Here's a Less Than 30 Minute Goal Setting Activity to Help You Prioritize Your Goals in 2021
Art Direction and Photograph by: Catie Menke. Model: Shelby Regier.
Model and Copy by: Shelby Regier
Creative Direction by: Catie Menke
This New Year feels different. This one signifies what we all are hoping will be a very (very) different year for us along with some new perspective on what matters most in our lives.
But I don’t think I’m alone when I communicate that a new year can also equate to pressure to do “all the things” that you “must” accomplish in these next 365 days (probably even less by the time you’re reading this 😉).
Why don’t people like to set goals or make resolutions? I think it’s because the pressure of organizing them only to feel you fell short outweighs the opportunities to celebrate successes, especially after the year we’ve just all been through.
So I wanted to share a goal setting activity that my husband and his business partner taught me. It’s proven in our industry (as self-employed Realtors we must be self-starters) and I think it will work great for you too.
I started doing this activity in 2014 and I had a long way to go. I was making decent money, but I wasn’t plugged into a career. I was having hardship in my personal life and wasn’t sure which direction to go. I had family members struggling with health issues that required my support. I needed something tangible and measurable to get me going…
The best part? It’ll take you less than 30 minutes and by the end you’ll be very clear on which goals are your top priority for the next 90 days...you may even surprise yourself.
Place a few bullet points in the categories below. You may have a ton of goals in one category and less in another, but that’s okay. Imagine yourself at a New Year’s Eve party, getting ready to ring in 2022, and someone asks you what you’ve done this year, what do you want to tell them?
Set your phone timer for 15 minutes, and put pen to paper. Try to have about 10 goals by the time you’re done.
Once you have a few goals ironed out, number them down your page to create a list (any order is fine). I challenge you to get more specific on this list, for example rather than “travel more” use “set aside $50 per week toward a Summer vacation” or “set up flight alerts for that destination to see family”. We are talking action steps here. Goals need to be measurable and attainable in a specific period of time.
Some may overlap, obviously ramping up your small business, getting a second job or getting that raise will help you fund some of your other goals.
After listing your goals, set your phone timer for another 15 minutes.
Read goal one, then compare it to goal two, which one is more important to you if you had to choose? Give the more important goal a tally mark which serves as a point.
Then goal one, compared to goal three, one of them gets a point. Goal one compared to goal four...
Your points may look scattered or inconsistent. Keep going.
Goal #1 is done. Start at the top of the list again with goal two compared to three. Then goal two compared to four, goal two compared to five.
We go down the entire list, “scoring” our goals against one another. If you get stuck between two, I’ve found that my first initial gut reaction serves me best.
Now that you have your goals scored, you know what to prioritize in your life. Develop an action plan, something daily or weekly to help you take small steps to getting there. One step at a time.
This year, I want to make sure our Airbnb is profitable while also taking the time to enjoy it with our family and friends.
We also want to get back to traveling as soon as we can so I am setting aside funds from each of my real estate transactions toward a trip to Costa Rica. I want to devote more time to my growth as a leader and be a positive mentor to my team. I want to prioritize setting healthy boundaries that allow me to manage my time better and exercise self-care (the perfect resource is right here, recently I enjoyed: My 6 Night Owl Tips for Bringing an Inspired Mindset into the Morning Hours because I am 100% a night owl!)
While I am working toward all of these goals my mantra will be to “enjoy the in-between”. One of my favorite quotes is “the days are long, but the years are short” and one of my biggest hang-ups about 2020 was wishing time went by faster, to “get through it”, when I have no idea how many days I have left on this earth.
Art Direction and Photograph by: Catie Menke. Model: Shelby Regier.
2020 held its share of ups and downs, highs and lows. Times filled with gratitude, joy and relief or anxiety, stress and fear.
I hope this activity is helpful in allowing you to break down larger goals into a smaller achievable game plan to start 2021 positively and to be evaluated every 90 days.
Are you going to accomplish every single thing on this list? Probably not. But if you accomplished most of it, would that make you happy?
For me personally, most is great.
Goals shouldn’t mean pressure, checking things off the list or feeling like a failure if you don’t (because let’s face it-we won’t be able to accomplish every single thing every day). They’re fluid, and need to be re-evaluated and re-prioritized often to allow us to have peace with what we have accomplished.
In 2021 I wish for you to just take the first step, use this formula to get your goals on paper, and set aside time each quarter (it’s only 30 minutes) to reflect on what’s most important. And don’t forget to celebrate your successes along the way, I am cheering for you all!
Keep Up with us
