Goals.

Not a word I use in my vocabulary very much.  Too much expectation.  Too much fear of failure.  Sounds good, but yeah right.

Just a few thoughts running through my mind about the word: goals.

If you asked people closest to me if I’m goal oriented, it would not be the first phrase they would use to describe me.  I kind of like it this way.  I like feeling some freedom to move, breathe, and change things up.  Sometimes goals set me in a place of inflexibility.  Free-spirited maybe.  But I like challenges, I like doing things, and sometimes goals are necessary to get crap done.  Right?

One of my only goals this year was to read two to three books a month, twenty-five total for the year. (Look I even made my monthly goal none committal).  This is totally manageable for a mom with three kids, right?  Three months in and this month is proving to be challenging.  I have two books that I’m finishing, but it is the last week of March!  Yikes my mind immediately said, yeah its okay, don’t worry about it, you won’t make it this month.

However, I fought that thought.

I looked at my two books: None like Him by Jen Wilkins and The Wind at the Door by Madaleine L’Engle (Wrinkle in Time Book Two).  (Honestly enjoying them both and I don’t really want them to end.)  However, I saw I only had two chapters for each book.  I have one week and four chapters.

Now, this is totally manageable.   (And I finished The Wind at the Door last night and will start the next book today which gets me a little ahead for next month.)  So I’m doing it, little by little, until this month ends.

This makes me think of other goals I have set and at the risk of failing I just stopped, not allowing myself to look ahead to see if I really could do it.  I assumed failure before I even knew if it was true.

So totally unqualified to talk about goals, but I challenge you to look ahead just a little and see if your goal is manageable if you set out a more specific plan.

My husband is doing this.  He’s an amazing goal setter, I look up to him in this area and take his lead a lot because he is gifted at it.  He has a mile amount he wants to run this year, and he didn’t just break it down to each month how many miles, but to each week the amount of miles he needs to run to meet that goal.  And he is doing it.  One week at a time.

This doesn’t take much effort, just courage to look and see if your goals are attainable.  You will see they are if you break them down into smaller chunks.  Like trying to eat your veggies for dinner.

April is coming, a new month, a new week, a new day to set a goal.  Share it with someone who loves you and will ask how you are doing because they want to see you meet your goals and like walking with you.

Break those goals down: yearly goal-monthly goal-weekly goal-daily goal.

See what you can achieve today or this week, and I bet you’ll meet it for the year too.