It’s the New Year and I think we’re all ready to make some changes! Are you ready to crush your goals? Here’s a secret: in order to crush goals, you have to set them! And you have to be intentional about setting SMART goals. If you don’t know what I mean, don’t worry! I got you.
First of all, I seriously thought I came up with this acronym all on my own! Then, I did a little bit of keyword research and found out there’s more than a few articles on this very idea of setting SMART goals. In the interest of not plagiarizing, the SMART acronym in terms of goals was originally attributed to Peter Drucker. (I have no idea who he is!)
You will see that I have a little bit of a different take on the acronym, but you will also see that Drucker and I are on the same page, even though I’ve never read any of his work. This must have been the framework used when I was trained for my former job of college success coach (because I’m pretty sure I’m not this smart on my own!)
Before we jump into our goals for this year, it’s important to look at our progress from last year! 2020 may have been difficult, but it was not without its good. I am celebrating that I spent more intentional, quality time with my family in 2020 than I was previously spending and counting that as a huge win! How about you?
What goals did you crush this year? What changes are you motivated to make this year?
But first things first. Goal-setting needs to be a daily thing…not a yearly thing. Do you know that there is actually a National Ditch Your New Year’s Resolution Day? Yeah. It’s January 17th!
Seventeen days to care about a goal and then throw it by the wayside! If that doesn’t illustrate that people have the attention spans of gnats, I’m not sure what does! So many people ditch their goals because they don’t set SMART goals to begin with…and because they lack the self-discipline to make true changes.
That’s not you though. You’re a mom! You’ve mastered the art of feeding a baby while loading the dishwasher, stirring the dinner, and helping your older child with homework. You are capable of shattering your New Year’s Resolution!
But, it’s important to set the right type of goals if you want to crush them. And it’s important to celebrate the steps you take toward meeting those goals.
My biggest issue is that I set goals that are too lofty. I think this is probably the biggest issue for most people. My husband asked me if I had a New Year’s Resolution and I rattled off a mile-long list of goals for myself. Not smart.
It’s good to set high standards and lofty goals sometimes, but it’s disappointing and frustrating if you set goals that are unattainable. My biggest problem is that I don’t estimate my time that well and end up over-scheduling myself.
And it seems the first thing to go is self-care, or quality time with my children. Seriously, I need to learn to let the dishes be the first thing to go!
So, I have to set some smart goals for myself for this year. Seriously, there are changes that need to happen around here! I have major decluttering and organizing to do and I know I would feel so good if I could get through the last five years of being too sick to do anything that has been…piling up.
The key is to set reasonable, attainable, SMART goals. Whatever your resolution is for this year, don’t join the masses on January 17! Instead, join me in the small group of people who actually NAILED IT!
Set SMART Mom Goals:
- S–Simple—
Keep it simple! Remember, do not compare your real life with someone else’s Pinterest-perfect life. It.is.not.real! Your life should not be filled with Pinterest-worthy pictures! If it is, your focus may need some adjusting.
True change happens slowly. Keep your goals simple by thinking of one habit that needs changing. It could be reading the Bible even twice a week with your family; or setting the goal of having a family meal together at least two nights per week.
Be specific when setting your goals too. Don’t say something vague like, “I want to be a better mom,” because that’s not easily measured. Instead, maybe say, “I’m going to complete these five simple steps to yell less often.” This way, you can check it off when the goal is complete!
Simplicity and specificity are keys to avoiding overwhelm when working to achieve new goals!
- M–Map it Out!—
A goal without a plan to achieve it will rarely be reached. Once you set a goal, you must break it into steps to achieve it.
For me, I really need to get my basement under control. There are so many projects happening down there…well, actually, not happening because I’m the one who has to finish the flooring and painting, and then the organizing…and it’s so overwhelming, I just avoid going down there!
Instead, I need to think about how great it will be if my kids can actually have some place to hang out with friends. I won’t be relinquished to my bedroom while they watch a “guy movie” in the living room.
If I get the flooring done and the basement organized, they can be down there and I can have my house back. Motivation, right? Wrong. It should be, but it’s not enough to think of the end goal.
