Goal Setting for People Who Suck at Sticking to Goals

I don’t know about you, but I cannot stick to the goals I set for myself. Every January, I voice my New Year Resolutions, my new goals for the year, my new year new me yada yada.

And then I rarely speak of them again.

And then I repeat that process over and over again throughout the rest of the year.

This year my goal was to find a way to set better goals & actually stick to them.

1. Vision Boards

We love a good vision board, of course. I think everyone should make one of these every year! and its so fun to include your spouse/significant other, and/or kids too.

But I found I have to have that baby slap me in the face every morning to keep me on track. So I make mine into a huge poster board and hang it on my bedroom wall. It might not be the most aesthetic thing, and I definitely cringed when I had family or friends come with me to get something out of my room and realized they see it – huge, raw, and hanging there in all its glory (yes I’m still talking about my vision board sheesh) – but it worked really well to keep me on target.

Another thing I like to do, is make a Pinterest board and save images that pertain to my certain goals to it. Then I add it as a widget to my iPhone screen on my home page. Now, every time I open my phone I have a rotating block of my goals & dreams.

2. Ins & Outs

This I discovered thanks to TikTok. It’s a list that you make deciding what you want to do more of (“ins”) this year and what you want to do less of (“outs”) for the year. It’s super fun and I put mine in my notes on my phone and will periodically bring it up and read through it throughout the week to reinspire me.

Here’s my list for this year if you’re looking for examples or inspiration:

3. Goal Setting that Works

I wish I could just write down my goals in a cutesy little journal/planner and go for it. But I cannot lol. Instead I had to get really nitty gritty and break those bad boys down, give myself an action plan (but couldn’t over complicate it), a deadline, and a little treat for completing it.

I’m like a dog learning new tricks or a toddler learning to use the potty for the first time, I swear lol.

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

no idea but it’s a good reminder

Okay so here are my goals and exactly how I have them laid out. I have these in my notes app too, right under my ins and outs list. This way its’ easy to refer to regularly.

Goal #1:
3 months of savings put into HYS (~$15k)

Motivation:
If we ever want to take a vacation/time off or if work is slow, it won’t affect us. We won’t have to stress about money and we can enjoy the time off together

Start Date: 1/2024
Deadline: 6/2024

Action Plan:
– Shoot for an extra $1,150 a month / extra $288 a week
– Keep doing $150 a week direct transfer
– Watch spending habits closely for the next 4 months

Reward: Buy our very first college football game tickets!

Goal #2:
Pay off discover card.

Motivation:
It’s our largest credit card, it’s on husband’s credit and it really is a good card so I’d like to use it better.

Start Date: 1/2024
Deadline: 12/2024

Action Plan:
– Stop doing the snowball method
– Put extra money from side business towards it
– Have a monthly goal of a minimum of $500
– Use cash back to put towards the balance

Reward: Dinner at a really nice restaurant.

We decided to just stick to 2 goals for now – especially since they’re pretty hefty goals – and when we finished one we would add another. This way we aren’t overwhelming ourselves with too much at once.

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Hopefully at least some of this is helpful for you in setting goals and actually achieving them. Goal setting definitely isn’t a one size fits all thing, so I found that taking other peoples advice and spinning into my own and creating my own little concoction is what was best!

Good luck on smashing those goals girlfriend. Let’s get it.

– S