Back in November, I shared a post all about how to craft an epic 2019 plan. The end of the year is always so busy between the holidays and wrapping up the year, so if you didn’t have a chance to flesh out your plan for the year yet don’t worry! I’ve learned through my own annual planning that a plan is never totally finished. It’s always evolving and changing as my intuition leads me down different paths. I wanted to add to this original blog post and talk about the one thing on everyone’s minds in January: GOALS!

As I thought about what I wanted 2019 to be like for me, I knew I didn’t want to set standard “goals” anymore. We all know by now that simply saying “I’m going to the gym every day and losing weight” is not a goal and will ultimately get us nowhere! I found that in 2018, even setting more specific goals such as income goals ended up making me feel bad about myself when I didn’t reach them or they didn’t turn out how I thought.

In addition to the things I did in this blog post to plan for 2019, I did some experimenting with goal setting. I started to feel a little bogged down by the nitty gritty, and I needed to get out of my head and start getting creative! Here are a few things you can try if you’re sick of traditional goals and want to feel totally lit up, excited, and accomplished!

Start Dreaming

First, here are three amazing resources for dreaming big!

1. Listen to Rachel Hollis’s Rise Podcast episode “This Daily Practice Changed My Life and My Business”
2. Read The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte
3. Listen to Amy Porterfield’s Podcast episode 7 Things You Must Do When Planning for 2019 and download her planning worksheet

1. Rachel Hollis: 10 Dreams I Made Happen

I am a fairly new listener to Rachel Hollis’s podcast, but the episodes I’ve listened to have been game-changers! In this episode, Rachel takes you through the way she made her dreams come true by a simple daily practice. She asks a series of questions about how you see your life in 10 years. From there, you create a list of 10 dreams you see for yourself. Then, you distill this list down into one goal that you can achieve the fastest. I spent about an hour brainstorming, and I feel like I have so much clarity on what matters to me most and what I should be spending my time on (both personally and with work)!

2. The Desire Map

Another AMAZING resource in this realm is the book The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte. I’ve talked about this book on the blog before, but if you haven’t read it yet I highly recommend it! Danielle encourages goal setting based on how you want to feel, so for me they are a little more day-to-day than the items on my dreams list from Rachel’s podcast. This year I’m focusing on finishing my scrapbooks, decorating & designing our house, and taking an adventurous vacation with Hunter, all of which make me feel like my best self!

3. Amy Porterfield 2019 Planning

If you’re looking to get really specific about what work will look like for you in 2019, listen to this Amy Porterfield episode and fill out her workbook. It’s an all-day adventure, but totally worth it to get clarity on what truly lights you up in your business. Game-changer! 

Be Flexible

I am an organized person through and through, but at the end 2018 I was feeling scattered with ALL of the things I wanted to accomplish, both professionally and personally! I’ve learned that being a perfectionist can totally kill my sense of flexibility and ease sometimes. My friend Chelsea taught me how she organizes her daily and weekly routines in Evernote- game changer! I now create a checklist for my morning/evening routines and goals from a template every single day. Everything feels SUPER organized (which I love!) but flexible at the same time. The only way to achieve a goal is to keep it front of mind, so it’s incredibly useful to have my dreams list, Desire Map goals, and my business plans right in front of me every day. Which brings me to…

Make a Vision Board!

I LOVE a mood board, whether it’s for project inspiration or to plan out your next 10 years. After I did Rachel’s 10-year dreams list, I went to town on creating a vision board. I started on Pinterest and then printed out about 30 photos that spoke to the larger vision I have for myself and my life. I’m going to look at this every single day above my desk and keep my dreams front of mind. I also know that I can change it at any time because my dreams and goals will change as the years progress!

Let me know in the comments!

What are your thoughts about goals going into the new year? The beautiful thing is that everyone handles goals and intentions differently, so I would love to hear how they work best for you!