Category Archives: Monthly Goal Setting

Planning It All Out

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Planning It Out - What To Track In Your Planner

Here’s something that you should know about me, absolutely everything in my life is always a work in progress.  I am very seldom satisfied with the way things are.  I realize that can be a bad thing, but in this case I think it’s OK.  Being part of the planner community has definitely taken me through stages.  What does that mean?  Well, it means that I probably spent way too much money and energy on stickers, stamps, stencils and other things that I thought would make my planner pretty and keep me more organized.  And it definitely made it lovely, but It did not actually make me more functional, which was the whole point.  Don’t get me wrong it was great for Instagram and Facebook posts, and I loved looking at it.  But, it was not helping me to actually achieve my goals or complete my tasks in a timely manner. In addition to that I went through several types of planners and styles, before I finally settled on one that worked for me.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t still get enticed by the planner section in Staples or Office Depot, but ultimately I think that I have found a system that works for me.

My planner has become my life line, as much as I wouldn’t exactly want to admit that at 41 I need little reminders, I do.  I guess I can’t still claim Mommy brain, since my oldest is 7 years old.  But, that is kinda what it feels like, when you have to keep track of what everyone has to do and where everyone has to be.  After lots of trial and error, these are the things that I track in my planner that keep me on top of things.

Health-Wise – I track my:

  • Water Intake
  • Exercise
  • Steps
  • Hours Slept
  • Headaches
  • Weight Loss
  • Weight Gain
  • Prescriptions Filled
  • Vitamins

Family-Wise – I track:

  • Dr’s Appointments
  • Salon Appointments
  • Nail Salon Appointments
  • School Field Trips
  • School Projects
  • Quizzes/Tests
  • Family Trips and Birthdays
  • Family Wish Lists (Things the kids and hubby have been asking for)

Household-Wise – I track:

  • Laundry Detergent/Fabric Softener/Bleach Purchases
  • Cleaning Schedule
  • Spring/Summer/Winter Cleaning
  • Decorating by the Season
  • Household Wish List (Things we want to purchase for the house)

Just Because I am ME – I track:

  • Prayer Lists
  • What I’m Reading
  • What I’m Wearing
  • Moods

“A DREAM WRITTEN DOWN WITH A DATE BECOMES A GOAL.  A GOAL BROKEN DOWN INTO STEPS, BECOMES A PLAN.  A PLAN BACKEd bY ACTION MAKES YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.”

What is something you absolutely have to keep track in your planner or otherwise to be effective?  I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below.

Making Your Own Vision Board for 2018

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2017 is OVER.  Whether that hits you in the pit of your stomach like a ton of bricks, or you are overjoyed to see it go, it is done.  Around this time of year, most people seem to get into retrospective mode looking back over the year on what they mastered or what they wished they had done differently.  But, lets face it, the past is just that, the past.  There certainly isn’t much you can do to recover whatever stones you have thrown at this time, which means that it is time to look forward.  What are you expecting out of 2018?  What goals are you setting for yourself, your business, your family, your spiritual life?  Even more important than deciding what your intentions are, is laying the ground work for just how you are going to do that.  Only you can decide exactly what that means.  A vision board is a tool used to help clarify, concentrate and maintain focus on a specific life goal. Literally, a vision board is any sort of board on which you display images that represent whatever you want to be, do or have in your life.

A couple of years ago, one of my girlfriends hosted a Vision Board Party, and as much as I loved the company, the insight it gave me into that year was immeasurable.  Like everything else, only  you determine how much detail and how much fun this experience will be or how to combine them both. Here’s a How to on Completing Your First Vision Board in Just Four Steps.

Step One:  What are your Areas of Focus Going To Be For 2018? (For Example)

  • Health/Fitness
  • Family /Family Life
  • Financial Security/Stability
  • Spiritual Life
  • Career
  • Education
  • Home Ownership

Step Two:  How Can I Break My Areas of Focus Down Into Manageable Parts? (For Example)

  • Health/ Fitness (Take 10,000 + Steps Daily) (Drink 64 oz of Water Daily) (Get 7 Hours of Sleep)
  • Family/Family Life (Institute a Game Night) (Take Kids Out for One on One Dates)
  • Financial Security/Stability (Set A Dollar Amount to Go Into your Savings Account Monthly)  (Aggressively Pay Down Existing Credit Card Debt)
  • Spiritual Life (Attend Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting) (Make Time for Daily Devotion)
  • Career (Learn Something New Quarterly i.e. Continuing Education, or Software that can help you to advance in your field)
  • Education (Realistically Plan Out Your Courses)
  • Home Ownership (Take a First Time Home Buyer’s Class)  (Find Out What you would Need to do to Sell your existing Home)

