Tuesday, February 19, 2013

2013 Goals

I know...

It's almost the end of February and I'm just now making my goals for this year.  Most people have already tried and failed at their goals/resolutions and I'm just starting.  It's not that I procrastinated.  I actually spent the past month and a half reading blogs and articles about goals.  What were other woman/mothers setting as goals for this year?  What steps were they trying to take to accomplish their goals?  What did I want to change about myself this year as compared to past years?





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I spent a lot of time thinking about this. Probably too much, I tend to over analyze things.  I am always trying to improve myself and my family life.  I love my life and my family, but I can see so many things about myself and my family that could be better.

I broke my goals down to four groups- home, marriage,family, and personal.  Then I wrote a list under each group of the things I want to improve upon.  I tried not to make to detailed or long of a list as I knew it would be too overwhelming.  I want to make changes that stick.  I don't want to burn myself out or make things so difficult that I give up. 

Here is what I've come up with:

            Home:

                      -declutter and organize
                      -return to meal planning
                      -develop a simple and achievable 
                       cleaning schedule
                      -develop a simple and achievable laundry
                       schedule
                      -complete unfinished home projects
                      -decorate          



             Marriage:

                     -date again
                     -create and work on goals together
                     -stop expecting him to read my mind



              Family:

                     -spend more time together
                     -attend church more consistently
                     -eat healthy dinners/snacks


              Personal:

                      -read Bible
                      -exercise again
                      -eat healthy
                      -work on my patience,attitude, and tone


It's a lot.  I don't expect to work on all these goals at the same time or I think I will definitely fail. 

What I have already done is to pick one or two goals to focus on at a time.  For example, in January, I began a Bible reading program.  So far I've done very good at keeping on schedule with the plan.  It's beginning to become a habit for me to read my Bible right before I go to sleep. 

I also experimented with a laundry schedule.  The school year is especially trying when it comes to laundry as my kids wear uniforms and the winter brings out heavy sweatshirts and sweatpants.  I have tons of laundry to do each week.  I used to save most of it for the weekend, but really hated spending so much of the day doing laundry.  Now, I commit to doing 2 loads a day/evening during the week. It's easy and quick and there are less late night "I need my _________ shirt/pants/etc for tomorrow" surprises.

Some goals are more important to me than others and so I will probably work harder on those.  I don't expect to change overnight and I am also quite certain I will slip up.  It's not a contest.  I'm not competing with anyone else. I'm not going to beat myself up over this either.  If I decide to spend all day Saturday watching tv or wasting time reading blogs/magazines, so be it.  Who cares?  Do I want to do that every day? NO. It's not what I want for myself or my family, but sometimes it's ok to take a break.  I think that's where I've gone wrong.  Thinking that I've failed because I wasn't always working on my goals. 

Last Wednesday also began the Lenten season.  I've always used Lent as a time for personal growth and working on my goals, especially reading the Bible and church, and so it's fitting that I am starting so late this year.

I guess this year my overall goal is to have a smoother running household and better family time. 

I've written out my goals and now I've got to work on my game plan. 

Wish me luck!








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