Because…if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.
There is controversy, and angst really, about setting yearly goals. I am a self-confessed goal setter. As long as I can remember, I’ve looked forward to setting yearly goals. I even set goals for my children in their formative years because I wanted to be a “parent with purpose.” Plus, my household was so busy when they were young, if I didn’t have their goals written on poster boards on the kitchen wall, I would’ve gotten lost in the busyness of each day just trying to keep everyone fed and dressed!
Am I a 100% goal achiever? Absolutely not. I can’t think of a single year when I’ve achieved all I’ve set out to accomplish. But I can tell you this, I got further toward achieving dreams and life purpose with my goals written down than I would have without any goals.
Goals give me a focus – they help me structure my days, weeks, months. My list of goals nowadays always includes: spiritual, intellectual, emotional, parent/Nana, social, vocational (occupation/employment), avocational (hobby), physical and financial.
I keep my yearly goals in a binder so I’m able to see my yearly progress. I use my previous year’s goals as a measurement for the new year.
Years ago, I made a goal setting decision, and I still use it today. I give myself the whole month of January to implement my goals – tweaking as the days go by to make them “doable.” I also realize during the month of January, while a goal looks great on paper, it may be nearly impossible to implement within the current circumstances. So I chuck it or revise it. No guilt, no failure – just an honest evaluation of what will work.
In 2017, my farm/homestead business was really taking off. I realized I needed accountability and collaboration to continue my trajectory. I looked among my friends at the time. There were a couple who were running their own businesses and wanting to grow them. I floated the idea past them about getting together once a week to “talk shop.” Only one stuck it out with me and we still meet to this day, once a week, to be accountable for business goals. On our recent call, the week before Christmas, we shared our 2025 goals. Every phone call from here on out will include the discussion of our progress. We have weekly “homework” and we read business books together. The seriousness of our call and the known success shows in the time of our weekly calls. We meet currently at 5am one morning every week. When I was living at the ranch in MT (she’s on the east coast) I would meet with her at 4am. After 8 years of weekly calls, I can assure you, with absolute certainty, an accountability partner makes all the difference in achieving your goals.
About 2 years ago, I asked a very wise friend who shared the same faith as I do, if she would partner with me for spiritual accountability. The deep dive into the “why’s” of self-awareness and self-help are overwhelming to me at times. She has a God-given gift to see with clarity when all I see is fog. Again, a once a week call to make sure I’m moving forward.
If you are serious about walking through this life fulfilling your unique purpose, I highly recommend an accountability partner.
Lest you think goal setting just came naturally…
In my younger years, it was pretty basic goal setting. As I’ve gotten older, understood my life purpose better, I’ve read books and articles on better, more achievable goal setting.
Some of my favorite books:
Free to Focus by Michael Hyatt (I’ve worked through this one 3x. How to know where to focus your life/ time efficiency. Tough book to work through but so worth the effort!)
Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt – specifically for goal setting
Atomic Habits by James Clear – (proven way to build good habits and break bad ones. I love his concept of habit stacking!)
At this stage of my life, my forward vision is shorter than looking at the years gone by. I cannot even begin to explain the tension within my being to live life to its fullest – so many dreams and experiences yet to fulfill! Without a daily focus of knowing where I’m headed, I’m afraid I’ll miss so much. I’m continuing to write my life story and I want it to be written very well.
I don’t have time to aim at nothing…!