Step Three: Use Pictures, Wording and Other Graphics to Visualize Your Goals

Things You Can Use to Help with This Step:

  • Magazines, Internet for Pictures, Quotes
  • Scissors
  • Glue Sticks
  • Tape
  • Embellishments of Any Type (Washi Tape, Stickers,Quote Bubbles)

Step Four (Final Step): Pulling Everything Together

You know that I like things to be in a certain order, so here I would say put all like items together. but, it is entirely up to you.

Grab your supplies, and put it together, however you like.  As a rule, I would say to put your Vision Board somewhere that you can see it and refer to it often.  Jump in and Get started!!

WHERE THERE IS NO VISION, THE PEOPLE PERISH. PROVERBS 29:18

A Few Tips for Managing Your Business Social Media Pages

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Tips for Managing Your Business Social Media

One of the most valuable pieces of advice that I have ever been given in my life, is that there is NO NEED to recreate the wheel.  After all the wheel has been around for some time now. Now, that is not to say that the way you do things won’t be different or unique or that you won’t put your own classic spin on it.  I’m just saying, there is nothing new under the sun, from motherhood all the way to the position of CEO.  I try to apply this same concept to both my personal and my business/blogging/social media life.  That being said, here are a few simple tips to make managing your Social Media, that much easier.

  1.   Plan ahead.  This is one of the reasons that you find so many bloggers and social media managers utilizing editorial calendars.  You will save yourself hours by simply pre-planning.  Ideally, we would all like to pre-plan our years, or maybe even our quarters.  I have not been able to realistically pull that off yet.  But, I do very well, when I try to at least pre-plan my month.
  2.   Research.  The first step to effectively researching is knowing your market. (key demographic).  For example, if you are a Mommy blogger.  You need to know what other Moms are interested in.   Research can be an intimidating word.  But, for me the time I spend on Instagram, Pinterest, Online Shopping, and looking through magazines all qualifies as research. After all, you live in the age of technology, inspiration is literally at your finger tips.
  3.  You are your greatest resource.  So, not only has it been done before but, there is a chance that you’ve done something like it or parallel to it before.  For example, when my husband and I decided to start our own Etsy Store, we literally stepped out on faith with no real retail experience as a point of reference.  However, our over 20+  years of combined customer service, technical and administrative experience proved to be invaluable.  What started out as an idea to sell pillows morphed into something much more.  We did not allow ourselves to get pigeon holed or stuck on our original concept and we were able to expand in ways that we would not have imagined.  In addition to that I was able to use my love for technology and organization to create templates to work within making our day to day processes painless. Work smarter instead of harder.
  4.   The awesome thing about life and business  in general, is that practice makes better.  I won’t say perfect because we tend to shy away from that word these days.  So, I will say practice fosters progression. Which means that hopefully, you are constantly learning and getting better as you go.  If you started a blog,  chances are at the very beginning you probably were not too concerned with SEO, or just didn’t know too much about it.  Maybe your original plan was just to create engaging and meaningful content.  As time goes on you realize that this is not enough, more is needed in order to make blogging profitable.  So you delve further into your craft and learn how to be more efficient, what plugins to use how to get rid of spam etc.
  5. As much as things change, they stay the same.  Valentine’s Day falls on the same date every year, as does Thanksgiving, Christmas and a host of other holidays.  What’s my point? Creating content is a big part of blogging and Social Media on a whole.  But, so is building on what you have already created. Depending on what your niche is, chances are that you find yourself discussing similar subjects during certain months and seasons.  You can use this chance to build on your older posts and update or just share, as is.  One of my favorite tools that helps me utilize past content is the “On This Day” section on the Facebook website.  Can I just say, best thing ever?  Not only do I get to go down memory lane every morning and see how much my little ones have grown through the years.  I also get access to content that I have shared through the years.  It could be a blog post, or Tips for Spring Break, or even an article I found relevant at that time. In addition to that, I  post an Inspirational post at the beginning of every day.  Guess what?  When I am strapped for time and don’t have time to create new content, I can pull from a post that I made the year before.  I can’t say enough about that one.

