a 30 min. 5k race in the spring so I can feel more energized at work and focused as I go about my day.
Being specific and purposeful will motivate you, give you a clear target to work towards and make it clear when you’ve accomplished your goal.
2. Make them attainable.
I have to be careful here because I’m all for dreaming big but if your goals are too ambitious they will likely go unfinished or be forgotten. In 2015, I knew something had to change about my morning routine before work. I’m not a morning person and enjoy snoozing my alarm as long as possible but I knew waking up a little earlier was needed. Here were two goals I considered:
- Wake up at 5:30am, workout at the gym, eat breakfast, get in the Word, and be ready to leave for work by 7:30am.
- Get up at 6:30am, make a simple breakfast, spend 10 minutes stretching, and 10 minutes in The Word/prayer.
I could have stuck with the first one for maybe a day or two but in the long run it wasn’t realistic. The second was much more attainable and gave me reason to celebrate when a few weeks later it had became a habit.
3. Be accountable.
Share your goals with friends, a mentor, or on your blog so that others can encourage you along the way and vice versa. We all need cheerleaders!
These three steps are just a start but have helped so much as I make purposeful goals each year. I hope they’ll serve as a helpful guide for you too!
Happy Monday! xo
Julia Mary
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Julia Mary is an incredible brand photographer! Check her out at Julia-Mary.com.
Specific, Attainable, Accountable….Great strategy.
Thanks for sharing, I will definitely be using these.
Tiffany-
Simplybeinggreat.net
Love this and it’s so true! One of the things that messes me up each year is making very generic goals which I never follow through with. I also like your tip on sharing with friends or family to make myself accountable. Since it’s the new year with all new goal setting and resolutions, this post is very timely!
Thanks for your comment Joscelyn. I’m so happy to hear that tip is helpful to you! Sharing my goals with family and friends has already helped me meet them!