How To Set Monthly Goals and Stick To Them!
Ahhh, it is that time again- the start of a new month. Let's be real, the biggest question I have right now is how the heck is it September already? It feels like it was New Years like last month. I am mind blown.
I have talked about goals and goal setting before and you already know that if I haven't set myself monthly goals at the beginning of the month, well things get a little off track and random things get completed and things that should have been a priority.. they do not get done and let me tell you it can become a disaster.
So, today I want to walk you through how I have been setting out my monthly goals for this whole entire year. I had a different process for the past few years but I have found this one SO much more effective. If you want to have a killer productive month- maybe you should give this one a go as well!
Exercise
Righty-oh lets chat exercise first. I never used to be someone who needed to have goals set out for exercise, I was so in routine and disciplined that it was never really an issue for me, it was also wildly unhealthy how much I was exercising but that is not the point. In the last few months since trying to correct some unhealthy habit and since being on anti-depressants, I have been struggling with consistency, motivation, discipline and direction in terms of exercise and moving my body- enter goal setting.
At the start of every month now I print myself an overview of the month and I stick it up in my back room where I workout. On this calendar, I record what I have done each day to move my body and if haven't moved my body I have to write down why and it needs to be a decent excuse. When I say "moved my body" I don't mean every day has to be this incredible workout that leaves me with severe DOMS, if I am having an off day it could be as simple as a half an hour walk or a bit of stretching.
Next, to that calendar, you will find 4-5 specific goals I have set for myself this month. These goals help me with a bit of direction and something to aim towards during the month. This also helps me with discipline and a bit of competition with myself (ain't nothing better than some competition!) Last month my cardio was slacking a bit so that is one of my goals, weight increases and mind-muscle connection are on the list for September!
Finances
One thing that Brodie and I are both absolutely terrible at is money, although I am currently listening to the She's On The Money podcast to try and rectify that one! When it comes to financial goals I tend to start small in order to avoid an epic fail. Last month my goal was to pay off all Afterpay payments and close the account- the account was closed on Friday! This month I will be taking a considerable amount of my savings so the aim is to replenish my savings account as much as possible.
I usually set two finance goals, and I have to be realistic about it. Before I set them I do kind of go through my calendar for the month and work out what I need to spend money on and go from there. For instance, I had a few special occasions and such last month which had a bit of an impact on how much I was saving and spending. From there I adjusted my goals accordingly.
Writing / Study
These ones don't apply to everyone so I thought I would chuck them in together to save a little bit of time. With my writing (it could be any of your hobbies) I set my goals after evaluating how the previous months have been going. For instance, I have had other priorities for the past few months so I haven't been as focused on my writing so this month I want to try and make it more of a priority. I also need to take into account what is on this month, how busy the month is in regards to realistically setting the goals.
With study, not everyone has that to worry about which is good for you, but I, however, do need to get some study goals set out to keep me on track. To work out what I need to be focusing on I go through my assessment calendar and work out what is due this month, as well as what is due next month and will take some time to complete. Again, these need to be realistic- if I have a busy week one week and I know that I am not going to be getting much done I need to schedule in the time to make up for it, be it on the weekend or on a weeknight.
"Hustle" Goals
Not going to even lie about it, these are my favourite goals to set. I love setting goals for work/side hustle and then really working hard to smash them out during the month. When I create these goals last, after taking into account every other damn thing I have written down for the month, not that these are the least important, but they are the ones that I tend to be the most un-realistic on. This is really a consideration of what NEEDS to get done and what I want to get done and they get mushed into one set of three to four goals for the month.
How do you track your goals?
Hands up who is good at setting goals but then forget about it? Me too! I told you about how I track exercise, but how do I do it with everything else? Exactly the same way, with a blank calendar page, stuck up right next to my goals list. I track everything on here- did I transfer my set amount to savings? Good track it! Did I complete an assessment? Good, track it!
The easiest way for me to stay on top of things is to have it all written out right in front of me to see whenever I need it, it needs to be easily accessible for me to make it easier to stick too.
How do you set out your monthly goals?
