How To Set Attainable Monthly Goals

Hi, sweet friends!

With the start of a new month quickly approaching, I wanted to take some time to talk about monthly goal setting!

Monthly goal setting is something that I only started doing at the end of May (for June), but I have found that it is something that keeps me on track and serves as a constant reminder of the things I am working towards!

I should clarify- when I say “goals,” I’m talking goals on a smaller scale. We all have our larger goals that we would like to accomplish in our life, even in the next five or so years: write a book, travel, start a business, book a Broadway show…

The list of larger than life goals can be endless and should be individual to you and your aspirations! But the goals that I set for myself every month are goals that I know I would like to accomplish in the here and now rather than in my future. These goals are comprised of things I know I would like to accomplish for myself on a daily or weekly basis during the month, or things that I know I can realistically complete in a 30-day time frame.

Many of my goals really serve as reminders for me! My list is generally comprised of actions that I want to take throughout the month to better myself in a variety of ways and help myself achieve mental, emotional, and physical peace. When I complete something that is on my list of goals, I feel a sense of peace and fulfillment that propels me forward and onto my next task!

Let me share with you a few things that were on my list of July Goals so you may better understand what I mean (these are quoted from my writing):

• Do yoga every day BUT be gentle with myself, and take a day off if need be
• Read 1-2 books this month
• Start listening to podcasts at least one day a week
• Continue waking up by 9 AM
• Continue my money spreadsheet and spend less than June
• Choose 2 days a week to limit social media usage to avoid burnout

So, how can YOU set up a list of goals for your month that will help you achieve peace in your everyday life?

• Assess your values! This doesn’t mean you have to dig down deep, it really just means asking yourself what matters most to you, for yourself. Do you value your quiet time, taking care of yourself, taking care of others, education, working hard, etc.? The list goes on and on. Figure out what values need to become priorities first and foremost.
• Figure out what you need mentally, emotionally, and physically! This is so important, and there is no right or wrong answer. Start by pausing and considering what may have caused you more mental dis-ease than you would have liked to experience this month. What can you limit/increase exposure to in your life that would create more mental ease in your life? Repeat this evaluation in terms of your emotional and physical states!
• Ask yourself what you feel you are lacking in your life. Since graduating, I have felt the lack of education and learning in my life, so I wanted to keep reading and learning through listening to more podcasts! You may not have the time to incorporate the things you are lacking into your life every single day, but adding them to your list of goals for the month creates a space for them that you may not have even had at all!
• By the same token, what feels excessive or unnecessary in your life that you may want to cut back on? I felt overwhelmed by social media, so I added cutting back a few days to my list of goals! This list is not just about adding things into your life, it can also be about what you’d like to get rid of to create a healthier space for yourself!
• Ask yourself if there are goals in your work or personal endeavors/projects that you would like to accomplish. I have a separate section of my list of goals that focuses on my monthly goals for the blog! Again, these are not the goals that I would like to achieve with the blog long-term, they are simply the tasks that I know I can accomplish in a month if I set my mind to it and work hard.

At the bottom of my list for July, I wrote this:

“Be gentle with yourself and these goals. You will not reach them all at once. If you don’t reach them this month you are not a failure. Love yourself!”

I love my past self for this reminder. I couldn’t put it into better, simpler terms if I tried! Be gentle with yourself and these goals. As you can see, I set out to do yoga every day, but what I had learned from the previous month is that that goal was great to have, but sometimes I just didn’t want to do it because my body was telling me not to. But I wasn’t gentle with myself, and I did it anyway. These goals are not set in stone, nothing bad will happen to you if you don’t do what you thought you’d have the space and time for!

You will not reach them all at once. You just won’t! You’ve got to give yourself some grace. Just as you will not write the novel you aspire to write in a day/week/month, and just like you will not have 500 new subscribers/customers overnight, you will not be able to check off every goal every day. But it’s ok. If you don’t reach them all this month you are not a failure!

Love yourself. That one speaks for itself.

If YOU make a monthly goal list for yourself for August, I’d love for you to share it with me via social media @ang_larose1 on Instagram, @BTFblog on Twitter or via email!

I love you, I can’t wait to see you all crush your goals!

xoxo

~ Angela