Four Ways to Organize Your Goals

⌛ By Kaylin R. Staten ⌛

As my business progresses and I get older, my list of goals gets smaller.

As a person who overachieves in her sleep, this is an odd concept to admit in a blog post. Shouldn’t every single one of my daydreams turn into a goal that becomes its own version of reality? If you have them and have the innate desire to achieve them, then that answer is yes. 

I’ve found that streamlining my goals based on my life mission of living what I love despite anxiety and fear is what really helps me. If I am focused on achieving goals and objectives centered on what is in my purpose-driven heart and mind, then I can be a better version of myself in 2020 and beyond. 

Here are four ways that you can organize your goals lists while you’re still in the New Year’s Resolutions mindset:

Make a master list of goals (or objectives).

Every December/January, I sit down and have a heart-to-heart with myself. I ask myself what I want to accomplish in the upcoming year and what worked in the previous year and what didn’t. I’m kind of a weirdo and mix it in with my Christmas traditions. I write down my resolutions on paper (which are really more sustainable than just the one month people usually devote to resolutions after the new year arrives). I cut them in individual strips, fold them, and place them in an empty clear glass bulb ornament. I’ve been doing this for at least five years, and it helps to get in a growth mindset and organize my thoughts into tangible goals on paper. 

Here is a snippet of those goals that I want to set in motion in 2020:

• Eat healthier

• Exercise at least 5 times per week

• Earn $x in Hourglass Media profits

• Write more poetry

• Travel to at least one city

Reflect on your previous year.

I have been using Hilary Rushford’s Elegant Excellence Journal to help plan for a happy, consistent, fearless 2020. One of her exercises that has benefited me since 2018 is the “snapshot” of your previous year. Start with January 2019 and work your way to December 2019. Write down the highs and lows that come to mind for each month. If you’re like me and can’t remember everything, this is a good time to reflect by reading your journal entries, perusing your online calendar, or sifting through your physical planner to assess your experiences. Assign a word to each month. It’s honestly a great way to look back to see where you grew and where you learned lessons that set you backward. Some of my words from 2019? Hopeful, stressed, on autopilot, devastated, motivated, inspired, unsure.

Notice any themes that arise.

Do you see any related themes when looking at your 2019 or your 2020 goals? Themes could frame themselves in the words you use or the general idea of a goal. For example, if you want to write for magazines and focus on sending off that first novel manuscript, an overall theme would be writing, whether it’s personal or professional. It’s important to notice themes because that could lead us to more opportunities and help us to better define our purpose. 

Put a timeframe with each goal. 

If you have a goal but have no idea when you would like to achieve it, then you’re going into the “wants” phase blindly. Attach a timeframe to each goal. It could be something you want to achieve today or by the end of the year. Give yourself some accountability. While I am a natural self-starter and achiever, I still need that nugget of accountability to ensure that I am on track to reach what I want to reach. Of course, goals are fluid. If I change my mind and don’t achieve something, then I can evaluate and then move on.

Get the Elegant Excellence Journal here. (This isn’t a sponsored blog post -- I just really love this product!) 

Kaylin R. Staten, APR, is an award-winning public relations practitioner and writer based in Huntington, WV with nearly 16 years of professional communications experience. As CEO and founder of Hourglass Media, she uses her compassionate spirit and expertise to delve into the heart of clients’ stories. She is a recovering perfectionist, mental health advocate, wife, cat mom and Leia Organa aficionado. Connect with Kaylin on LinkedIn.