Hey friends! Welcome back. Today, I want to talk about my goals for the last quarter and the last half a year. Normally, this is something that I write down in my journal or Cultivate What Matters Goal Planner, but I thought it would be helpful for those of you goal setters out there to see how my thought process works.
First off, I get bored very easily. I have been more intentional with my goals this year, and I have been aiming for goals that take 12 weeks or less. Whether that means I downsize my goal to make it more achievable over a shorter time frame, or its a smaller project, the result is the same - I see results faster and I have been accomplishing more with every passing month.
I would recommend that you read the book, ‘The 12 Week Year’ by Brian Moran & Michael Lennington. It’s a very good book that can help you produce bigger and better results in your goal setting process even before you finish reading it.
Of course, as with most people that set ‘New Years Resolutions’, I started the year off strong. I created a future board for myself (similar to a vision or goal board to help me envision my future and give me yet another reason to work hard every day). I completed my taxes for my business in record time and I was able to pay off three credit cards at the beginning of the year. (If you watch my budget videos, you know that has been an on-going struggle as the year has progressed).
The second quarter brought some big changes into our lives. We found out we were expecting our third child. At this point, I was supposed to be diving into my “mentality change’ of Swedish death cleaning and minimization. At this point, I became super tired and had no energy to get everything I wanted to finish done. However, we managed to clear out our garage and basement and we had a garage sale. Everything that didn’t sell was either donated to the local women’s shelter or given to Salvation Army. It was a LOT of stuff, at least an entire household worth of stuff!
One lesson I learned here was that Swedish Death Cleaning or learning how to become more minimal (note that I will never say I want to become a minamalist because I like my planner supplies far too much!), is that it’s not something you do once and you’re done. It’s literally a lifestyle change; something you need to change and work at every single day. To be fair, it’s similar to budgeting or life in general - its a journey and not a destination!
Minimalizing is something that I need to work on every day, even when I want to buy something - it makes me take a second thought and ask myself if I really need whatever it is. Despite not being “done” (there’s still so much more I could do) - I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I feel relieved knowing that the garage sale is done (I’m 95% sure that I’ll never have another garage sale ever again). I feel relieved that I’ll have less stuff to cart around if we ever move house.
We also went on our first camping trip in three years. The purpose of this goal was to be able to enjoy family time together (we did) and to relax (we definitely did not). The first night, we arrived late and didn't eat dinner until 9pm at night. My daughter, who normally goes to bed at 7pm, went to bed at 1am. Then, she woke up at 4:30am screaming at the top of her lungs, completely unconsolable. This lasted for about 20 minutes until she ran out of breath. The rest of the camping trip was a whirlwind of being busy cooking, cleaning, walking. setting up and taking down and the only rest we got was when we fell into our beds exhausted at the end of each day. Camping with two and a half kids and two dogs is NOT the same as camping when you are two single people free to do whatever you want. Camping as a parent is W.O.R.K.
All that being said, I’m glad we went. I’m glad we were all together and I’m glad we got to spend time out in nature. I got some good pictures and it was nice to leave the city.
One goal that I keep adding to my planner is progress on my YouTube channel and Instagram accounts. Both of these are completely out of my control, and I’m not sure why I even make them a goal. There are things I could do to improve my chances, but overall, I’m not too concerned about numbers. I’m more concerned that my blogs, videos and stickers and planner charms bring you happiness, inspiration, creativity, ideas, peace, or any number of positive thoughts or feelings. My biggest source of contentment is when I get comments or positive feedback from my subscribers and viewers. Simply showing a creator that you care, that you watch their content makes you feel like you’re on top of the world.
As far as the future goes, who knows what will happen. The exciting thing is that the possibilities are endless. Anything could happen and that is amazing. I’ve got some goals planned for business and my personal life. If you want to see what I’ve got going on, be sure to check out my YouTube channel athttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJuWbC7-oQ_qAl205tIrGzA. I use the Cultivate What Matters Powersheets Goal Planner and I post a new video every month.
Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next time!
Sandra
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