Goal Setting 2019
Hi there friend!
I'm so glad you decided to come on this journey with me!
I find it interesting that we have the ability to see so many stories from other people and obviously it's something we love because Instagram and Facebook are used by over a billion people all over the world.
First of all, how incredible is that? How lucky are we that we are alive at such a time as this! Second of all, it's hard not to compare. Sure, we can be inspired by all of the social media that surrounds us at our fingertips, but we need to build on our own foundations to be successful.
New Year's Resolutions, they have a certain negative connotation don't they? They seem to be the same things over and over that never actually get done. Losing weight, exercising, keeping up with birthdays or staying in touch better with long lost friends....I don't know, social media made that easy, huh?
I do love to take time to focus and celebrate what I did in the year before and think about what is important to me and what will help me grow and become the person I know I want to be.
Have you taken the Enneagram test? I am pretty sure I am a 7 and am doing a live testing this week! A new friend, Evan Barbee, has been researching and training in the Enneagram and I am looking forward to talking to her about where she thinks I am on this personality test. There are many different varietals on how to determine exactly where you might fall, but if you want to take a quick online test there are a ton out there. Just google it!
Being a seven is considered an enthusiast. I think this is why I love a New Year and setting goals. I love to try new experiences, dream of new ideas and think of new possibilities! I am not content in one place for very long. But, stopping to see where you've been and where you are going can be so rewarding!
When I stop to look back at the last 5 years, I have gone from being a social media manager for two different companies and planning huge southern events to being on HGTV and opening up my jewelry business to wholesalers and am in over 200 stores across the US!
It's hard for me to think about all the good that has happened and what I actually accomplished. I'm that girl that likes to move on to the next thing and not take the time to celebrate what I've done well.
At the end of 2017, I was having a small nervous breakdown for personal and professional reasons. I couldn't think of one single good thing that happened in the year before. Seriously, I was asked to name a few things and couldn't think of one. The bad far outweighed the good and I was falling into a black hole. My business was at an all time high and I felt like I was drowning. I was so consumed with my daughter going to college and feeling alone that I couldn't see beyond the fog. I knew I had to make some drastic changes, but I had no idea how.
I don't have an amazing success story of how I took specific steps and did all the right things and came out of the fog like Khaleesi on one of her pet dragons, shout out to Game of Thrones fans! When I stop and look back, though, I see the changes and the differences because I started praying and reading my Bible and I wrote down goals and dreams. These were intentions, not just goals and dreams, they were things I wanted to do and why. The why is important. It's so important.
Your first task is to start writing. No agenda. Just write down the things that happened in 2018. Good things, bad things, slow things and fast things that maybe you forgot about. How many wins did you have? Small wins like less time on your phone, less tv, more reading, more time spent with family, losing 1 pound...seriously, any and everything that you think was a step to growth for you. What did you learn from those wins.
Losses.....yes, write them down, too. Maybe they are hard losses and they take you to a place that you really don't have time for, but work through them and make time to work through them. Maybe they are losses that gave you a gain for the year and where you want to grow. The best thing about a loss is the lesson in that loss!
Remember this doesn't have to be perfect, make it messy, doodle, write in pencil or write in permanent marker! Remind yourself that it's ok to change your mind, to scratch through a goal and set a new one.
I want to commit to you this year. I want to remind you monthly that you have set these goals and see where you've come along the way. I also want you to know it's fine to change your goals. Life happens and things change. It's OK to change, add or take away goals throughout the year.
I would love to meet with you via email, zoom, phone call or live and in person at a coffee shop! Let me know if you have any interest in that or meeting with a group to create a mastermind that supports each other!
Your homework for today is to get to writing down the good, bad, the ugly and amazing from 2018 and think about how you want to grow in 2019 and why!
Lucy Farmer
Author