Update on 2019 Goals – January

The first month of 2019 is over and I’m ready to do some reflection on my goals. I want to see progress toward each one each month and it’s significantly easier to look at the goals in small chunks, rather than at the end of the year. This will help me evaluate what I need to do better next month and where I’m doing well.

It’s important when setting goals to not make vague statements, but rather something measurable. A few of my goals below might sound vague, but in my daily life I have more specific guidelines so I can check my progress and stay on track. Setting SMART goals are really helpful if you want to be able to track your progress and make sure you are heading in the right direction. I love this post from Cari Jehlik about SMART goals. It breaks the letters down and includes great examples for goals that hit all the requirements.

If you need some other ideas for setting or reaching goals this year take a peek at this post with resources and ideas for goal setting and achieving.

Other posts you may enjoy:

I have to keep reminding myself that I’m going for progress, not perfection. I need to offer myself grace if I don’t hit every single goal every single month. Or if I completely bomb a day. Take a breath and start fresh the next day, or even the next minute. If I find myself stuffing my face with brownies after the kids go to bed I can start fresh with the next bite – or by not taking another bite 😉

I’m sharing my goals, not to make you think you need to set your own or do these same things, but for inspiration and encouragement. We are all works in progress that need to keep running our own races. Depending on your season of life you might need to make a goal of “take a 20 minute nap each day” or “plan meals and order groceries every Thursday.” Whatever will help you grow, manage your home, and embrace this life are what you should be focused on.

Personal Goals:

• Make healthy choices daily. This includes drinking enough water, being physically active, spending 10-15 minutes relaxing, and saying no to extra treats when I know I’m not actually hungry.
  • I’ve been doing great at getting in my water each day. I have a gallon jug that I fill each morning and work to finish over the course of the day. I’ve only missed a couple times this month and that’s usually on days we are busy running and I’m not as focused on the task.
  • I’m getting in 3-4 good workouts each week. My goal is four, but things have come up each week so this month it varied more than normal.
  • I’m working on getting the kitchen cleaned up directly after dinner so I can spend my time between putting the kids to bed and Micah coming home from work relaxing with a book. It’s a nice way to unwind each night!
  • I still struggle with treats. I usually do well during the day and then find myself with something in the evening hours. Progress, not perfection!
• Read my Bible and spend time in prayer each day. I often skip weekends because my morning routine is different but there’s no reason I can’t stop for a few minutes for Jesus.
  • It took a few weeks for me to remember to not only read my daily verse on the weekends but to also read a chapter of Proverbs. During the week I read one chapter of Psalms, one chapter of Proverbs, and one chapter in the New Testament each morning. I’ve also started writing out my prayers which is helpful for me to stay focused.

Family Goals:

• Have one “no device” night each week with Micah. We started this recently and it’s really nice, although challenging! We usually watch a movie and we catch ourselves wanting to grab our phones to look up actors names on IMDB. Instead we are fully present and together – what date night should be!
  • We’ve done a pretty good job with this. One of us usually grabs both phones and puts them on the chargers in a different room so we completely remove the temptation. We still find ourselves reaching for them but this is still new so it will take some time.
• Go on 3 individual dates with each kid. Because we have five kids we each take turns over the course of two months going on parent-kid dates. I will have dates in January/February, May/June, and September/October.
  • So far I’ve done dates with Anders, Cade, and Parker. Next up is Mercedes and finally Jamison. Then I’ll get another round in late spring.

Home Goals:

• Try one new recipe each month. I’ll probably try more than this but this will force me to be intentional. I’ve started a list of what I want to do and some recipes are items that I would usually buy – like homemade yogurt and cream cheese!
  • We made crab rangoons for our New Year’s Eve do-over night. I love cream cheese wontons and crab rangoons so the big boys and I made these and they were so good! Or at least a few of us thought so 😉 Micah didn’t care one way or another and the little boys weren’t fans.
• Do a mini-declutter each month. In 2017 I did a weekly decluttering challenge that lasted the full year. It helped our home greatly but there are always new items coming in (hello, family of seven!) so there are always items that can go out.
  • As we took down the Christmas decorations we sorted through ornaments and other decor and found two grocery bags worth to donate. Lots of random ornaments that I inherited from my parents’ collection when I first moved out but held no real meaning went to the thrift store along with our actual Christmas tree! We found a new, smaller tree on clearance. We also tossed a few strands of lights that had lots of burned out lights.

How are your goals going this year? What are you doing to track your progress? I’d love to cheer you on!

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