Tag: new year

Goal-Setting for 2017

We just started 2017 and it is not too late to do some goal-setting for the year. Let’s take a little time and plan out what we would like to achieve this year. We can’t make it happen unless we set the goals and plan them out first (also totally speaking to myself here)!

goal-setting

How to Set Goals

When we’re talking about goals, we’re talking about something different than your One Word for the year or your general New Year’s resolutions. These are specific goals that you want to achieve in 2017 and they need to be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely). Your goals might tie into your one-word theme for the year and they might help you keep your resolutions. You can come up with big or little goals, depending on what is most important to you to make happen in 2017.

When you set goals, you’ve got to write them down. Writing them down is a big part of the road to success. It helps make the goal clear in your mind and it gives a sense of commitment. In fact, if you’ve been avoiding goal-setting, or just thinking of them in your mind, it may be because you don’t want to hold yourself accountable! Writing your goals down makes them real (yikes). Once you write them down, you can start to plan out how to reach those goals.

goal-setting

Goal-Setting in 5 Fives

As you think through some of your goals for 2017, I’ve got a tool for you to use. I call it 5 Fives ~ 2017 Goals. It’s a way to help you brainstorm, prioritize, and plan out your goals. It might seem overwhelming at first to come up with 5 goals in each of 5 different categories. But this is a great way to help you really think through what kind of goals you want to set and which ones are truly the most important to you at this time.

You’re not going to work on 25 goals at once! You’ll focus on your Top 5 first. As you accomplish one or two, you tackle the next ones on your list. You might only accomplish 3 of your Top 5 or you might knock out 15-20. Either way – you. accomplished. goals. Shoot for the moon, right? If you accomplish even some of your goals, then you’ve ended up in the stars. Accomplishing some goals is always better than never goal-setting and never reaching your goals.

goal-setting

Are you ready to do some goal-setting? Get your free 5 Fives ~ 2017 Goals by clicking below and let’s get going!

goal-setting

Do you already have some goals for the new year? What is your most exciting goal for 2017? What keeps you from setting goals? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

New Year Pep Talk

New Year

Happy New Year! I can’t believe 2014 is over and 2015 is already begun. It goes by so fast – sometimes I feel like it’s a carousel that keeps going around and I’m always running right beside trying to hop on.

I’m not writing you a post on how to come up with great resolutions or your new one word for the year or what your focus should be. Hello – I just finished the holidays, people. I’m just now awake enough to start considering what I want to work on in 2015! I will be giving it all some serious thought and I’m sure I’ll share with you soon – and I would love to hear your new year goals and dreams, too.

But oh, I do love the start of a new year. Somehow all my shortcomings from the previous year fade because I know I get a fresh start. Shortcomings like only posting on this blog 11 times last year, but hey, I had a good excuse (new job). Yes, you truly can get a fresh start anytime you want, but there’s just something about the beginning of the calendar year, isn’t there? The dawn of January 1st feels like it’s almost bursting with new ideas, new possibilities, and new ways to be awesome.

This is the time to look back over the past year and see what worked and what didn’t. It’s the time to pat yourself on the back for the challenges you faced and the tough times you survived, but it’s also the time to stand up straighter, pump yourself up, listen to a new year pep talk, and renew the commitment to be bold and face new challenges and tough times. Please allow me to give your shoulders a small shake, look you in the eyes, and tell you that I believe in you! You can take this new year on! Don’t be afraid – what are some new things you feel brave enough to try this year? What are some ways that you handled things last year that you resolve to handle better this year?

You might be tired, drained, and overwhelmed. But it’s a new year. This year probably won’t be easy, but some of it will be good – small blessings and small victories all add up. I think you were more awesome than you realized in 2014 so I know you can be awesome again in 2015 – maybe in new and unexpected ways. Lift your head up, square those shoulders, take a deep breath, put on that smile (even if it’s fake), and bring on the awesome!

Another new year? Bring it.

With Love,
from Lisa Marie