2014 is now history. With the closing of one year, another begins. You all know how much I love setting goals. Now I want to show you why I am a believer in goals and what I will be doing different in 2015!
Goal setting is important to reaching your dreams! I know without a doubt that if I hadn’t set goals in late December last year, I wouldn’t have half of these marked off my list. Without something written on paper, I am like a traveler without a map. I don’t have any clear direction of where I’m going and I have no way of knowing how to get there. By having a written plan that I can have up on the fridge, or written on a sticky note that’s attached to the bathroom mirror, or inside my planner where I see it every time I open it, those goals remain clear and I’m reminded of them multiple times a day (sometimes an hour).
I’m am most excited that Jason and I made it another year having weekly date nights. There were about 3 weeks we didn’t get a date but I know there were more than that where we ended up having 2 in one week. My goal of being an intentional, present wife happened because I was constantly seeing it on paper each week and on my computer screen when I posted my goals each Monday. It was a not-so-subtle reminder of why Jason and I set that goal to begin with. I know our marriage is stronger because of our intentional goal of having that weekly date.
I was also very proud of the progress I made in being an available mommy to my children. Am I perfect? Absolutely not, but I have definitely made improvements.
There were goals that I completely failed in 2014, too. I’m not happy that I bombed my spiritual goals but the goals I set to begin with weren’t realistic. In almost all of the goals that I failed, I didn’t take into reality that I have a husband, 5 kids, and a busy life. Somewhere between all of that is when I do everything else and sometimes there aren’t enough minutes in the day. This is another part of goal setting for 2015 that I’m really trying to be realistic with because I don’t want to set too lofty of goals. I tend to burn out if I fall behind (like in the Bible reading) and it doesn’t motivate me to work harder, it makes me want to quit all together. Part of the goal setting process is learning how you react to failure and success.
Here’s how I did in 2014 with my goals:
Intentional, Present Marriage:
1. Continue weekly date nights
2. Go on our yearly vacation without kids and plan next year’s vacation. We were fortunate enough to go on 2 vacations this year without kids and one with the kids. We traveled to Puerto Rico last January and went to Las Vegas in December. I’m not sure what our vacation plans will look like next year, but hopefully we will be able to find a week to getaway. It’s so important to keep your marriage as a priority and have alone time.
3. Have an overnight weekend without kids
4. Read 2 marriage books.
Intentional, Present Parenting:
5. Read 6 chapter books aloud to kids.
6. Read 10 read a loud stories each week to children. I have no idea if I got this done or not. I didn’t keep track so to be fair, I’m not marking it off but we did read many books! This was a goal that I could have easily tracked but honestly, 10 books a week to track is not on my priority list and I should’ve known that when setting this goal!
7. Have the twins read something to me 4 times a week
8. Take each child on 2 dates before the end of the year.
9. Teach the twins to tie their shoes
10. Complete 4 service projects together as a family.
11. Write 6 letters to our Compassion International child. We wrote 5 letters.
Intentional, Present Self-Care:
12. Continue Weight Watcher’s but more importantly, continue to monitor what I’m eating and making healthy choices.
13. Read 24 books this year. Blog about my favorites.
14. Read through the Old Testament. Bombed. I went through spells where I did a good job of reading and then spells where I failed completely. I will be trying this again in 2015.
15. Complete a new Bible study this fall. Bombed.
Intentional, Present Homemaking:
16. Sell 100 items, give away 100 items
17. Complete home management binder
18. Have family photos professionally taken
Intentional, Present Blogging:
19. Write 400+ blog posts
20. Write 36 Recipe &/ DIY posts I had 18. I realized that these are not my favorite things to post so if I do one a month in the future, that is success in my book!
21. Earn enough money to pay for blog hosting, domain and internet charges. Bombed. Not even close. I had no idea how much work was involved with trying to grow a new blog but I am thinking positive for 2015!
With all of that, I have put a lot of thought into my 2015 goals (which will be coming soon). I can’t wait to find out what is on your goals list for 2015 as well!
How did you do on your goals in 2014? What did you learn about goal setting along the way?
Have you enjoyed what you read here today? Do you have friends or other women you know that could benefit from this resource? If so, please do me a favor! I have included the links below to share with other intentional women! They’ll be glad you did!
What a great list of goals for 2015 and it looks like you did great in 2014 as well! I need to track the books I read better. I have no idea how many I read, how many the kids read, or how many we read together. Thanks for the inspiration to get that done!
Awesome goals, and boy do I get why you ended up crossing some of them out! Sadly, with 5 kids, I think my husband I go out once every six months…at least that is how it feels. Thanks for sharing your post, I really enjoyed reading it and I linked up my (very unrealistic) New Years resolutions too!