Last year, when January rolled around, I felt extremely unmotivated to set goals. This was a big deal for me, because for every year of my life before this, I had set multiple goals in 5 or more categories, and went over them quarterly to make sure I was on track. I grew up like this, and in most phases and stages, I think this works. But last year was different for me.
I was, quite frankly, pretty overwhelmed with life. I had a one year old and a brand new baby. The idea of setting heavy goals in all categories of my life just felt exhausting. So last year, I didn’t set goals. And it was a great year. I made bucket lists, and had other ways of gently moving myself toward progression. But goals weren’t in the picture for me.
So this year I approached the New Year, debating what to do. I wanted to help myself progress, but still felt like the traditional way of “goal setting” might be too much at this phase. Then, as I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Gretchen Rubin’s, “Happier,” I heard an idea that I loved. She encourages setting goals in the form of 18 for 2018. Its 18 things you want to accomplish in 2018, small and whimsical, or large and meaningful. I love it! Its so much less pressure and makes it fun and simple for me.
So I set my 18 for 2018. I go over them every once in a while to see how I’m doing, and I love being able to check some of them off my list.
Here are some of mine:
- go camping with my family
- take a dance class
- declutter the basement
- hike Mt. Timpanogos with Nick at sunrise
- read 1 book a month
- take a girls trip
- learn how to bake bread
- attend the temple once a month
- grow an herb garden
How do you like to set goals?