Do You Want to Set Intentional Goals?
Setting goals sounds simple enough, but it can take a lot of thought if you want to set intentional goals. Without my goals being set, I feel like I would be drifting on auto-pilot through the day, week, month, and year.
The Importance of a Goal List
Setting intentional goals can help you stay motivated in your journey to living a more intentional life. When you create goals that align with your core values, you start cultivating the life you truly want.
Life happens to all of us. Curve balls will be thrown. There will be unexpected circumstances such as illness or the loss of a loved one. These life circumstances aren’t in our control, but the small, intentional habits we build and goals we set can be. We can have a say about where our lives are heading by setting intentions and allowing them to guide us in the direction we want to be going.
When you know where you want to go and what the end destination is (ideally), it makes the process of getting there a little more exciting. I personally do not like feeling stagnant in my life. I’ve experienced this before and it was not a healthy place to be. I am interested in bettering myself and aiming higher, while living intentionally and in a calm, slow-paced environment. It is possible to do both.
Six Steps to Follow to Set Intentional Goals
1. Ask Yourself a Few Questions
Asking yourself a few simple questions can help you set your intention. One of my biggest goals for this year was potty training my daughter. IYKYK. I will use potty training my daughter as an example throughout these questions.
Why is this goal important to me? Why do I want to achieve x, y, or z?
Knowing your “why” can keep you on track. *Why is it important to potty train Thea? She will be going back to preschool and it will give her a sense of independence along with simplifying my life if she is potty trained.
What will this look like when I achieve it? How will this benefit me?
(Basically, what’s the point?) *Simplicity. I won’t have to buy more diapers, worry about constant accidents while she is in school, and ultimately spend less money.
Where do I start?
What is the first small, achievable goal I can set that will propel me forward in reaching this goal? You want to break your larger goals into smaller ones to make them easier to achieve. *Some small goals that play into the larger goal for potty training my daughter included: introducing Thea to the potty, buying potty books, buying underwear, and creating a potty chart. These were not all the small goals, but a few as an example. We had a start date scheduled in our shared Google calendar so we could be mentally prepared for the chaos that was to ensue. (She is successfully potty trained by the way! Yay Thea! And yay mom and dad! It was, indeed, chaotic.)
What will get in my way of achieving this goal and how do I prevent it?
*My husband and I not being consistent with the potty schedule could be a potential problem. We need to clearly communicate our expectations to be on the same page and get this done!
Once you’ve answered these questions you can set your goals.
2. Set SMART Goals
SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time sensitive. *I want to potty train Thea before her new school year starts. We had a start date in the calendar and an end date estimated. We prioritized this goal over all our other goals at the time to make it more realistic in achieving it and WE DID IT!
3. Write Down Your Goals
Are you a digital planner or paper planner? Knowing that about yourself may help set you up for success. I’ve tried both and currently use both for different purposes. This is what works for me right now. My husband and I share our calendars on Google to keep each other updated on our “together” plans and goals. In addition to the digital calendar with my husband, I have a paper planner that I use for my personal development, personal goals, and to-do lists. This is the system that works for ME. Having self-awareness about your preferences can help you set yourself up for success.
4. Develop a Plan
Can you set small, intentional goals weekly? What works for me is; on roughly the first of the month I will jot down the plans that I already have set into my paper planner. Then I will update my planner weekly on Sundays for the current week. This is when I focus on following up with family members, friends, or anyone else to finalize plans or get plans in motion. I then set daily goals for what I want to accomplish throughout the week. In addition to my daily goals or to-do items, I will set two to three priorities or intentions for the week that I work toward when I can. Again, this is the plan that works for me right now. This hasn’t always been the way I planned my time, but life circumstances change and it’s important to develop a plan that will work for you in your current chapter of life.
5. Act
Once you’ve set small enough goals, hopefully they won’t feel as overwhelming, and you can knock them out. Keeping them written down and tracking your progress will help to keep you focused and provide you with a sense of accomplishment once you check them off.
6. Reassess Your Goals, Often
I come back to my weekly goals daily (and my yearly goals monthly) to reassess them and write down their progression. This is an important step to keep you moving in a positive direction and if life changes and your goals change, it gives you the time to reevaluate and reprioritize them.
Make Setting Goals Fun
Setting goals doesn’t have to be a drag. It’s honestly something I enjoy doing (maybe I’m a weirdo). It gives me something to work towards. There are several ways you can make goal setting fun. Here are a few examples:
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- Make it a competition. If it’s a similar goal to one of your friends or a significant other; add some friendly competition to the mix. Who can reach it first? And can you set a reward for whoever does?
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- Challenge yourself with the small goals. The deadline is the last Friday of the month? Bet you can get it done by Thursday.
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- Create a vision board for your goals. If you’re creative and could use this as a creative outlet, why not? Put your unique flair on it and make it your own. If you’re a visual person, this could be a true motivator for you.
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- Have a girl’s night. Host a few of your friends at your place with some good snacks and spend the evening talking about your dreams, aspirations, and moves you can make to reach them. Then keep in touch with each other with the goals you’ve created and how you’re progressing toward them.
Be Kind to Yourself
Even if you set goals and daily habits to become the best version of yourself, you are still human. We all have off days so it’s important to learn to be gentle with yourself. I’m not saying “be okay with procrastinating” or allow yourself to “try again tomorrow” every single day but be your own judge of character and find ways to hold yourself accountable.
I encourage you to remain flexible while setting your goals and move intuitively with life changes. I think it’s important to set SMART goals, but also remain flexible because things don’t always work out as we plan. Life happens.
Conclusion
Set the intention to meet your goals, mark them off your list, and be proud of yourself. Sit alone with your own thoughts for a few minutes (I know it can be hard) and ask yourself the questions above to start setting goals and developing a plan to achieve them.
Let me know what goals you have set and how you plan to achieve them! I look forward to hearing from you and connecting. 
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2 Responses
This is exactly what I needed to read. I have these large, down the road goals but never know how to get there. Just thinking about them causes overwhelm, which leads me to want to shut down. Breaking it down into smaller parts would definitely help. Also setting an end date would help as well. I’m in love with waiting until the last minute to finish something because of the thrill I get from having an end time.
Thank you for reading Kyleigh! When you just see where you want to go, but not sure exactly the steps to get there it can definitely be overwhelming. I have been there! I love that you have self-awareness on what works well for you. Deadlines! That’s a great insight in order to set yourself up for success.