Goals

A new month and it’s time to for a new set of monthly goals. But first, a recap of last month’s goals.

My goals for the month of February were:

1. Stay up to date with the Good Morning Girls Ephesians Bible Study. — Done (I did miss out a few days in between, but I was soon able to catch up.)
2. Teach the kids to write the alphabets (R-Z) and numbers (1-9). — Done (Although they still struggle with a few characters like “S” and “2”.)
3. Teach the kids to recite Psalm 23:3. — Done
4. Take pictures of my husband with our kids. — Done
5. Take a CD backup of all the photos on our laptop. — Done (Finally! After several months of procrastination.)
6. Read Tell Your Time and A Reluctant Queen. — Not Done (I completed Tell Your Time, but I managed to read only 5% of A Reluctant Queen.)

And my goals for the month of March are:

1. Stay up to date with the Good Morning Girls Ephesians Bible Study.
2. Finish reading A Reluctant Queen.
3. Join Time-Warp Wife in a Bible Study on the book of Esther. (I will be trying to correlate this Bible study with my reading of A Reluctant Queen)
4. Read Pursuit of Proverbs 31 and join the book study at Joyful Mothering. (I won a copy of the book from Mom with Heart and this will be my non-fiction book fix for this month.)
5. Help the kids practice writing the alphabets (A-Z) and numbers (1-20).
6. Teach the kids to recite Psalm 23:4.
7. Organize all the videos on our laptop and take a DVD backup of the same.

I try to set my goals around my plans for this year; keeping in mind the legacy I want to leave behind. And it’s a good feeling to see the progress made in just a month.

Do you have the habit of setting weekly/monthly goals? If you do, how did you do last month? If you don’t, how do you keep track of things you need to get done?

For the past couple of years, I have been perfectly content with my “Daily To-Do List”. Striking off everything on that list was the only goal I consciously worked towards. But eventually, things started falling through the cracks and several things I wanted to do, never got done. I realized I needed to set specific time-bound targets that I could deliberately work towards.

After reading this article on goal setting by Money Saving Mom, I decided to buckle up and get started. I tried setting a bunch of goals for the month of January – simple ones, just to test the waters. And I am pleased to say, it went pretty well.

My goals for January were:

1. Stay up to date on the Good Morning Girls Ephesians Bible Study. — Done
2. Teach the kids to write the alphabets (A-Q). — Done
3. Teach the kids to recite Psalm 23:1-2. — Done
4. Read The Good Wife’s Guide. — Done

Now that I have achieved the goals for January, I finally have enough gumption to plot out February’s goals.

My goals for the month of February are:

1. Stay up to date on the Good Morning Girls Ephesians Bible Study.
2. Teach the kids to write the alphabets (R-Z) and numbers (1-9).
3. Teach the kids to recite Psalm 23:3.
4. Take pictures of my husband with our kids.
5. Take a CD backup of all the photos on our laptop.
6. Read Tell Your Time and A Reluctant Queen.

I like making lists. I really do. So, at the beginning of the month, I write down what I want to accomplish by the end of the month. It empties my brain and keeps me sane. (Hey, that rhymed!). And when I do get to strike off a completed item from my list… Oh, the joy! 😀

These monthly goals remind me that I have to work towards them every day. I have to teach the kids their memory verse at least once a day if I want them to memorize it by the end of the month. If I want to complete a book, I have to read at least a chapter a day.

Goals also keep me from procrastination. We were supposed to have taken a CD backup of our photos way back in 2011 {insert sheepish grin}. Now, that it is on my list of goals for February, I will finally get to it. As always, blogging about these goals keeps me accountable.

I am sure those of you who have a paying job do have work related goals. But how do you keep track of your personal or family goals? Does goal setting help you get things done? I would truly appreciate it if you would share your opinions in the comments section below.

This post is linked to the following blogs: