I’m sure many of you are way ahead of me on this, but instead of having all of my goals already set by January 1st, I tend to use the first week or 2 of January to really marinade on what I’m anticipating and hoping for in the new year. In the craziness of the holidays, I just don’t have the time to really dig deep and think through all of that. But with January comes a quietness that allows me the time I need. And I’ve learned to be ok with that, and not stress even if others are more organized and have all of their’s set by December 31st. A lot of living successfully (in my opinion) is just knowing what works for you. So this year I’m actually using a couple sources to help me really pinpoint and think through what I want to aim for. Both in my business, and in my personal life. So, here are the steps I’m taking so far:

1) Pick one or two sources to help you set your goals, and discard the rest.

There are a LOT of options out there. In fact, I usually get overwhelmed with all of the ways I should be setting goals and planning because so-and-so said to do it this way, or this blog says that way, etc, that I end up not really setting goals that reflect ME. But this year I kept my eye out in November and December for some resources that seemed to hit home with me, so that I could pick wisely and then just disregard the rest that I might see pop up on Pinterest, Facebook or in my blog feed. After all, they’re really just idea boards to help give you direction and inspiration as you set your goals, so even when picking one or two, you don’t have to do it exactly how they tell you. Just let it inspire you to get started and help guide you in accomplishing them. For me this year my two sources are this blog post by my friend and marketing guru Harrison Lloyd, and Lara Casey’s 2014 Power Sheets. I like the blog post because I’ve never really identified in concise statements my personal core values, and I’m really intrigued by that and how having better stated life-long personal core values and goals will help shape all of the rest of my goals and dreams. But I also love Lara Casey, and investing in an organized system to write things down, both for personal and business goals (I think a lot of her’s will overlap with stuff in that blog post) really minimized the stress of goal-setting for me. Having pretty, categorized pages instead of just a blank document on my computer or random notebook was really appealing to me. And it’s such an affordable investment that I decided this was the year to give it a try! I’ll let you know how I like it once I start actually going through it.

2) Set aside time dedicated solely to working through the chosen sources and their suggested process(es). 

I don’t know about you, but I can get distracted really easily. Especially if I feel like there’s something more pressing to do. And with goal-setting, it can often feel like something that’s not as important as other types of work, or getting stuff done around the house, etc. So, I’m setting aside specific time next week to leave my house and go sit in a coffee shop (without bringing photos to edit, etc) to really begin digging into my personal and business desires for this next year.

3) As you go through the sources, keep in mind what works for YOU. 

While I’m really excited to set some 2014 goals, I’ve definitely come to realize that setting monthly goals and seeing specific accomplishment along the way is what works best for me. So, as I brainstorm what will be on my list, I will be thinking immediately of ways to break them down into monthly tasks or goals. I also have the tendency to get caught up on ONE thing and over think it for hours, or just get frustrated that I don’t have the “perfect” wording or answer, and will feel like I can’t move on. Knowing that about myself, I’m going to give myself permission to skip a section or topic either from the blog post or power sheets if I feel like it’s holding me up. Maybe I’ll go back to it, maybe I won’t. But that’s where you have to remember no one is looking over your shoulder and grading you on how you walk through this process. It’s meant to help you accomplish things, so if at any time it’s paralyzing you from moving forward, just skip it and go back to it later. Simple as that. It might seem like a stupid thing to have to state, but for me, it’s huge to remember that.

Goal-setting for me is definitely a process. But I’m really excited about it, and can’t wait to get into all of the nitty-gritty next week! What sources have you found to be most helpful in setting and accomplishing your goals?