The ABC's of Goal Setting - Goal Setting for Moms

I once heard that G.O.A.L. stands for Go Out And Live. This is especially exciting for a woman who has recently decided to stay at home with kids full time, is buried in laundry, spends hours clipping coupons, and is constantly cleaning and wiping a myriad of bodily fluids off of little people all day. Just because you have committed the bulk of your days to your children, does not mean that your personal hopes and dreams are over or even on indefinite hold.

I've extended these tips to be the ABCDE's of Goal Setting. They can be applied to your dream of leaving full time employment and staying home, quitting smoking, losing weight, running a marathon, or to any of your personal ambitions.

A- Accountability. Tell everyone your goal. I know this sounds scary. It is, but the more people you share your goal with, the more people will hold you accountable to your goal. My friend Kari is a Mary Kay rep and she let all her current customers know that she was trying to make it to the "Queen's Court", which is a prestigious accolade within her organization. Did we help her by purchasing more product? You bet. We also followed up with her on a regular basis asking her how she was doing. She did make it to the "Queen's Court" and we were all very proud of her and felt like we helped play a part in achieving her goal.

The other part of accountability is setting a date. Make a realistic time line of exactly how long you think it will take you to achieve your goal. You may want to start with mini time lines within your ultimate dead-line. This will help make you accountable to your goal and you will have a much greater chance of achieving it. You also increase your odds if you write this time line down and tape it in a place that you will see everyday. A goal without a deadline is just a dream.

B- Believe in yourself

Of course believing in yourself is a key to anyone's success. To help this along, you might want to make the first few people you tell about your goal, support people in your life that also believe in you. I always start with my loving and always supportive husband and my parents. I also started recently sharing some of my personal goals with my in-laws and they have been an amazing source of unconditional support. Once you believe in yourself, you really can accomplish anything.

C -Changes

Be willing to stay flexible enough to make changes to your plan along the way. Life does happen to all of us. There will always be pregnancies, babies, car problems, lost jobs, and computer viruses. Find the balance between being flexible enough to change course a little and still be determined to accomplish the goal.

D - Drive and Determination

Do whatever it takes to fuel the drive and determination to achieve your goal. Make the time to stay on course with your time line. Check in with your support group to help encourage you and keep you accountable. Tape pictures or written versions of the goal all over your house, but just keep at it. Put visual reminders of your goal (pictures or notes) in 5 places: Your mirror, refrigerator, desk, car, and by the front door.

E - Encouragement

Surround yourself with reminders of previously accomplished goals. If you have ever won a contest, a trophy, or medal of any kind, take them out and remind yourself you can do it. Also, while God sometimes has a way of putting a fire under us to accomplish our goals, He also can put wind in our sails to encourage us. Sometimes the small voices of our children telling us we can do it or even a compliment from a friend can be the encouragement we need to keep going.

So get started and Go Out And Live!!