You already know I’m a personal development junkie so I thought I would share my monthly goal setting tips and techniques for this fresh month. I’ll be honest, I usually complete my monthly goal setting a day or two before each new month so I’m ready to start the month off with a bang.
Monthly Goal Setting Tips
Look back to look ahead
Take a look at your major goals you’ve set for the year (or quarter) and see where things stand. Don’t judge yourself if you haven’t completed them, just look and be aware of where you are.
Purge
Do a Brain Purge of everything bogging up your mind. Old to dos, projects, errands, appointments, ideas, future events, everything. Get it all down in one long list. Order doesn’t matter, neatness and spelling doesn’t count, just get it all out so you can move forward with a clear head.
Sort & Filter
Sort your list. You may be able to just delete some items, move some to later down the line, give some to other people to handle for you. Then filter your list by area of life.
Decide on your month’s focus/plan
What areas of life are you going to be focusing on? What makes the most sense in your life right now? What would be the best focus for what your larger/longer term goals are? Decide on what area you’ll focus on so you don’t dilute your efforts and “waste” time on less important tasks.
Set Goals for just the month
Use your bigger goals to determine what you will tackle this month. We can consider your monthly goals mini or midsize goals. Get them down on paper. For the love of god do not try to wing it.
Make your goals SMART
I know we’ve covered this before but SMART is an acronym meaning Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. So make sure your goal isn’t vague and fits the SMART criteria.
Create Actions and Prioritize
This is where folks fall off. And it makes all the difference in the world. We cant just write the goal and walk away. We have to break it down into what needs to be done to actually attain it. Then we decide what needs to be done now vs later.
Calendar it ASAP
Whip out your planner or your google calendar….whatever you use…and pencil in the action steps for the next month. I don’t suggest you log action steps further than that because things may need to be tweaked.
Plan your party
Decide what you’re going to do to celebrate your wins. You’re all organized now with your goals broken down into actionable steps so you’re definitely going to get ’em done.
Take action NOW
Do one tiny thing…anything! Making even the tiniest action step forward does a lot for your motivation/drive and esteem. Get to work!!
Now you can just do the bite sized actions each day to reach whatever your goals are. For some folks (including me, sometimes) looking at a list of big lofty amazing goals feels good…and can feels daunting/overwhelming at the same time. That’s why it’s extra important to break it down each month. Things feel better when they’re doable. Good luck!
What are your top goals for the month?
Finish working on my house so it is move-in ready by the end of the month!
Good luck, that’s a big hearty goal. Excited for you!
My top goal for the month is to get seriously back into blogging and vlogging. I am motivated once again to create content, I now need to get a system in place that allows me not to get burnt out.
That’s a great goal! So glad you’re motivated to create content. that’s crucial. What do you do to avoid burnout?
For idea capture I use things for the mac it goes everywhere with me. Love the purge as well when you are brain storming getting the storm out of your head means peace in your mind.
Yes, I need to purge or I will drive myself crazy! What’s your big goal for september?