This is the time when everyone sets resolutions, goals they want to accomplish, and vows to be a better person… all because the calendar changed. As the year goes on, a lot of people tend to forget about them and don’t hit some of those goals, and then they go right back on the list the next year. I don’t set resolutions, but I have set a few goals for myself and a plan to keep them front of mind all year.
Inspired by Marquita (@athomewithquita on Instagram), I made this goals page in my mini Happy Planner to keep everything in one place where I can always see it and refer back to it. She made a tutorial showing exactly how to do it, so I tweaked it a little and made it work for me 🙂
GOALS
I’m still adding other stickers and filling in the rest of my goals, but here’s what I’ve got so far! They’re split between 4 different categories: Personal, Finance, Business, and Household.
Some of my goals are specific (pay off credit cards & smallest student loan, save $2000, more date nights with my boyfriend), while others are more general (better cleaning habits, more time with God, treat my body with more kindness). I think making goals this way will help me pivot when I need to throughout the year but still work towards the same end goal. For me, if I set a specific path to get to a goal and then something happens that blocks that path, I tend to just stop completely. This will help me not feel like I failed if I don’t hit a goal exactly the way I originally wanted to.
I keep my mini Happy Planner in my purse so I always have it, so having this goals sheet right in the front means I’ll always have access to it and I’ll see it whenever I pull out my planner. I can use these overall goals to narrow down any monthly goals I’m setting, and reflect back on the progress I’ve made. If you don’t already use a planner for yourself, I definitely recommend the Happy Planner! I love the fact that I could customize it to be perfect for me 🙂
ONE LITTLE WORD
I recently learned about the idea of setting one word as your theme for the year, and using that word as a focal point for everything you do during that year. Ali Edwards came up with the idea back in 2006, and I think it’s a great way to get a better focus on what you want to do. In December, I sat and really thought about what word would be best for me in 2020 and the word that came to me was SIMPLIFY. I can be a little extra at times, so focusing on how to simplify the various areas of my life would be really helpful! I added this page to the back of my goals fold-out page so I always see it and remember to add more simplicity to my life.
Balancing my full-time job and part-time side hustle, keeping in touch with friends, trying to keep a clean house, and still doing things for myself… there’s a lot going on! I use my Happy Planner to keep myself as organized as possible, but I’m working on putting different systems in place to make my life a little easier. For example:
- Picking one room to clean at a time- I tend to start cleaning one room, bring stuff to another, and then start trying to clean that room… which leads to me not finishing either one! If I focus on one room or task at a time instead of trying to multitask, I’ll get more done (that applies to work too! Multitasking isn’t very efficient for me anymore)
- Setting aside office hours to work my side business- Right now, I work on my beauty and wellness business whenever I get a chance, which isn’t very consistent. I’ll be setting specific hours that I can work my business each day, and set my phone to Do Not Disturb during that time so I can work more efficiently without getting distracted.
- Planning out my year at one time- this sounds completely CRAZY, but Jordan Page swears by it and she’s got a family of 8 (soon to be 10!) that she’s keeping track of! If it works for her, it’s got to work for me. I’ll be taking time this month to go list out events I’m going to all year, birthdays and weddings I’ll need gifts for, my vacation.. basically anything that needs my time and money, and get it all down in one place. Then as I’m going through my finances, I can set money aside to cover everything and not end up scrambling at the last minute because I forgot something. Pretty smart!
Another way I’m simplifying my life is DECLUTTERING! I’ve got so much random stuff in my house and I’m getting tired of it. Clothes, makeup/skincare, planner supplies, random junk I brought when I moved out of my parent’s house and never looked at again… it’s a mess, but not for long! I’ve already gone through my makeup and skincare, and got rid of anything that was too old or didn’t work for me (still looking for a way to recycle it and not just throw it all in the trash). I’ve also started selling a few things on Mercari and through Facebook, and I’ll be donating the rest.
So what are you working on for 2020? It might be later than January 1st, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put new habits in place and set new goals!
