2019 GOAL SETTING, Part 4: The Intentional Goal Setting Checklist
Welcome to the 8th annual Intentional Goal Setting Series—you’re in the right place! Here’s Part 1 , Part 2 , and Part 3 to get you started on living your BEST year yet.
Want to listen to this post instead of read it? Listen in below for a special bonus intro by my 3-year old son, Joshua!
Friends! First, thank you for all the excitement and love for the Cultivate Your Life Podcast. I am so grateful, and I hope it encourages many of you!
Okay, let’s dig in! Remember how you felt when you started this series just a few posts ago? You felt nervous, unsure, or even a little scared.
But, now look where you are!
You’ve blown me away in this series so far and you’re getting ready to choose your best goals for 2019—goals you can’t wait to get started on. I’m so excited for you!
Think about this. Like planting flower seeds in my garden, making our goals come to life requires physical action. I have to first get my hands dirty, plant seeds in faith—believing in what I can’t yet see—and tend to them little by little over time. It takes action. And another action. And another. Over time, goals that were once words you wrote on a blog post here, will come to life!
But, do you know what’s more exciting to me than the blooms at the end?
The in-between.
The happy dancing we do when the seeds first sprout.
Watching tiny green leaves unfurl.
The kids squealing with delight when the first flower begins to open.
Hearing the low hum of the bees blanketing new blooms.
The process of cultivating—breaking the soil, planting, tending, and waiting for the harvest—is where life happens. It’s where change and growth happen. The journey to making it happen is where the good stuff lives.
You may think you want growth to happen overnight (I feel that, too, sometimes!), but I have also been reading every single comment on this series. Taking this step-by-step is helping you make remarkable discoveries.
You are starting to see clearly, and it’s happening little by little.
Your little by little progress is adding up.
You’re cultivating what matters, friends.
And you know the truth now. The secret to following through on goals that last: It’s okay to grow slow. In fact, it’s really good to grow slow.
Little by little these zinnias in my garden grew this year from the tiniest seeds. Little by little babies grow. Can you imagine if you got pregnant and then the next day gave birth?? Oh, my stars! You wouldn’t have time to prepare. No time to buy diapers, think over a name, assemble the crib or celebrate. You would have missed the time of preparation and growth that happens over nine-ish months.
It’s the same with our goals. Friend, trust that your goals matter enough to make them happen well. They matter enough to take little steps forward every single day, and some big leaps along the way, too. Your goals matter enough to tend to them like a garden.
There have been a few watermelons and tomatoes in my garden that seemed to appear overnight. (And the mint! SO MUCH MINT.) Your goals will happen faster than you think if you take it day by day by day instead of jumping ship when you mess up.
Just because you make a mess doesn’t mean you become one.
Let’s pick out some good seeds to plant this year! Are you ready for this? It might feel scary the moment before you pick them, but it will feel SO GOOD when you take that leap of faith and finally do the things you’ve always wanted to do!
First, review everything again! Do not skip this step. Remember, this is goal uncovering. Uncover one more layer and get to the good stuff! Read through everything you’ve written again in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Read every word. Rewrite or add to things once more if you need to. Cross stuff out, revise things, add to your lists of what did and didn’t work (I added a ton to mine!). Add more to your YES and NO lists. Refine your 2019 Pinterest board and remove pins that don’t fit anymore. Uncovering good goals is like a treasure hunt—get messy and dig a little deeper.
I did and I can’t believe what I almost missed had I not done this step! I went back through my 2019 PowerSheets and WOW! Here’s what I found…
— The biggest thing that kept popping up—my clearest thread—was growing a faithful life over a comfortable life.
— I circled and highlighted many things that have to do with doing less and making it mean more—slowing down, growing the hearts of our children, and growing close to God’s heart. (See my word of the year popping up??)
Now, write out some goal ideas. Make a list of the first “goal ideas” that come to mind for this year based on everything you’ve just reviewed. Now would be a good time to take a big deep breath
