2018 GOAL SETTING, Part 1: Let’s get started!
Welcome to my Seventh-Annual Make It Happen Goal Setting Series! I’m so grateful for this series, and for all of you who join each year. How has it been seven years, friends? I’m so pumped for this year!!!
Want to listen to this post instead of reading? Here you go!
Let’s get right to it: what brought you here?
Maybe you feel frustrated as you look back at 2017.
Perhaps you didn’t make progress on some goals, or forgot about them completely (You are not alone! I have done that in years past!).
Maybe traditional goal setting has failed you before and you feel defeated already thinking about 2018.
Maybe you stumbled on this post because you want change to have happened yesterday.
Well, I have good news.
Really good news!
After almost a decade of studying goal setting and what motivates people to change and follow-through on their goals, here’s what I know for sure:
What causes people to change is one pivotal moment. It’s the moment where you decide that the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.
This moment might just be that moment for you.
Maybe your thoughts have been something like mine lately: I want my life (or an area of my life) to change/grow/be simplified. I don’t know how it will happen and the unknown is scary, but I KNOW I don’t want to stay the same any longer!
Friends, your restlessness is welcome here.
In fact, it’s a really good thing.
We’re gonna use our restlessness and frustration to propel us forward to CHANGE. Really good life-giving change!
If you’ve been craving something new, you are in the right place. And if you aren’t convinced yet that goals can be life-giving, you’re in the right place, too!
If you are new to this series, welcome—you’re in for a treat this year! Let me back up a bit and introduce myself, because we’re going to have some fun together over the next few days as we go through this 5-part series. I’m Lara. I’m a mom to three, a grateful wife, CEO of a growing company, and I love getting my hands dirty in my garden here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
I’ve written two books about goal setting and intentional living. (My book deal came from an editor at Thomas Nelson reading this annual series!) I’ve led a conference called Making Things Happen for 9 years. My nickname when I was a personal trainer in New York City was “Ms. Motivator.” But! This all makes me giggle a little bit because I haven’t always loved goal setting. In fact, the words “goal setting” used to give me the heebie-jeebies!
I have a lot of things to take care of in my life (like you), and I don’t have room for a whole lot more (I’m guessing that’s like you, too), and I get tense even thinking about the pressure to accomplish something beyond my current capacity (areyouwithme?).
I started seeing real results in my goals when I flipped the usual process on its head. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do together here.
This is goal setting for people who hate goal setting!
We don’t do traditional pressure-filled, do-it-all goal setting around here. We uncover intentional, less-is-more goals. I call these “cultivated goals.”
Cultivated goals are about growing what you’ve been given–what you already have: your relationships, your money, your possessions, your work, your children, your home, your health, and your time. A little intentional forethought goes a long way!
Over the last seven years that I’ve been writing this series, as my life has dramatically changed, so has this goal uncovering process. I’ve studied what makes people feel unmotivated, and I have listened to you. I’ve followed your stories and challenges and incredible successes over these years as we’ve done this together. Through it all, I’ve discovered some pretty amazing not-so-secret secrets to getting unstuck.
Uncovering cultivated goals is not about doing it all; it’s about doing what matters. Whether you’re a mom, a student, a business owner, in transition, in the wait—in any place where you are in life, we’re going to let go of guilt-filled, fleeting resolutions, and embrace a whole new way of doing this goal setting thing. For those of you like me who do not like traditional goal setting, you are in the right place.
Listen in as I tell you my story…
Cultivate: A Grace-Filled Guide to Growing an Intentional Life from Lara Casey on Vimeo.
Consider the script officially flipped!
From here on out, when I mention “goals” or “goal setting,” know that I’m talking about cultivated goals.
Here’s what cultivated GOALS are all about:
Grow what matters
One step
At a time
Little by little your
Seeds will grow
The alternative to uncovering cultivated goals is going through the motions, not feeling confident that you’re on the right path, lacking motivation, and not taking care of what you’ve been given well. (Speaking from experience here.)
Cultivated goals–the kind we are going to uncover together–give you direction and motivation. You can’t simultaneously do it all and do life well. But you can choose to cultivate what matters, right where you are.
Here’s what you can expect in this five-part series: Each day of the series, I’m going to walk through a mix of goal uncovering steps from my first book, Make it Happen (which you can sample here), insight from my new book, Cultivate, prompts from the 2018 PowerSheets, and I have some new ones that we’ve never done before!
Surprise! If you’ve read this far, that makes me know that YOU WANT THIS! You are determined to make the year ahead different. To help you make 2018 your best year yet, here’s a fun surprise! Just for you: use code BESTYEAR for 15% off your entire order in the Cultivate Shop, PowerSheets included. This code can only be applied to new orders. TODAY is the last day to order for delivery before the new year. The One-Year Goal Planners are flying fast and once they are gone, they are gone for the year. Get yours and then come on back here to get a head-start on your goals! No rush. I’ll still be here when you get back.
