Last year, I set 10 goals for my Year of Yes. And while I didn’t accomplish all of them, I am really happy with how they motivated me to make big strides and focus on those areas that are big priorities in my life.
An Update on My 2017 Goals
Here’s my update from my 2017 goals:
Personal Goals
1. Run 3 miles in 30 minutes — While I did a lot of running this past year, I didn’t quite increase my pace as I was hoping to. But I definitely increased my endurance and I realized how much I love running!
2. Make it to Phase 4 of the nutrition plan — Done! I was so excited that I was able to graduate and halfway through the year, my nutritionist told me I was officially ready to go out on my own and create my own menus. I’m really proud of the fact that I have — for the most part — stuck with everything I learned, including not drinking coffee, rarely having caffeine, getting so much more sleep, drinking so much more water, and really limiting my sugar intake.
3. Read 48 books I already own — I read almost 90 books this past year and at least 40 of them were books that I already owned at the beginning of the year. Yay!
Marriage Goals
4. Go on a 4-day completely unplugged trip — Jesse and I ended up going away on a marriage retreat in the Knoxville, TN area. It wasn’t completely unplugged and it wasn’t 4 whole days, but it was a weekend and it was so good for our souls. And I know that having this goal on our list was one of the big reasons we said yes to this marriage retreat.
Family Goals
5. Go to South Africa as a family — We ended up not being able to go to South Africa because during the few-week block when we could go in the summer, the timing didn’t work out for our friends in South Africa. But we are determined to make this happen in 2018. Instead of going to South Africa, we went on a 14-day road trip to a number of states that our kids had never been to before. It was such an amazing trip and one we will cherish forever.
Financial Goals
6. Sell our 3 rental houses in Kansas — DONE!! Did you hear me let out a big cheer?? That was because this was a big one for us to check off the list this year!
7. Save up to pay cash for a house here in TN — DONE!!! And this merits an even bigger cheer (or maybe yelling and screaming and dancing would more accurately describe how I feel about this!) This was a HUGE goal for us and I’m so thrilled to tell you that we signed a contract an amazing home that has almost everything we were looking for/hoping (including a real BASEMENT — something that we miss dearly since moving from KS to TN and something that is rare in TN!) and we’re supposed close on it on January 12. We’re thrilled, humbled, and grateful!
Business Goals
8. Release 2 courses — We blew this one out of the water! Because we launched FOUR courses as part of YourBloggingUniversity.com AND we launched the Say Goodbye to Survival Mode course + the 15 Days to a Healthier You course!
9. Start 3 new blogs — Well, for a lot of reasons, I decided to change this goal and I only launched one new blog, YourBloggingMentor.com. I discovered that running two blogs is enough for now! I’ve loved having the challenge of building a new blog from scratch and I’ve loved having a place to teach beginning and intermediate bloggers how to build their blogs!
10. Learn YouTube/iMovie — I had fun learning how to edit and upload videos to YouTube this year. And while I ultimately decided to not make YouTube a focus, the things I learned in iMovie have been really beneficial in a lot of areas of the business and I’m so glad that I did it.
My Goals for 2018
I told you yesterday that my Word of the Year for 2018 is SLOW. I chose my goals this year with this in mind — things that would encourage me to slow day and would promote stillness in my heart.
Personal Goals
1. Read 100 non-self-help books that will build me up/encourage me/inspire me/recharge me. (Fiction/story-driven/biographies/inspirational living books/devotionals.)
2. Read through the entire Bible.
3. Write one handwritten note to someone every week.
4. Run 500 miles.
Marriage Goal
5. Go on an overnight trip with Jesse without the kids.
Family Goals
6. Read 10 books aloud with the kids.
7. Take the kids to South Africa.
8. Go on a family road trip.
Financial Goals
9. Save up to pay cash to finish off an office for me and workout room for Jesse and me in the basement in our new house.
10. Replenish our Emergency Fund (we dipped into it to replace my car when it got totaled because of the carpet beetle infestation.)
Business Goals
11. Increase our gross income from the business by 8%.
12. Launch 5 new courses.
2 Habits I’m Working on Developing in 2018
- Week day coffee dates with Jesse after we drop the kids off at school — We’re planning to go out for 30-45 minutes every week day morning to just touch base and enjoy a little one-on-one time together before our day begins. Oh and yes, I don’t drink coffee any more, but we still call them “coffee dates” even though I drink tea. 😉
- Stay completely offline from 4-8 p.m. to focus on my family/home — Last year, I made the commitment to have more offline time and this was such a good thing. I want to continue that this year since I’ve sort of fallen off the bandwagon in the last few months.
I will be giving you updates on my progress on my reading goals, my running goals, my Bible reading, the books I’m reading to the kids, plus more as the year progresses!
What are YOUR goals for 2018? I’d love to hear! Let us know in the comments!
I have been working on a surprise project the past 2 months and finally get to tell you about it! I'm launching a live group coaching in January called 4 Weeks to a More Productive Life where I'll be walking you through some life-changing principles to help you live a much more productive and fulfilled life.
It's designed for you if you…
- Wish you could change your life, but don't where to start
- Hope to find a way to become more productive and get more done, but feel overwhelmed by the thought of taking yet another productivity course or reading yet another book on time management.
- Want to make 2018 the year that you actually stop wishing and hoping and planning and start DOING.
Doors will open for a few days only beginning January 1, 2018. If you are interested, you'll want to sign up to be on the waitlist because you'll be the first to know when it's available and you'll also get access to my brand-new printable called 6 Ways to Start your New Year Well.
Go here to sign up — I can't wait to have you join me for the live coaching!