Tips for Managing Your Business Social Media - On This Day View Page View

As you can see these tips are well within anyone’s wheelhouse.  So jump right in, and wow your followers with worthwhile content.  Do you have a tip or two?  I would love to hear how you manage your Business Social Media Pages?  What are your “go-to” tools?  Share your finds in the comment section below, I can  not wait to read them.

Create Your Own – One Little Word

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onelittlewordmockup

Want to start your New Year with Intention? Join the movement and pick the one little word that you want to be the foundation on which your year is built.  I really had a difficult time picking one word.  But, I finally decided on the word conquer.  If I am totally honest with you there were a lot of things and opportunities that I bypassed last year, because I didn’t know what the outcome would be.  That being said this year there are many things I want to conquer, starting with the voice in my own head. There are so many areas of my life where this can apply.  I listed just a few that quickly came to mind.  Over the course of the year, I plan to add more to my list, and share it here.  Progress, Success and Failures Alike. Want to pick your own word and share it?  Download your own blank, editable copy right here.

You Can Conquer Anything

Photo Source: Pinterest

Getting & Keeping My Creative Juices Flowing

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Getting and Keeping My Creative Juices Flowing

I am the first to say that I think everyone’s creative process is different.  But, there are some basic elements that are pretty universal.  Here are my go to’s to get it cranking…

Atmosphere….

For me, this is  the biggest component.  In fact, I dare say that all of the other things that I will list are going to fall into this category.

  1.  A Clean and Organized Space is A Must for Me.  Why?  Because I am easily, easily distracted.  A Messy Space for me means that I must clean it up.  Oh and organize it, before I can start on whatever task is at hand.  This is why it really is better for me to keep my space clean or nothing is getting done.  It’s a Cluster… You know the rest.
  2.  Coffee, Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee.  I do love coffee and it tends to focus me.  But, I am trying my best to cut down.  So I try to keep it under 2 cups a day and most days I succeed.  Of course with fall coming, I tend to consume much more.
  3.  A Plan.  I know here I go, list, list list.  I love a list, but I may love a plan more.  Having a plan in place the night before means that I have a measurable task list.  I have finally accepted that I don’t have but so much time in every day and week.  So making more manageable daily and weekly goals is paramount to my success. {Enter My Planner Addiction]
  4.  Music.  IS E-V-E-R-Y-THANG?  It makes the most mundane task seems less mundane, by making it a desk dance party.  And, for the more thought provoking work or things that I need to focus my attention I choose more soothing types of music.  If you were to go through my iTunes playlist, I think you would be surprised to find everything from Classical to Heavy Metal.
  5.  Checks and Balances  Almost as important as a plan is having a way to make sure that the plan is working.    For me, with blogging and our Etsy Store, this is strictly a numbers game.   It is about making sure that what we put out in terms of an advertising and marketing budget is worth it and still allows us to garner a profit.  This is also part of the reason that our store is ever changing as the market is ever changing.
  6.  Time for Mindless Browsing.  Now, I don’t think it’s mindless browsing, but if you were to saunter by my desk, you may think so.  But, my favorite way to move pass being blocked and spark some creativity ranges from Pinterest and Instagram, to ZGallerie and Pier 1 Catalogs.  And, I can’t forget my favorite magazines, Real Simple and Domino Magazine.

How do you get your creative juices flowing? I’d love to hear what your tips are for getting productive and staying that way.

“THE BEST PREPARATION FOR TOMORROW IS DOING YOUR BEST TODAY.” H. JACKSON BROWN JR.

Planning Your Own Way

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Planning Your Own Way

Hi, I’m Sheree and I am a planner/list addict.  As if you didn’t already know that.  I have owned almost ever planner known to man.  The Franklin Covey, The Day Planner, Student Planners, Mead Planners, Goal Planners. Financial/Budget Planners, you name it, I’ve had it.  In the past, planners have strictly been for organizing and scheduling your day.  There was no glitzy, preppy, girly element to it.  But, let me tell you, things have changed.  The planner craze has taken over and with it has come the need to make it look good and feel good(embellishments).  For some, the planner has replaced the Family Control Center, as a way to plan out their lives in one portable location.  I personally have a planner that I use for my Household/Mommy/Wife Life and another one I use for this blog and my Etsy business.  But, I am the person that needs to compartmentalize everything, each thing must be in its individual box.

