Organic Goal Setting for the New Year

Only 15% of people who make New Years Resolutions actually keep them. We’ve all set goals + failed short of achieving them, but how do you start this year off differently?

Here are my top goal-setting tips for business-minded moms.

☑︎ Choose a word for the year.

Don’t let perfectionism get in the way. Choose the word that first comes to mind when I ask, “what do you want most this year?“

Quick, write yours down!

For me, the word was “CLARITY“.

☑︎ Break it down into sub-topics.

After a big move + shifting relationships between family + friends, I’ve been craving more transparency in my personal life. Ask yourself, “how do I want to feel [word]?”

How do I want to feel CLARITY?

I want to feel like I can dependably find the people + things I need when I need them — simply + freely. I want to feel spaciousness + genuine availability.

For example, I want to be able to find my winter jackets in one simple spot, not in the 7 boxes the movers divided them into across the house.

I want to identify the people who want to be in my life without expecting something in-return. I have a family member who equates the amount of time he spends with us to the price tag value of his gift from us at Christmas. WHAAATT?

So, my year will focus extra on decluttering our home + decluttering relationships that no longer serve me.

☑︎ Define 1-time action steps for each sub-topic.

These lists aren’t complete, but they’ll get you started…

Decluttering Our Home

Re-read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Block off “Donation Day” on the family calendar this month
Write an action plan for Donation Day (i.e., where donations are going, how + when they’ll be delivered, who will be packing them, who will be making final donation decisions, etc.)

Decluttering Relationships

Browse through phone contacts list + delete anyone I haven’t spoken to in over 1 year
Edit my phone’s “Favorites” list — are the people still on the list my favorite people?

☑︎ Set deadlines for the 1-time action steps.

Give the tasks a nonnegotiable date/time appointment in your calendar.

These aren’t recurring tasks or maintenance — like taking the trash out everyday would be a part of decluttering my home. These are singular actions you’re taking to get the jumpstart on your goal.

☑︎ Consider how you can upkeep your goal year-round.

For decluttering our home, I’ll have maintenance mode tasks like taking out the trash daily, keeping a donation box at the garage door for donations we find at-random after the initial purge, etc.

For decluttering my relationships, I don’t have to purge people out of my life every week — there would soon be none left! But I might commit to a weekly check-in text to friends + family I want to prioritize + focus my efforts on strengthening what I *do* want, instead of what I don’t want.

☑︎ Celebrate the milestones.

I always used to skip this step, so if you’ve stayed with me this long, don’t leave just yet!

Rewards are important to teaching our brains new patterns.

We are hardwired to seek pleasure, so when you reward yourself with something like a pizza night after Donation Day, you’re telling your brain that you did a good thing by letting go of what you were hoarding. It’s more complicated than that, but that’s another blog post.

So please don’t get all this way only to fail to give yourself simple acknowledgment along the way that will push you further. A sweet treat, an extra hour of babysitter time, a special outing with your family… Possibilities are endless.