Why You Should Set Goals Throughout the Year

Why You Should Set Goals Throughout the Year

It’s important to set goals throughout the year, not just on January 1st.

Why?

CONSISTENCY

Setting goals only once a year leaves us operating very inconsistently.

Goals are meant to be set, tracked, and evaluated regularly to keep us moving forward.

If we simply set a goal and don’t revisit it or adapt it or refocus it, we’re likely to forget it or abandon it entirely.

Imagine trying to teach a child a new skill only once a year. You set a goal for them for the entire year, but that’s it. You don’t set a new goal a few months later, adjust the old one, or change the plan. You just keep going with that one old goal.

Setting goals throughout the year forces us to check in on our goals and see if they still ring true to our values and priorities. These change over time, so it’s helpful to make sure our goals still support them.

I recommend setting goals in 90-day increments. That way, you set up a regular pattern of creating goals (at least) four times a year instead of just once. And if you do it right, you’ll break down those bigger goals into monthly and weekly goals, so you’re constantly challenging yourself and moving forward.

This is what helps you feel accomplished and proud at the end of the year instead of wondering where all the time has gone and how you once again fell short of your goal.

To get your own 90-day planner to really crush your goals this year, go here:

Finally reach your goals!

Get your free 90-day goal planner & tracker to get crystal clear on your goals and make consistent progress toward crushing them!

The information you provide on this form will only be used to provide you with tips to live and work with simplicity. Your privacy is important to us! Please confirm your consent to receive these emails.

Yes, send me the tips via email

We use MailerLite as our marketing automation platform. By clicking below to submit this form, you acknowledge that the information you provide will be transferred to MailerLite for processing in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

I want the planner!

Yay!

You have successfully subscribed and are now ready to start working toward reaching your goals 

Don't forget to check your inbox to confirm your subscription and get your workbook!

RELEVANCE

Once-a-year goals lose their relevance pretty quickly.

Life happens in seasons, and where we are in December isn’t where we’re at in April or August or October. If we only set one goal for the whole year, it might not ring true a few months into the year.

To make sure our goals are still relevant to our lives, we need to at the very least revisit them regularly, if not make new ones from time to time.

If we set goals and resolutions only when everyone else does, we might be tempted to make the typical resolutions that we aren’t even all that motivated to follow through on. I talked about this last week, but our goals need to be fueled by our values, our own deep motivation, not just what others are resolving to work toward.

Crowd mentality won’t help you stick to your goals when you get tired.

So consider what matters most to you, what your values and priorities are.

And then create goals and resolutions that align with those values and priorities.

That’s how you make goals that are relevant to your life:

• they’re timely, associated with the things that matter to you right now.

• they’re personal, rooted in what you value, not what others or society tries to convince you to value.

• they’re connected, as you have the opportunity to create goals and resolutions that complement each other to move you forward instead of setting conflicting or competing goals.

PROCRASTINATION

If we get into the rhythm of setting goals only once a year, we’re far more likely to procrastinate changes we could be making throughout the year.

Think about it. If January is the only time we set goals, then anything we want to change is put off until then.

Instead, if we see goals as things we can set, adapt, change, and reach at any point throughout the year, we give ourselves permission to constantly be challenging ourselves and trying to reach our highest potential.

We’re less likely to get stuck.

We’re more likely to grow.

We’re less likely to forget what we want to work on (like putting things off would do— who can remember goals they wanted to implement in January when it’s only March?).

We’re more likely to see dynamic change because we refuse to sit still.

There’s no time like the present, and someday will never come. If we want to make real change and see progress in our lives, homes, relationships, creativity, health, finances, and work, we need to set goals when they are most relevant, right when they come up, not on some arbitrary day designated for setting new resolutions.

So who’s with me? What goals are you setting right now? Let me know in the comments!