How are you doing on your goals so far? If you are nailing them! Rock on! If you have slacked off, every day is a new day to work on your goals. If you haven’t set any yet. It’s never too late!

Goal setting and the pursuit of these goals are a big part of intentional crafting the remarkable life you were destined for. No one but you can know what that looks like for you and only you, and the grace of God can make it happen!

I think it’s empowering to know that God has equipped me with everything I need to fulfill my purpose. My purpose is to be the best version of myself, to make the world a better place, and use my unique talents to bring awareness and inclusion to people with developmental disabilities.

To be the best I can be, I have work to do. So I set goals. When setting goals, I look at all the areas of my life. I look at the past year and the progress or lack thereof I have made. I identify where I got off track and why, and I pray for guidance. 

With that prep work done, I begin to define how I would like to grow or what I’d like to accomplish  in each area of my life, including:

• Spiritual 
• Relationships 
• Home
• Career
• Personal growth
• Service 
• Finance
• Health

I believe that each of these areas play a role in having a remarkable life. Sometimes one area needs more attention than another. But we should have a vision for how we want to live out each area and be able to set meaningful goals to strengthen each area.

That doesn’t mean you have to have big hairy goals for each area of your life this year. Depending on what stage of life you are in, one or two areas may need more attention and you may need to invest more time, energy and resources toward those. That said, consider writing down one sentence or a one-word intention for each of the other areas. This helps you keep moving toward your targets.

Writing goals and setting intentions will only get you so far. I set my primary goals for the year and then each week, I identify the mini goal for the week that will get me closer to my big goal. Then I break it down into daily action steps.

For example:
 Big Goal: My son will become a reader 
Week goal: Make a high interest book
Steps:

1. Design book template in Canva
2. Identify Dolche words to use
3. Choose topic and write story (Baseball)
4. Find pictures to go with story
5. Finalize design and print
6. Bind and laminate 

Now I look at my calendar and see when I can do each step. I may have a window open where I can sit down and knock out the whole project. But I likely won’t. But If I can take one or two steps a day, I will meet my weekly goal. 

At the end of the week, I review. It’s this series of tiny wins that will help me and Joey reach our big goal! 

Each week, I know what big goals I’m focusing on, what mini goal I want to meet, and what steps I’m taking to get there.

Right now, getting to a healthy weight and fitness level and getting our main level renovation done are my two priority goals. I’m still working on other goals like helping Joey become a reader. The key is having time each week to prioritize and generate some tiny wins! Progress not perfection.