Goals for the Last half 2014

Originally Posted 6/8/14


I was looking back, and almost exactly 6 months ago, I made a post about my goals for the new year. Needless to say, when my dad passed away 9 days later, I definitely wasn't thinking about them, or trying to achieve them.

Now 6 months later, I started thinking again about goals I have set for myself, and how they just kind of fall by the wayside. I think I need to be S.M.A.R.T. about my goals, instead of just generally stating them (i.e. I want to lose weight). Whatever my/your goal is, it needs to be:

S. - Specific! Instead of just wanting to lose weight, think of how much weight you want to lose: "I  want to lose 30 pounds.

M. - Measurable! - Again, instead of "I want to lose weight" you say "I want to lose 30 pounds" Once you get to a 30 pound weight loss, you've accomplished that goal. If you're trying to achieve a goal, you have to know when you get there.

A. - Attainable! - What are the small steps you can take to achieve this goal? For instance, I'm going to drink 64 oz. of water a day and exercise 3 times a week. They have to be small, realistic steps that you can implement to get you to your goal....which brings me to ' R.

R. - Realistic! - You're goals need to be realistic, or else you just set yourself up for disappointment. For instance it's perfectly acceptable to say "I want to lose 80 pounds". It's definitely a BIG goal, but with reasonable steps, I can get there. However, if I said "I want to lose 80 pounds in 2 months" I'm setting myself up for failure, because no way could I do that, and if I could it would definitely not be healthy.

T. - Timely! - Set a deadline to get your butt in gear! For me, I need a fairly close deadline to get and keep me going. All of these letters kinda tie into each other, in case you haven't noticed...but your deadline needs to be specific and realistic. Once you reach your deadline, you can look back and measure your success - even if you didn't hit your goal right on, you can at least see your progress and how far you've come.

So in trying to keep myself accountable here are my goals from the beginning of the year...using SMART:

1. Lose weight...I want to lose 22 pounds (gets me right at 200) by my wedding day (September 13). I plan on doing this by making healthier choices in my food, and by getting at least 1-1/2 hours of exercise a week (Three 30 minute workouts).

2. Handle Money Better - I want to save a minimum of 5% of each paycheck and put into a savings account. Once I have $1,000 in savings I want to start putting that 5% towards my debt in my debt snowball (Dave Ramsey's baby steps - which I will get into in another post.)

3. Complain less - I got nothin' for this one, yet...I'm working on it :)

4. Take more pictures - I want to take at least 5 pictures a week for the rest of the year.

5. Enjoy (everything) more - I want to participate in the 100 days of happiness (#100happydays). You take a picture of something or someone each day that makes you happy. Plus, it will help with my photo goal! It's a two for one!

6. Blog More - I want to post on my blog AT LEAST once a week from now until the end of the year.

There are mine. What are some goals you guys are trying to achieve this year?