Setting Goals

I wanted to post about goals tonight. But first, I wanted to share with you a photo I took (as always, with my phone) this evening of the sunset on a lake near my home.

I was cleaning up and came across a three-ring binder that I had put some goals in about 7 or 8 months ago. I still have the same goals, but I found it was difficult to tackle all of them at the same time. I am really organized when I have something I'm working toward, and I tend to even go overboard to such an extreme of organizational perfection that I give up and lose steam (I know none of you are guilty of that... haha).

I agree with having goals in different areas of your life, like I said before, it's just difficult to try to accomplish all of them at the same time. The 7 areas I had sectioned for goals are:

• Personal Goals - Just personal things I wanted to do, things I had put off but wanted to get done, etc.
• Spiritual Goals - Bible reading, prayer and worship goals
• Financial Goals - Budget goals, Savings goals, etc.
• Physical Goals - Exercise goals, dietary goals, etc.
• Familial Goals - Contacting family members, doing things for my grandparents
• Social Goals - Blocking out time to spend with friends, meeting new people
• Reading List - A list of books I want to read

I did some research online to figure out what the best way is to make goals and follow through with them.

I found one blog that talks about the 9 mistakes most people make when they set goals. I am guilty of a lot of these! To see the original blog, which goes more in-depth, please click HERE. These are the 9 mistakes that are outlined:

1. Not writing your goals down.
2. Not having a system to remember them.
3. Not reviewing and rewriting your goals often.
4. Setting goals you don't really feel for/are interested in.
5. Not setting clear goals.
6. Not setting deadlines.
7. Not making a plan.
8. Not reviewing previous failures.
9. Not keeping your focus in the right place.

Now that we know what not to do, let's look at a cool technique of what should be done! To see the original blog for this list, please click HERE.

The original blogger suggested a SMART technique:

S - Specific - don't make vague goals!
M - Measurable - KNOW when you have success and when you have failure.
A - Attainable - be realistic!
R - Relevant - do you really struggle in that area? Should you be making goals in other areas?
T - Time-Based - no procrastinating!


I am going to apply the SMART technique and ward off the 9 common mistakes of goal-setting! My first section of goals to achieve will be my financial goals. What kinds of goals are you setting, and how will you achieve them?