Goal Setting

I wanted to share with you the techniques I use to help me and my family stay focused on our goals. You can imagine with us both working full time (and different schedules) means life can get chaotic and certain things fall to the wayside (like the dishes, for example).

We try to keep our eyes on the long term prize, even with a lot of uncertainty in our lives. No, we don't yet know where we will send the Little Man to school and whether we should move to a different part of the city (closer to our workplaces), but everything else that we can plan for can get done with focus.


So it starts with us adults sitting down and making good personal goals for ourselves. We write them down and update them every six months or so. I believe strongly in, "write it down, make it real!" Don't let dreams sit in your head - let them out into the world to breathe and grow. Share them with someone else and give them life! We also set family goals - things like how often we will have family vacations and how we will save monthly for them.

One person who has helped me learn to make goals and stay on track this year is Leonie Dawson. I highly recommend her yearly planner - here is the 2013 edition on sale. Go get it! It's worth every penny!

My vision board

I have a vision board in my bedroom on my side so I can see it every day.  This makes the goals more visible and helps me to focus on what I want. Otherwise, it's easy to get distracted and forget. It's a fun craft exercise and I like being able to physically take them off once they're achieved.

Another option is to make a short video and watch it daily. I got that idea from Patrick Leroux. He is a great guy to watch talk and he does do talks in English sometimes. Go see him if you get a chance!


Because I also travel blog, I made a virtual travel vision board and am pleased to say I already bought my tickets for China, not long after putting that post up, in fact.

Some people write on their bathroom mirror (I do that also sometimes) or you can put the goals up on your fridge. The point is to constantly remind your subconscious to keep working on it and over time, you start to find opportunities and solutions. I believe in the Law of Attraction and all that, so putting your wants and desires out there, even the wildest ones, can help the universe help you.
The point is to not be scared to try because you never know what can happen :)

I also find it comforting to see my vision board every day. After a long hard day, it helps to reassure me all the little daily troubles and sacrifices will be worth it and it helps keep me going. Tomorrow is another day and one step closer.