There is something about 2018 that is making me incredibly excited for the new year! This time last year I had a hand full of random goals, but I wasn’t very excited about goal setting, and even though I feel pretty happy with what I accomplished last year, I’m looking forward to the next 12 months a lot more! My goals for this year definitely have a lot to do with that, too, of course!

The funny thing about my goals last year is that they seem so specific and not focused enough. I had goals like blogging and sending an email to my list each week, taking care of my body, and spending less money. While those are all great goals, I feel like they weren’t focused on the big picture. They didn’t help me get to where I want to be when I’m 80, which is a question Lara so brilliantly poses. I feel so much better about my goals this year.

For a few years here on the blog I shared my monthly goals, and since I’m finally blogging on my own terms again, I decided to bring them back. This month is a little unique because we’re spending some time with my family in Tennessee and I’m still on maternity leave, so instead of focusing on my January goals, I figured I’d get started with my goals for the year!

As pretty much all of you know by now I use PowerSheets to set and track my goals. I can definitely credit them for helping me accomplish so much last year, so I’m excited to see how they help shape our lives this year. The PowerSheets are set up to help you set goals in a certain way: by listing your goal, the why behind it, and your starting / action steps (among other things), so that’s how I’m going to list these goals for you guys!

Goal 1: Be a good mama to Emma

Why: There’s only one chance to embrace and enjoy this time, and I want to not only cherish being her mom, but I also want to set the ground work of being a good role model for her as she grows up.

This is probably an obvious goal, and I certainly agree with that. However, I know there are specific things I want to do to make sure I’m being as good of a mom as I can, and that’s why I made this a goal. I’m sure the things I do for this goal will look differently in each “season” of her life as she grows, but there are also things that I know I’ll be focused on all of the time to help me being a good mama.

Starting steps:

• Practice patience daily – especially on rough days (i.e. when we don’t get as much sleep, she’s fussier, etc)
• Limit phone time in front of her – be present
• Update her baby book for month 2

Goal 2: Make our house a life-giving home

Why: I want us to focus on each other, our visitors when we have them, and making good memories together instead of being consumed by things or clutter.

I think I’m in a “let’s get rid of everything” season. I did a decent purge last year while I was pregnant, but I still often talk about walking through the house with a trash bag and just ruthlessly getting rid of stuff. But creating a life-giving home isn’t just about decluttering. I know we won’t live here forever, in fact, we may only have a couple more years left, but I want to make our house a home while we’re here. I have a few ideas for bigger projects to chat with the husband about, but I’m excited about this one!

Starting steps:

• Purge the closet + donate clothes // I want to work on my wardrobe a bit this year, so this should be a brutal cleanse!
• Get rid of the unused stuff // Surprisingly we still have a lot of this around the house, even after I purged stuff last year.
• Clean the house

Goal 3: Practice self-care daily

Why: By practicing self-care, I’ll help myself be a good mom, wife, and daughter. This will improve my overall physical health and push me to finally open up more spiritually.

I’m decent enough with self-care, but I know I could stand to work on this more. This is definitely one of those areas where I want to make sure I’m being a good role model to Emma as she grows up. I think it’s important that people, women especially, know there’s nothing wrong with stepping away to take care of yourself or pamper yourself. So that’s what I’m going to practice this year. This also will encompass working on my mindset and opening up more to the Universe. I know, very hippy-ish. I’m sure I’ll share more on this later this year!

Starting steps:

• Drink at least 48oz of water every day
• Start using the 5 Minute Journal app again
• Make reading during nap time a priority // So far I’ve been bad about looking around at social media for too long and then all of the sudden Emma is waking up from a nap. I am setting a goal of 20 books for this year, so I know I need to kick that habit and read during nap time (when I can; I know some of those times I’ll be working) to help hit that goal.

Goal 4: Cultivate good relationships

Why: I want to focus on getting to know more people so I have a stronger community to be a part of and contribute to. I also want to make sure I’m investing time in strengthening my current relationships, both with my husband and existing friends.

I will be really honest with you guys, I’m a bit of a hermit. I’m totally fine knowing my people, talking to my people, and not really venturing out socially. It doesn’t help that I’m pretty reserved by nature. However, I think this is something that I’ve let hold me back, especially when it comes to my business and meeting people in person. While I want to put myself out there more, I also don’t want to forget about the relationships I currently have. So, I’m going to try to work on both this year!

Starting steps: 

• Ask “how are you doing?” more often
• Purchase the Fruitful Friendships workbook + work through it
• Pick 1 business FB group to get active in again // I unfollowed all of the business groups I’m in (except GBTD), and that means I ended up taking a huge step back. I stopped participating in those groups altogether. I’m in a TON of groups (waaay too many), but to avoid overwhelming myself, I want to pick one group to start hanging out in again. I’m not sure which I’ll pick yet, so  if you have a favorite that’s not too overwhelming, let me know!

Goal 5: Intentionally grow my business

Why: I want to grow my business to be able to continue to contribute to financially to our family; however, I want to be intentional about it. Work / life balance is still incredibly important to me, so how I grow my business this year matters. 

This goal is probably another obvious one; most business owners would set a goal to grow their business. However, my business has sort of shrunk in on itself in the last two years. Instead of dwelling on it, I’m focusing on how to change it! I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do to grow my business, though, and I credit the Business Owner’s Goal Guide (linked in this post) for helping me figure out what I wanted to do. Since I still have to figure out the balance of being a work at home mom, I’m starting small for the first quarter of the year.

Starting steps:

• Work through Flourish to help create my marketing plan
• Book at least 1 more client for February / March
• Continue to stay active on Instagram (even though we all hate the algorithm, this is still a great platform for getting in front of potential clients, especially for designers)

Goal 6: Create with joy

Why: I want to continue to flex my creative muscle, have fun while doing different types of creative things, and hopefully pass on my love for being creative to Emma.

In 2016 I explored abstract painting, and last year I put that to work a little bit along with a DIY for Emma’s nursery, and of course decorating her nursery. In addition to that, I finally got back to creating lifestyle content for this blog. All of those things were so much fun to do. I definitely want to figure out how I can continue to create with joy in different ways this year, and later in the year maybe get Emma involved.

Starting steps:

• Finally create a larger sized painting // This has been something I’ve wanted to work on since before Emma came. I have the supplies and the colors of paint picked out, but I never got started. I want to finally create this.
• Continue writing fun lifestyle posts for the blog
• Look into things to do with babies that encourage creativity (yes, I realize she won’t be painting or doing anything too intense for a while, but it’s something I want to look into so I can be prepared)

There you have it! I have my Tending List for January filled out, but as I mentioned it’s sort of light because of our plans to be with family, but I’ll be back in February to share my goals and then we’ll check in every month after that!

Did you set any goals for the year? I’d love to hear about them and how I can help hold you accountable to those things!