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How To Set Attainable Goals

I'm not here to tell you that you need to set goals or challenges in 2020. Some days, some weeks, some years you simply need to survive and that is OK. We all have our tough seasons of life...hello raising babies. However, if you want to make changes to your life, setting goals are a game changer. I've seen personally how participating in challenges and setting goals have dramatically impacted my life.


First I'd love to share a few challenges I've participated in over the years.

NO SHOPPING CHALLENGE:
I started my first no shopping challenge in college when I fell in love with thrifting and decided I only wanted to buy second-hand clothing for one year. I was hooked on shopping at estate sales, and ended up opening my own little vintage store inside a local coffee shop I worked at.

In 2016 after my father passed I watched the documentary, Minimalism, and was blown away! My twins were almost 1 and Turner was 4, and I wanted to focus my life on experiences vs. accumulating things. So I set out to not purchase any clothing, home decor and accessories for myself for 6 months. I did buy a couple of things, but overall I bought less than 10 items for myself in 6 months (read the recap here). For someone who LOVES clothes, that was a huge accomplishment.

BUDGET CHALLENGE:
In 2019 I had a lofty goal of cutting my clothing and eating out budget in half!  I set my family's clothing budget to $200 a month (read the full post here). That may seem like a lot to those who don't enjoy shopping, but I can spend $200 in about 2 seconds. This taught me to plan ahead and focus on purchasing items I would wear over and over again. No buying on a wild patterned top on a whim that I would wear once, but instead making a conscious decision to purchase a gray tee I know I will wear over and over again. I took a good look at what I reach for daily and tried to incorporate more of those pieces. My friend, Jen Pinkston, did a great post about creating a wardrobe you love! My friend, Jaana, talks a lot on her IG page about fast fashion and her shopping addiction and how you can overcome it.

The past year I ended up writing a budget recap for every month which I really enjoyed as it made me very conscious of my spending. I went over budget almost much every month, but I enjoyed the journey and giving my readers an honest look at what my family spends in a month.


SMALL GOALS:
Over the past three years I've written monthly small goals inspired by my friend Nicole. Instead of making large yearly goals, I broke them down in to bite size goals I could easily cross off my list every month. Maybe you have a large goal like starting a blog, but you are overwhelmed with how to get started. This is where monthly goals can have a major impact. Start with small things you can do to get you towards that larger goal. An example of a small goal might be purchasing your domain name or researching names for your blog and deciding on one. 

Examples of monthly small goals I've had over the years include:
- 30 Day Squat Challenge 
- Plan Walt & Whitney's 2nd Birthday Party
- Go on a date with Alex
- Take a PureBarre class twice a week
- Pitch a family vacation
- Have coffee with someone who inspires me
- Make a dentist appointment (making appointments as a mom is hard, so setting them as a goal is helpful!)

As I'm writing this post I'm realizing how much writing down these goals helped me stay focused. I think I'm going to start writing them out again in 2020, but focus on certain categories including family, career, budget and self care. 

I usually write down 3-5 goals per month, but if you only want to make a couple a month that is fine too! The point is to make them feel less scary which will make them more achievable. 




I think it's important to have someone who can encourage you and keep you accountable. A friend or partner who will push you, but also not make you feel bad if you mess up. I feel a lot of my goals stem from my curiosity and desire to learn. If you are a goal setter or someone who likes to challenge themselves, what are some examples of things you've done in the past?

"Growth is the major separator from those who succeed and those who do not. When I see a person beginning to separate themselves from the pack, it's almost always due to personal growth." - John C. Maxwell

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