Episode 43: The Secret No One Tells You About Goal-Setting
Would you think I was crazy if I told you that I am SO excited for today’s episode? We are going to be rolling up our sleeves and really tackling your personal growth goals. In case you missed it, last week, in episode 42, we talked about personal growth goals for moms and how they are often misrepresented. Personal growth goals for moms are really broad areas of personal growth that you want to strengthen. From there, you create specific action steps to achieve your ultimate goal. And those action steps are what we are going to get started on today.
Before we begin, if you haven’t chosen your personal growth goal area that you want to focus on this quarter, you may want to hit pause and take a moment to do that. In the blog post for episode 42, there is a comprehensive list of goal areas to review. Once you have done that, you will be ready to join us as we turn these dreams into plans, mama!
Personal Growth Goals for Moms: Breaking It Down
After you have determined your personal growth goal area, take a moment to visualize what growing in this area would mean for you. For example, let’s say you are focusing on dreaming big. Maybe you have always played it small and you are noticing you aren’t as happy as you thought you would be. Close your eyes and visualize yourself playing big. How do you feel? How do you look? What is different in your life? How has your life changed?
Now, let’s turn those ideas into action steps. In your MAP Book (or goal notebook, if you decided to give it a try this year), write the goal area at the top of a blank page. Set a timer for 10 minutes and write down any action step that comes to mind to grow in this area. Really push yourself to brainstorm the entire 10 minutes, even if you run out of steam. My best ideas come to me once I am past the initial surge of ideas and am sitting, waiting for the timer to go off.
Your next step is to review all of the ideas that you brainstormed. Think about your timeline. Is this a quarterly goal or a year-long goal? If it’s a quarterly goal, I would recommend choosing 3-5 action steps to focus on. If this is a year-long pursuit for you, I would suggest choosing 5-7 action steps. Then star 2-3 of them that you want to focus in on to start.
Tips for Your Action Steps
I always recommend that your action steps are concrete and super specific. This means, you should know if you have done them or not. For example, if your action step is “meditate”, you may not know if you had done that by accident before you fell asleep or not. But if your action step is “Meditate for 5 minutes on my mat after my workout”, you can answer yes or no to whether you did it or not.
That being said, there are a few action steps that you may want to make more general to start. For example, if you are focusing on your physical health, your goal may be to move your body for 30 minutes a day. You do not have to specify exactly what you are doing for those 30 minutes. This gives you some flexibility, within the time confines of 30 minutes.
Personal Growth Goals for Moms: Examples
Without committing to any of your action steps yet, let’s look at 5 different goal areas and some action plan examples. This may help you to see if your action steps are too broad or too narrow.
Personal Growth Goals for Busy Moms: Physical Health
If you are just getting started with personal growth goals, I would suggest starting with health and wellness. Why? Because these are the easiest goals to track and stay accountable with.
Happiness
- Create a joy list and work aspects of the list into your every day life
- Begin to write down 5 things that you are grateful for daily (ideally in your MAP Book as a part of your daily planning process)
- Set aside a regular time that you block off for your self-care, even if it is just a few minutes a month. Allow yourself to have that time to do whatever you want with it.
- Research a local counselor in your area and consider making an appointment to meet them to see if you might be a good fit
- Find an activity that can reduce your stress and make it a regular part of your life (i.e. hiking, walking, riding your bike, etc.)
Mindset
- Plan to read a book a month for the entire year – bonus points if it is a personal growth book!
- Challenge yourself to learn one new thing this quarter that you have always wanted to do, but never had the time to learn
- MAP Book
- Try 1 new experience a month as a family or on your own
- Read a book about growth mindset (I recommend Carol Dweck’s book “Mindset” if this is new to you, or Jon Acuff’s “Soundtracks” if you generally have a good idea about what a growth mindset is)
Relationships
- In your MAP Book, create a list of people that are important in your life and make a plan to connect with them over the next few months
- Establish a weekly date night routine with your partner to prioritize your relationship
- If there are people in your life that you want to connect with more regularly, work with them to set up a system for connection – happy hours the first Friday of the month, play dates every second Sunday of the month. Etc.
- Create a monthly system for checking in with your partner to ask them what they think is going well in your relationship and what they think needs work. This can spark great conversations!
- Write a list of traditions that you want to have in your family and take steps to begin implementing
Career
- Make a list of what you want your career to provide to you
- Make a list “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”
- Look for a mentor in your field that inspires you, even if it is not someone you know in real life
- Give a presentation in your field
- Take a class to continue to grow your knowledge in a certain area
After reading these action steps examples, revisit your MAP Book page to decide if your action steps are specific enough, and not too broad. Make any changes that you need and then step away from this exercise. I suggest putting a sticky note on the page and revisit it in a few hours or even after a day or so has passed. See if these action steps still ring true. If so, it’s time to get started on implementing these action steps. 2023 is going to be your year mama, I can feel it!
And in case no one has told you lately, you are doing a great job. Your kids see you prioritizing yourself and your desire to grow. There is literally no greater gift that you can give them. Well done, mama, keep up the great work.
Let’s Make a Plan!
Look at your list of action steps that you created during today’s episode. Choose the 2-3 action steps that you plan to implement over the next quarter. Decide which one you will focus on this month. Then, brainstorm everything that you can do to make this action step come to life. Maybe you need to do some research or make an appointment. Or maybe you want to create a Pinterest board or order a book on Amazon. Once you have decided on these steps, go the extra mile and add them to your calendar like you would for an appointment. After all, this is an appointment for your personal growth!
I truly hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, be sure to subscribe on Spotify so you don’t miss next week’s episode!
Finally, if you want to connect between episodes, be sure to give me a follow over on Instagram – @sharonlegercoaching. I would love to support you on your personal growth journey!
Did You Love This Episode?
If so, be sure to share it with a friend – this helps busy moms like you to find me!
And finally, you can also check out these related episodes that I think you’ll be obsessed with:
I’m Boycotting New Year’s Resolutions This Year … Who Is With Me?!
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