I posted on my Instagram page the other day day how my husband and I wrote our 2019 goals and how excited we are for this year. This was the first time we actually sat down, wrote them out and really just took the time to map it all out as a couple. I have been a goal setting junkie forever and love putting pen to paper and seeing what I plan on accomplishing. Since Leaders don’t make resolutions, I thought i’d share some tips on how to write out your goals and what I think helps if you are doing it as a couple. Even if you aren’t writing them with your boo, grab a girlfriend and a bottle of wine and write them together! Goal setting should be fun and having someone to help hold you accountable to them is even better.
- Refer Back
Before Noah and I sat down, I wrote everything I accomplished from last year; and I mean EVERYTHING. Some of mine included landing a new job to smaller scale achievements like sticking to my gym routine all year. This is not the time to judge yourself for not doing something you thought you’d do last year btw. It is so important to celebrate what you did do, rather than beating yourself up for what you didn’t do. I mean, that’s the best part of a new year; you get a fresh start! Also, reflecting back gives you an opportunity to be honest and benchmark your 2019 goals.
2. Write individual goals first
I love to cheer on my husband. I get so pumped to see him succeed. But, how do I know how to help him, support him, or hold him accountable if we only write our goals together and not as individuals? I remember when I came home after landing my new job and how excited he was for me. He had flowers and champagne out because he knew how hard I was working towards it. He was so excited you would have thought he got the job! Share your goals with either your spouse or bestie so they can be your biggest cheerleader and help push you when you need it most. Also, I think this will help you keep your identity has an individual if you are in a relationship…just sayin.
3. Break it Down:
I tend to think in what I call “buckets”. I have to separate my thoughts or I will be incredibly overwhelmed by everything I want to do and then I wont do anything. So, we broke out our goals into a few different categories: Finances, Family, Travel, Health, Spiritual & House. So, for example with finances we wrote how much money we want saved up by the end of the year and a few projects that we want to make sure we get done for our home goals. PS: I suck at decorating and literally have 1 wall in my house with something hanging on it so you know that’s a goal! Make a chart or a list, whatever works, but categorize them so they what makes sense to you.
4. Break it down even more:
Just because we said we wanted to save up X amount of dollars isn’t going far enough. We still have to put this into action and do the saving. WARNING-THIS IS WHERE IT STOPS BEING FUN! You think I like taking a portion of my paycheck and placing it in an account I do not touch? I mean it takes discipline to not touch that money! Let me tell you something else, we looooove ice cream and pizza and sleeping in on Sunday mornings. BUT eating like that wont make us a healthy family and not making it to church on Sunday’s wont keep our marriage spiritually sound. So guess what, we have to be dedicated and make a detailed plan on how we are going to execute it. Maybe it’s calculating monthly payments, maybe it’s dedicating 1 saturday a month to house projects. Whatever it is, set small goals that will lead to the bigger ones.
5. Refer back:
Print out your goals and hang them up or set them somewhere you can see them. That way you can stay honest with yourself and each other throughout the year. Swap them with your friend if you’re goal setting with them and set up coffee dates to check in. Refer back to your goals and make sure you have champagne chilled and ready to pop so you can celebrate when you accomplished something on your list!
Remember, these are not one time resolutions, these are steps for a successful year. In fact, these are steps to changing your life! Holding yourself accountable all while enjoying the process will be worth it when you can look back and see how all of your hard work paid off.
Becoming Wiza 