My Vision Board for 2013

***This is a part of a series. Be sure to visit Part 1 & Part 2!***

My Goals for 2013

Once I could articulate to myself my “To Be” goals, it was easier to narrow down what to focus on for this year. I obviously won’t accomplish my “To Be” goals in one year, but I’m pretty sure I can accomplish one thing in each area to get me closer “to being” all that I want to be. My distilled list of goals are:

1. (To be “A Financially Organized Young Woman,” I will:) Budget every pay day and pay off my smallest student loan of $3,200.
2. (To be “A Successful Blogger,” I will:) Post on the blog at least once a week, on my Twitter/Facebook at least once Monday through Friday, and on my YouTube channel at least twice a month.
3. (To be “A Public Speaker,” I will:) Come up with speaking topics and deliver at least one speech/workshop by the end of the year.
4. (To be “A Really Healthy Eater,” I will:) Eat healthy meals that feature vegetables and unprocessed food at least 4 days out of the week.
5. (To be “Lean(er),” I will:) Do cardio 3–4 days a week, in addition to following a strength training plan specifically designed for getting leaner. I will also eat a healthy diet (see above).
6. (To be “That Girl with Waist-Length Natural Hair,” I will:) Retain at least 4 inches of hair growth by the end of this year (which will put me at MBL).
7. (To be “A Great Sibling/Friend/Girlfriend,” I will:) Connect (via phone, skype or in person) with my siblings, friends and boyfriend at least once a week.
8. (To be “An Artist,” I will:) Produce at least one creative project (painting, large drawing, piece of artwork) by the end of the year.
9. (To be “Well-versed,” I will:) Read no less than 20 books this year.
10. (To be “Walking in my God-given purpose,” I will:) Complete my current “Bible in a Year” plan.

The “How-to”

Now once I determine my goals for the year, this is where I normally stop. However, I’ve always come up with 10–12 goals for the year and thus far, have only had about 50% success:

• 2009
• 2010
• 2010 mid-year
• 2011
• 2012

As I said earlier, I wanted to do something different this year. Instead of focusing on the goal, or the outcome, like I always do, this year I’m going to focus on the habits that, if done regularly, will cause me to accomplish my goals automatically.Furthermore, I’m only going to be focusing on one goal at a time for 30 days (or however long it takes to get the habit to “stick”). Its not that I’ll be neglecting everything else, just that my energy and focus will foremost go to doing that particular habit. If I don’t get to other things, that’s fine as long as I get the habit done. Once the habit is automatic, then I will move on to the next habit until I’ve trained myself to do all the habits that lead me to automatically accomplishing the goals I’ve laid out for this year.What I’ve described here is not a new concept—in fact, I totally ripped it off from Leo Babauta of Zen Habits fame. I’ve seen his advice about (1) turning your goals into automatic habits and (2) training yourself on one habit at a time for a while now but I’ve always ignored it because I’m stubborn and I want to accomplish everything now! But as I look back over the goals I’ve had for years but haven’t accomplished yet (like, um, regularly posting on this blog) I would have accomplished those goals by now if I focused on the habits that lead to those goals, one at a time.

My Habits for 2013

So, the habits I need to do on a regular basis in order to make a significant dent in the above goals by the end of 2013 are:

1. Record spending into spreadsheet or other budget tool daily.
2. Write out my blog post ideas or work on a video post daily. Post on Twitter/Facebook daily.
3. Study, read and or practice my public speaking topics once a week.
4. Plan and purchase groceries for healthy meals every weekend. Eat home-cooked meals Monday through Thursday.
5. Workout (following strength training/cardio plan) in the mornings daily. On “off”days, stretch in the morning instead of working out. If I miss a morning, workout in the evening instead.
6. Moisturize and tie up hair every night. Wear protective styles during the week. (I will allow “out” styles on the weekends.)
7. Pick a time every week to call/skype at least one one of my siblings and friends. Pick a distraction-free date night to do with boyfriend at least once a week.
8. Engage in some creative activity at least one a week.
9. Read at least one chapter of a book every night.
10. Read Bible every morning.

I felt a sigh of relief just writing those habits out! Aren’t they 10x simpler then the actual goals they are related to? These habits are all I will be focusing on, nothing else.To help me keep track of the habits I will be focusing on, I even bought “Going Places” Planner from Plannerisms.com. It is a planner designed to help you keep track of goals (habits, in my case) on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis. I will do another post on the planner once I get it in the mail…

Rewards

The best part of working on instilling new habits is that I get to reward myself on a weekly and monthly basis. Simply put, if I do the habit every day during the week, I’ll give myself a little reward. If I do the habit consistently for the whole 30 day period, then I will give myself a bigger reward. Here’s what I’m rewarding myself with:Weekly Rewards:

• Books under $15 on Amazon or elsewhere
• Candles
• Songs on iTunes
• Cute workout tanks
• Art supplies
• New “out” hair style
• Spa night at home
• New cosmetic item
• New hair product

Monthly Rewards:

• Trip to the Sauna
• Paraffin wrap pedicure
• Gel manicure
• Items on my “wishlist” that are around $50
• Saturday lunch at a new restaurant
• Yoga pants!
• New dress or outfit
• “Professional” Massage
• New Shoes

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So yes, this was the drawn out “Goals” post ever but I wanted you to see my though process just in case you too were looking for a more effective way to tackle your goals in 2013. What things are you trying to accomplish in the new year? What system have you set up for yourself to help you achieve them?