I need to make a plan to achieve that goal. Often, I think about the fact that there’s flooring to put down, painting to be done, and a whole lot of displaced stuff (because our basement gets wet in the Spring and Fall) that needs to be put in its place. When I think about ALL of it, I usually end up on the couch with a bag of chips browsing for inspiration on Pinterest.
Not helpful.
So, I need a game plan to get me going. Maybe it looks like this: 1. Spend 30 minutes on flooring the basement. 2. Put three things away in the basement. 3. Sew one curtain. Or, 1. Finish the flooring in the living room area. 2. Arrange furniture 3. Organize games and DVDS.
These are daily goals and plans that can be checked off. If I continue to work down there even 30 minutes daily, I will have that place cleaned up in no time…but without mapping this out daily, I know it will happen until…January 17th. By then, I’ll have already ditched my goals and my basement will continue to be a messy, dysfunctional space in my home.
Daily goals work best for most people, but if you’re more of a weekly person, set a game plan that will work for you weekly.
The important thing is to break it down into the next three steps. What are the next three things you need to do in order to achieve success and crush that goal?
- A–Attainable
Set attainable goals! There is nothing less motivating than failure. So, if you think you can make family mealtime happen four nights a week, but you only get three, you’ll feel like you failed. Instead, set your goal for family mealtime three nights a week. If you get four, you’ll feel like you shattered that goal!
I’m a firm believer in challenging yourself and setting high goals, but not until you know what you can do! Start small. Maybe it’s one meal a week together. Or perhaps it’s getting up early one morning a week to pray before you start your day. Maybe it’s spending quality time with your child for five minutes during the day.
Success is a great motivator. Setting attainable goals will whet your appetite for more success, motivating you to make real, lasting changes in your life!
- R–Relevant—
When you are setting a goal for yourself, make sure it is relevant to the stage of life you’re in right now! Is it important? Why is it important to you? How will these changes benefit you and your family in the long-term?
Sometimes we set the most ridiculous goals for ourselves that don’t matter at all! I mean, why do you really want to learn to speak Mandarin? Is it actually going to change your life if you finally learn to knit? Or read the Norton’s Anthology of British Poetry?
Maybe it will. Maybe you need to conquer a new skill to boost your confidence; or it will actually open a door for you to teach the knitting (or poetry) classes that you’ve always wanted to teach; but if you’re setting a goal just for the sake of setting a goal, you’re probably not going to reach it.
- T–Thoughtful—
Along with setting attainable and relevant goals, comes being realistic, and thoughtful. Is it realistic for you to cut your family’s spending by 20% this year? Is it realistic for you to lose 50 pounds? And what are the effects on your family going to be if you try to achieve these goals?
Your goals need to be realistic for, and thoughtful of your entire family, because most of what we do affects them! For example, if you’ve set a too-lofty goal of losing 50 pounds, so you’re dieting and exercising like crazy, and frankly, probably a little grumpy about all of it, how does that affect your children and family life?
Realistically, unless you have full access to a dietician and personal trainer, a nanny who can care for your kids while you work out for hours, and a personal chef preparing amazing, healthy meals for you, losing 50 pounds in a year is not going to be easy!
Consider the effects of your goals on your family before setting your goals. Ask yourself, “Is this realistic?” “Do I have the tools I need to achieve this?” And “Am I being considerate of my family?”
Instead, consider a more realistic goal of losing 2 pounds per month. Then, set your game plan to do it. For example: 1. Eat one less snack per day. 2. Exercise 10 minutes a day, 4 days a week. 3. Drink 1 more bottle of water per day.
Those are attainable and realistic goals. Yes, it’s only 2 pounds per month, but at the end of the year, you can either have set (and most likely ditched) your goal of losing 50 pounds, or you can walk into 2022 24 pounds lighter because you set realistic goals for yourself!
Final Thoughts on Setting SMART Goals:
I truly hope that you are not setting a New Year’s Resolution, but instead, setting a SMART goal to achieve TODAY!
Setting daily, achievable, relevant, and thoughtful goals is what will actually help you stay disciplined enough to reach them.
We all have positive changes to make in our lives. Don’t give up before you even start! Instead, remember that you have already done HARD things! Mom, you were made for this! Now go CRUSH those goals and be a better mom!
RElated: What To Do When You Don’t Reach Your Goals
