New Year, New You: Goal Setting

Hello, friends! Welcome to 2014!!! What a year I hope this will be for the blog! I started the year off with my S'mores Pops being featured over at The Wednesday Round Up. Pretty darn exciting, that is my first feature ever! Yay!

Img Credit

So, since we are talking about the new year, what is it that everyone does in the new year? Make resolutions, right??? Well, don't do that. Resolutions suck. They are usually broken by January 2nd, if not then then by January 14th. Resolutions are those dreaded things that everyone thinks they have to make because everyone talks about them and you would feel totally lame if you didn't make any resolutions. Well, I'm here to give you permission to be lame and not make a resolution. Congrats. Awesome. If you really want to make a change in your life though, an honest to goodness change, then continue reading.

Goals. Goal setting is what we all need to do. I don't care if you are reading this post on the day it is published or if you are reading it in April or August. It is time to set some goals-right now. Seriously, you'll thank me. There is never a "perfect" time to accomplish a goal-the only time is now!

Here is how I goal set.

Step one.

Write it all down. Just get a sheet of paper and write down every single solitary thing you want to accomplish this year. I don't care how big or how small it is. If you want to work toward it, write it down. 

Step two.

Get another sheet of paper. Looking at the first sheet make categories and classify each item in a category. This is purely for organization sake, but trust me you will thank me later for this. As you can see in my above picture I knew already my goal categories as I'd been thinking about this for months so I was able to do this right off the bat. During this step get a little more specific with your goals, if possible. Some will be so basic there isn't getting more specific, it just is what it is.

Step three.

Get yet another sheet of paper. Looking at your first category, the first item. Write it down. List what you are going to do to accomplish that item. 
For me fitness was my first category. So I titled my page Fitness: Steps to Goal. 
Complete P90X3 was my first item in that category. I wrote January 6th-April 13th: Follow classic schedule. -Record each workout. I wrote this because it is the dates the program lasts through. I will start it January 6th. Each day I workout I will record my workout on this paper. I chose this fitness tracker because it has squares big enough for me to write in, plus it has a space each week for me to weigh in and record measurements (which I feel are more important than weight). I went ahead and printed off enough for my 13 weeks of P90X3.
I then wrote out a 10 week schedule for my half marathon training. This makes it not optional. I also wrote down a date of 1/15/14 to register for the half marathon. This way come hell or high water I have a date I have to register for this by.
Next is Complete P90X2. Order on: June 16, 2014: Follow classic schedule. Start June 23rd-Sept 28th. This gives me a set date so if I need to budget for purchasing the program I can do that. It also gives me a set start date so after my half marathon training is over I can jump write in, not him and haw about what I should do next.
P90X. Start: Sept 29th-Dec 29th: Follow classic schedule. Again, gives me a solid start date and finish date. Can you tell this is my year of P90X? If anyone wants to join me please don't hesitate to contact me at katen21@gmail.com, I am happy to help you get the programs and join me on this fitness adventure!
Flexibility. Schedule in 15 min each day to increase flexibility. -Splits/standing splits, -Hip flexibility, -Backbend

You'll also notice I have "Why?" written all over my page. This is because one of my goals is to target my Why. As in why do I work out? Why do I eat well? What is my motivation? It is the reason that will keep me going and keep me motivated. 

Here are my other goals for 2014:
Fitness
Run the Rock n Roll half in Seattle
Complete: P90X, P90X2, P90X3
Get off sugar
Pinpoint my why
Increase flexibility

Blog
Get on a schedule
Promote affiliates to make $
Gather list of weekly/monthly link ups and link up!
Increase page views every month
FB Goals: July 500 followers; December 1000 followers (come follow me!)
Instagram: July 500; December 1000 followers (come follow me!)
Twitter: July 300; December 600 (come follow me!)
Use google plus more
Find a blogger network
Go to the local blog conference

Business
Get Etsy Business off the ground
Each month help 2-3 people begin reaching their fitness goals
By Dec 2014 make a specific amount of money from my Beachbody Business.

Personal
Call my brother every two weeks
Organize and complete Happiness Project
Tune into Mark's love language(s)
Floss
Plan a nice vacation with Mark while kiddo is at camp
Go to HI with Cammi & see BFF & family
Finish TEFL

So I am using this method to work for all of my goals. I feel it really takes the guess work out of know what my next step will be. Now,  for the more "simple" goals where you are just trying to make a new habit such as "Floss" or "Call my brother {on an actual phone lol} every two weeks" I am going to be using a great printable I found over at My Love for Words.

Monthly Goal Tracker at My Love for Words

This sheet is perfect because you can write the habit you are trying to form and then check off each day you complete the item! I am excited about this because I am totally a "gold star" kind of person. Meaning: I need to see I did good and give myself a pat on the back. This is the perfect way to do that! At the end I have physical proof I did something successfully, not just hung out and convinced myself I did it, without actually doing it. 

What goals do you have for this upcoming year? If you'd like an accountability buddy (even if it's not fitness related) come on over to Facebook  and send me a message. I would love to help! :D