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Do you dream of doing something BIG, but you feel like your mom life leaves you with very little time to reach such a HUGE goal? Don’t let the busy mom life stand in the way of achieving your goals. Use these ten tips to set and crush your goals this year.
I am a busy homeschooling mom of three children. One child is now in college, but still, even when they were younger I have always made time to pursue personal goals.
As a busy mom, I have:
- Ran several Half and Full-Marathons
- Completed a Sprint Tri
- Wrote a Book
- Got Rid Of Massive Amounts Of Household Clutter
- Built a blog that earns a full-time income
- Renovated multiple homes with my husband to generate extra revenue
And I did it all without burning out. How? Mainly by following these ten steps.
How To Set And Crush Your Goals As A Busy Mom
1. Figure Out How Much Time You Really Have To Devote To Your Goal
Perform a time audit and figure out how much time you have to devote to a goal without putting your family life on the back burner. Once you know how many hours each week you can use to devote to a goal, it is time to move onto step two.
2. Heavily Research What It Will Take To Reach Your Goal
Spend a month reading books and blogs written about your goal. Learn the ins and outs of how others managed to succeed in the journey to the finish line.
This will help you avoid mistakes that could cost you valuable time. It will also give you a realistic overview of all the steps it will take to reach your goal.
3. Spend Time Upfront Breaking Your BIG Goals Down Into Mini Goals
With all the information you need to reach your goal now swirling around in your head and the results of your time audit showing you how much time you have each day and week to devote to reaching it, you now need to sit down and make a plan.
When you are making a plan don’t try to follow someone else’s to the letter. You are not them and they are not you. You live a unique life. Therefore you need a plan tailored to your needs. Yes, you can base your plan on a plan created by an expert, but don’t try to follow it to the letter–that will set you up to fail.
Having trouble breaking down your goal into small enough pieces? This short yet informative read is super helpful for doing just that.
4. Prioritize Your Time
Your time audit should have alerted you to the time wasters (hello Facebook and Instagram) that you can either reduce the amount of time you spend on or cut out altogether.
The time audit should have also made evident where you have pockets of time to work on your goal, whether it be 15 minutes or hours at a time.
On a calendar or in a planner mark down what times you plan to work on your goals and make sure you do!
5. Seek Accountability
Do you have a friend who wants to reach the same goal or a similar one? Form an accountability partnership where you promise to check in on how each other is doing at least once a week.
Depending on the goal you may even be able to work on it together. For instance, I have trained for several running races with one of my dearest friends. It is a win/win since we get time together and we reach our goals.
6. Make Most Of Your Goals Public
Notice that I said to make “most” of your goals public. There are probably going to be some goals that are just better off being private, but the majority of your goals can and should be shared.
I like to share my goals at least with a few close friends and family, but most goals I announce on social media and here on my blog. There is just something about putting it all out there that makes you less inclined to give up when the going gets tough.
7. Set A Reward For When You Reach The Finish Line
Sometimes a little extra incentive is all you need to keep the momentum going towards your finish line.
What is it that keeps you motivated? Chances are it has to do with your love language. For some, it might be a day away. Others might prefer a night out with friends. Or perhaps you might like treating yourself to a gift of some type.
8. Become Your Biggest Cheerleader
When you reach your goals slowly, there are a lot of minor wins on the way to the finish line. Don’t wait for others to notice the progress. If you do, you might be waiting for so long that you lose momentum and give up. Instead, take a moment to celebrate every one of them on your own.
Lose a pound–give yourself a high-five. Finally ran that mile without stopping–a new song from iTunes for you! Made your first dollar–frame it! Finally got that icing rose to look like…well…a rose–shout out, “You rock, girl!”
9. Don’t Allow Yourself To Get Discouraged If You Need To Adjust The Timeline
This point is vital to crushing goals as a busy mom; life doesn’t always go as planned. When it doesn’t, don’t give up–adjust the plan.
Perhaps you wanted to get up to running three miles without stopping in two months, but one month into your plan your youngest child catches the flu and proceeds to share it with everyone. Next thing you know you haven’t been able to get out and run for two weeks and know that there is no hope of reaching three miles by the end of the month. Instead of giving up, simply adjust your timeline. After all, you set it so you can change it.
10. Progress Is Progress–No Matter How Small
When you are a mom, life gets busy no matter how hard you try to keep things simple. Sometimes the busyness will eat up the time you planned to work on achieving your goals no matter how hard you try to prevent it. When it does, remember progress is progress no matter how small.
Even if you get just fifteen minutes to work on your goal each day, when you use it wisely, you will make progress. It might be small, but it is progress and it is getting your closer to your goal.
Now get out there and crush that goal!
Want more time each day to work on your goals? Take the Make Over Your Mornings Course and/or the Make Over Your Evenings Course and learn how to start and end your day well so that you can squeeze more out of each day. These courses contain short video-driven lessons and are relatively inexpensive. When I took them, I found 30 minutes each day to work on my goals. That’s 3 1/2 hours a week!
3 More Posts That Will Help You Reach Your Goals:
- How To Find Time For YOU: Despite Being Crazy Busy
- How To Stay On Target Toward Reaching Your Goals
- 6 Simple Ways To Track Your Progress Towards Your Goals
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