‘Tis the season for goal setting.

Every year I reflect on the blessings and accomplishments over the last 365 days and prepare for the next; it's an emotional experience. With a global pandemic, a pivotal period of the Black Lives Matter movement, the push for diversity, equity and inclusion and a historic election season, emotional is a word that describes 2020 well for me. Although the pandemic shifted some of my goals in 2020, looking back on all that I experienced, overcame and achieved, I know that God is real and good.

I’ve set my goals for 2021 and shared them with some of my close family and friends who found it helpful and adopted many of my goals. If you haven’t set your goals for 2021, it’s never too late, and the five steps below will help you get started.

1. Reflect

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Socrates

Take time to think about your life, where you are and where you want to be in all the areas that matter most to you. It’s helpful to start with the last six months to a year and highlight the good things that happened to you. Document the notable moments that you remember whether it’s saying no to an opportunity that wouldn’t bring you joy or purchasing your first car or home. After you’ve covered everything you remember, use your photo galleries, blogs posts, journals and other media to go a bit deeper.

Once you’ve recognized highlights, you’ll be able to see clearly what you enjoy and what you’re passionate about. The next step is to think about how you can include more of those things (and others that are lacking) in your life and understand what a fulfilled life means to you, which is step two.

2. Define

“When we know who we are it will determine what we do.”

Bianca Olthoff

Use the reflection from step one to break down what a fulfilled life means to you. When I think about what a fulfilled life looks like, seven words sum it up for me: live, laugh, love, learn, serve, share, and grow. I strategically breakdown those words into specific areas of my life that will allow me to live them out. They all fall into five major categories where I set goals. I’ve listed them below with some goals I have this year.

Faith: Grow closer to Christ and spend more time with Him.

Health: Prioritize nutrients in my diet.

Personal: Save more money to purchase a home or condo and avoid wasting money on rent.

Professional: Return to work life harmony and avoid working around the clock.

Financial: Secure supplemental income to avoid relying solely on my salary.

After reflecting and establishing your what and why the next step is to work on the how, which includes planning and preparation.  

3. Plan

“Failure to plan is planning to fail.”

Unknown

What will you do on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to work toward your goals? How can you implement steps into your routines? Map out what you will have to do to achieve success. Adding steps to my routine and tasks to my daily and weekly to do lists have been extremely helpful for me over the years. Continuing with the goals I shared above, I’ve added examples.

Faith: Increase my fasting practice.

Health: Implement daily multi-vitamins to my morning routine.

Personal: Update my budget and increase savings.  

Professional: Set boundaries and maximize time during work hours.

Financial: Research and identify opportunities to earn additional income.

While planning puts you one step closer toward achieving your goals, a plan without action is just words on paper or a screen.  

4. Prepare

“Life favors the prepared.”

Sabrina M.

To make a plan work you must prepare. While some plans are just a matter of execution, most require some type of preparation.  

Faith: Taking personal days to spend time fasting.

Health: Order a vitamin subscription.

Personal: Increase the amount of money drafted directly into my savings account each pay period.

Professional: Schedule a call, appointment or workout at a certain time to force me to disconnect from work.

Financial: Pursue opportunities to earn additional income through pitching, applications, etc.

5. Execute

“Your actions must match your aspirations.”

Jasmine Star

The final, and maybe the most important, step is execution. You've defined what a fulfilled life means to you and established the who, what, when, where, why and how; now it's time to put it in action. Only you can achieve your goals. Make it happen.  

Reflect. Define. Plan. Prepare. Execute. Repeat.

What are your goals this year? How can I help you achieve them? Remember that just because you master something one year doesn't mean that you'll continue every year beyond that. You must continue to work toward maintaining the goals and setting new ones.

(Virtual) Hugs & Handshakes,
Jasmine C. Tate