We are now in our fourth month to the Simply Organized Life.  I can’t believe it is April!  (If you’d like to catch up with us on this journey, go here.)  I love the sense of order . . . and a plan.  And that is where this month comes in.  Goal-setting.

Do you have goals?  Where would you like to be in a month, a year or five years?  What would you like to have accomplished?  Goals give direction, motivation and focus.  They direct your energy so that you can efficiently work toward a particular end.  If you don’t have goals, you don’t know where you’re going or what you’re aiming for.

Goals can pertain anything topic!  You may want to set health goals, education goals, parenting goals, financial goals, spiritual goals, career goals or even project goals.  Maybe you homeschool and you are setting goals with your kids to finish up the rest of the school year.  Maybe you want to compete in a race and need to set milestone goals as you train.  Or maybe there is a big project you want to tackle and you need to get organized with specific goals to help you accomplish the task at hand (see below for mine).

What makes for a good goal?  Here are 6 goal-setting tips that will set you up for success.

Goals are specific.  When thinking through your goals, work in details.  Don’t just say, “I want to lose weight.”  Rather write down how you’re going to do it.  “I want to lose weight by exercising every other day and increasing my fruit and vegetable consumption to x servings a day.”

Goals are timely.  Give yourself deadlines.  Choose concrete dates by which to have elements of your goal completed.  “I want to be able to run a full mile by June 1st.”

Goals are practical.  I’m all for shooting for the moon, but keep it practical at the same time.  Don’t try to squeeze 100 hours of work into one week.

Goals are measurable.  This will help you know if you are on track or have reached your goal.  Did you complete your task by the deadline?  Did you save up the amount of money you needed?

Goals are best when written down. There is something not only beneficial about thinking through your goals and working through the thought process,  but also in writing them down.  Written goals are more likely to be completed than those not only written in your head.  Be strategic.

Goals are most successful when prayed about and submitted to God.  Not every goal will feel like you need to pray about it, but I’ll tell you that you will find it more pleasant of a journey and discover better clarity and focus when you have yielded to God and sought Him for direction.  

My Current Goal:  Prepare our house to go on the market the week of June 3rd.

To reach my goal, I’ve made a list of everything needing to be done (that I know of at this point) and broken it down into manageable weekly goals as well as one daily task.  Some of my tasks are weather-dependent, so I will be revisiting my goals often and adjusting as need be.

Daily Task- Organize and purge one thing, if only a drawer.  Sort into long-term storage, garage sale, donation and trash as I go along.

Week of April 1 – Call for painting and power-washing quotes.  Continue to read Successfully Selling Your Home (get to 80%).  Finish writing the “purchase list.”

Week of April 8 – Finish the book.  Hire and Schedule Painter & Power-Washer.  Call on Tub Fix.

Week of April 15 – Pick Paint Colors for Foyer, Bathroom and Front Door. Spring Clean 1st Floor.

Week of April 22 – Spring Clean 2nd Floor and Basement.

Week of April 29 – Get help on staging.  Paint Doors and Shutters.  Decide on For Sale By Owner or not.

Week of May 6 – Stain the Deck.  Tackle the Basement Storage.

Week of May 13 – Paint the Front Porch Railing.  Wash the Screens.

Week of May 20 – Develop a Cleaning Plan.  Mulch.  Reduce Household Clutter.

Week of May 27 – Buy and Plant Flowers.  If doing FSBO, research and prepare to list on the MLS.

Week of June 3rd – Take Photos.  Put House on Market.

Am I a little daunted by this goal?  Yes.  Is it impossible?  No.  Having this list helps me direct my focus and energy on what it will take to get my house ready for sale.  My goals are specific, timely, practical, measurable, in writing and prayed about it.

What are your goals?  Feel free to link up to your blog post or just share one of your goals in the comments below.

Related Post:  25 Scripture Verses on Goal-Setting

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