Balancing Your 2010 Goals

My husband and I were talking about our 2010 joint goals and individual goals this week, and I remembered a little booklet I found on the Internet a few weeks ago. I was sure I’d shared it with you all, but I just looked over all of my December posts and I haven’t!

The web site is called I Set My Goals and they have a one-sheet printable, foldable booklet for writing down all of your goals for the year. The great part is that there are six sections – Health & Fitness, Family & Relationship, Education & Training, Financial, Recreation & Leisure, and a blank section for you to choose the topic. I wrote “Writing” in that blank.

In each section there are five lines so you can write down five goals for each area. Now I could write down what John and I said two of our Health goals are – “eat less” and “exercise more” – but the web site reminds you to use the SMART technique for goal setting. Make each goal Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

The single page printout can then be folded into a little booklet that you can put in your purse or wallet. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to cut and fold it just right, but it worked. I’ve been carrying it around in my purse the last week or two trying to decide exactly what to write in it. (Yes, remember me? Afraid to mess up the pretty blank page! LOL! I’ve decided to write in pencil in case I think of better goals than those that first come to mind!)

I wanted to tell you about this web site because when John and I were talking about our goals, there were so many and they were all over the map! But with this goal booklet, I can keep them organized in my mind and see how they can intersect, support each other, or conflict with each other. For instance, I need to eat healthier and exercise more to increase my creativity and productivity, so I can write those goals in such a way that I really want to follow through on them.

On the other hand, we said we want to travel around Australia next year, but we had no plan for when or where or how. Looking at the “Leisure” goals along with my “Writing/Work” goals and as compared to the calendar for my “Education” goals, I can see that I must plan our vacation for the first week in May because it’s my school break. That means I have to start looking into locations and prices in the next month or two. Without being forced to think this through, we would have gotten to the end of the year without any idea why we hadn’t traveled except to blame it on being “busy.”

I can see how all my goals are going to work together to make 2010 a better planned-out year. I hope this booklet helps you to do the same! Happy New Year!