Goal Setting

Achieve what you want for your family, yourself, and your business by tapping into the power of goal setting. You gain focus and purpose – and you clarify what’s important in your life. If you’ve never set goals (or if you’ve set them and never achieved them) it can seem overwhelming at first. In fact, you shouldn’t start with your goals. Start by getting an effective routine going at home – you’ll feel “in control” and ready to look at goal setting with the intention of actually achieving your dreams.

It’s not hard to develop goals once you have an effective time and task management system in place. You need to put forth some effort, and it will take a little time. But it’s not hard.

How to Set Your Goals – A Basic Primer

You don’t have the luxury of a whole day away to dream up lofty goals for yourself. Hoping for such a day (or even a block of hours) just leads to frustration – “time away” is a myth that makes moms unhappy. Work this in whenever you can. It may be those still, silent moments while you sit in your child’s bedroom waiting for him or her go to sleep. It may be while your children are doing schoolwork or playing outside. Maybe it’s in the bathroom – believe me, I understand if that’s the only “alone time” you get!

Keep a notebook with you. Think about where you are in your life when you can grab a few minutes to think. Don’t dwell on regrets or mistakes. Guilt and regret destroys the joy of motherhood. You’ve made mistakes. It’s OK. Just think about where you are today and the knowledge you have now – from the failures and the successes in your life.

Do a little life planning next. This takes some time – this is why you want that notebook with you. You can write in your notebook whenever you have a few minutes. As you do your planning – dreaming up what you want for your future, and for your family – jot things down in the notebook.

Your plan is going to help you pick some goals. Some will be longer-term. Some will be immediate – things you want to see happen this year or even in the next few months.

You take these goals and work them out. I’ve developed a system from several leading books on personal development. This system is refined out into a goal setting worksheet that you can use easily, step-by-step, to work out your goals and your plans for those goals. It’s in perfect bite-sized chunks.

Need some examples? I understand. I was completely overwhelmed when I first started developing and setting goals. I wanted to know practical examples for how to apply some “lofty” goal to real life as a mom. I’ve provided several goal setting examples from real life – use them to encourage you in your own situation.

You developed your goals – now how are you going to keep track of them? A goal tracker is essential for you. You see what your focus is at a glance. You also measure your progress – if you desire – or just keep up with what you hope to get done.

There are a few other keys to achieving goals – I detail the importance of focus and how affirmation and visualization can play an important part in your life. You’re probably underestimating just how much these keys can help you – as a busy mom and businesswoman you have a huge advantage in using these!

Once you get the basics of life under control (at least a little!) take the time to think through goals for yourself, your family, and your business. Use these goals to gain focus and clarify. A few tips and shortcuts go a long way to help you achieve your goals – so spend some time with the articles and tips in this section and most of all, enjoy getting just what you really desire for yourself and your family.

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