How To Not Suck At Goal Setting

The importance of goal setting

Happiness expert, Gretchen Rubin, says that the key to happiness is self-acceptance and then also accepting that we are on a journey to becoming even better versions of ourselves.

Goal setting is crucial to ‘becoming’.

I believe in living a life of intention and not merely one where we fly blind, unaware of what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, if what we’re doing is working or not. Living with intention helps me to live in my purpose and when I live in my purpose, I am happy! A large part of that is creating goals for the important areas of my life. Those areas that I have identified as the ones that fill me up and give me that feeling of balance, contentment and success when all of these areas are working together in my life.
Have a think about your own life.

My challenge to you

If I asked you to write down the 10 most important areas of your life what would they be? Just write them down, in no particular order. Go on. Write.

Your list may include some of the following (but there are others):

• Family
• Religion/spirituality
• Work (your 9-5)
• Exercise and Diet
• Home
• Friends
• Business (your side hustle)
• Hobby (creative outlet)
• Romance
• Finance
• Beauty
• Leisure
• Holidays
• Volunteer work

What is most important to you?

Now go ahead and just pick the four most important areas to you at this point in time. You might find it helpful to give each area a score out of ten (1 being “contributes very little to my overall happiness” and 10 being “matters significantly to my overall happiness”). You can then use these scores to order your list and arrive at the areas that really mean a lot to you.

Your top four areas should be the ones that you create SMART goals for. Now there’s nothing stopping you from developing a SMART goal for every area you listed but is that realistic for you at this time? Likewise, if you want to reduce it to three goals because anything more than that is overwhelming, stick with three.

Let's get S.M.A.R.T

You are now ready to set those goals! There are many approaches to setting goals but for a tried and true method, one that is used by so many successful entrepreneurs around the world, one that doesn’t need reinventing, is the SMART goal system.

I’ve recorded a podcast with Sara Sheedy, entrepreneur, energised trainer and facilitator – an absolute Mum with hustle! In the episode (to be broadcasted this Monday 22/2/16), Sara literally walks through the process of setting your SMART goal. It’s super helpful and actionable. You’ll be able to go immediately and do this exercise for those four areas that you have identified as your major happiness contributors. Now, because I’m absolutely certain that SMART goals, if done correctly and actioned, are your ticket to success and growth in your business, as a person, as a family member, as a member of community, in whatever area you have outlined as being that thing that lights you up.

For this reason, I’ve created a printable to support you in setting your SMART goals which you can grab here.

To avoid missing out on the podcast episode that will walk you through your goal setting process you can subscribe to the Mums With Hustle Podcast by clicking here if you are an iPhone user or here if you are an android user.

Don’t worry, you can also listen straight from my website www.mumswithhustle.com from Monday and I’ll even send you a reminder if you like, just grab the SMART goal setting sheet above and I’ll shoot you through your reminder on Monday morning as well as BONUS advice all about ACCOUNTABILITY.

Just do it!

I’m a fan of pen and paper when it comes to goal setting because I know the cognitive process that occurs with pen and paper (hence the printable). Physically handwriting your goals will have an effect on your subconscious mind and you’ll be WAY more likely to take action on your goals if you have hand written them as opposed to typing it into your device.

Print out your SMART goal printable (above), read about how you set SMART goals (or listen to the podcast) and power out the first of your four core goals you figured out in the first step.

Once you’ve planned your SMART goals, hang them up somewhere that you’ll see them and find yourself an accountability partner to keep you on track. Check in with them consistently and share your progress and challenges with them. They will hold you accountable to yourself and you will have more chance of succeeding in these important areas, the areas of your life that bring you happiness and restores balance.

I’m so excited for you to take on this exercise.

If you know someone who will benefit from this post then please share it with them by using the share button. If you are keen to get yourself an accountability partner then why now leave a comment below, you might find someone just as keen as you are!