This year I purchased my very first Erin Condren Life Planner with the Horizontal Weekly Layout.  I had a pretty lengthy list of all the planners that I was interested in and after much deliberation I chose this one for my business needs.  Let me tell you about it.  Well, this was not the determining factor but… I was able to have it personalized.  So that was a major plus for me.    I need things to be horizontal. My planning is more like writing or journaling.  If you are into Bullet Journaling then the vertical one is probably a better option for you.  Included in the package with my planner was Pandora’s Box.  It came with all kinds of stickers and dots, Coils, books, etc.  And, at that point, I knew I was in trouble.  It was the equivalent of Apple products. For example, if you got the iPod, at some point you probably got the iPhone, and then the iPad, and eventually the iMac.   You probably have the Apple TV and you could probably think of a million other Apple products you would love to have.  I went straight to the Erin Condren site and I was in seventh heaven.  From there, I went to Pinterest and Searched Planner Stickers and then I was on to Instagram for more ideas/inspiration.

Planning Your Own Way Planner Pics

Planning Your Own Way Planner Sticker Views - Instagram Pages

Photo Source: Instagram Pages – PlannerStudio ThePlannerSociety

Thankfully, I was able to apply the brakes here. Being a former Scrapbooker, I was able to see the trap before I fell into it.  While I certainly aspire to have my Planner Pages look like some of the ones shown above.  I knew that this would be a job all to itself.  And, trust me when I say that I do not need ANOTHER JOB.  Now, I won’t lie to you and say that I didn’t  order any stickers because, I did but I tried to keep it simple.  If you are up to the challenge – Check out the Links to the  Instagram Pages in the links above. I decided to compromise with myself and put together a system that I could manage without feeling overwhelmed.

  1.   Key/Legend/Color Coding- I decided that this would be easiest way for me to keep up with my tasks by creating a Key and Color Coding. I split my Household Planner up  into these categories:  Household – Kids/School/Family – Meal/Diet/Fitness – Financial/Diet -Me/Other.  I split my Business Planner up into these categories: Blog – Social Media – Etsy – Ideas – Me/Other.  Take some time  and figure out what categories work for you before setting up your system.
  2.   Stickers –  If you are concerned with the looks/aesthetic of your planner than you will most likely get sucked in here.  For me, I need maximum writing space.  But, I found the smaller stickers were useful when tracking things like vitamins, water intake, exercise, and appointments.
  3. Tabs/Arrows – I find these helpful as ways to draw attention to certain areas or upcoming projects.  And, with all the color  and style options they can look cute too.

We are almost through February and I think I have found a system that works for  me.  I am sure I will make more tweaks as the weeks go on but for now, this seems to be working.  What is your favorite planner?  And, how do you keep it organized?

“a goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Update on my Summer Goals

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Summer Goals Update As expected keeping up with my blogging while the kids are at home can prove to be challenging.  But, so far I have managed to maintain.  So, I thought I would drop in to let you know how I am doing with my Summer Goals that I wrote about here.

1.  Reading for Fun.  Well, I actually checked out two physical books from the Library.  It has been forever since I read a physical book.  I figured that the real book would keep me from being distracted by all the buzzing, and beeping going on while reading on the iPad.  That hasn’t really gone too well.  I have already had to renew the books once, and I am literally on page 89 of the first book.  Hmmm…. I am honestly struggling with just giving up on that one and moving on to the other book.  Blah!! Once I get through these two I am going o start on this Reading List.  Maybe it will be a little easier.

2.  Handwritten Cards & Letters.  I still have not done this one yet.  But… I did order Personalized Photo Father’s Day Cards for the girls to give to Hubby, does that count?  Interested in doing this too, check out the Card Store.

3.  Connect with Family & Friends.  I did good on this one.  One of my oldest friends and her Mom came into town, and I was able to go and hang out with them for a couple of hours, without the kids.  That is major!!

4.  Romantic and Mushy TV – I watched the Fault in Our Stars which I loved.  Still working my way down the list…  Anyone have any suggestions for me?

5.  Trying new Recipes with the Kids – Check Us Out Making Memories in the Kitchen.

6.  DIY Projects – During the winter I bought an old Lazy Suzan, it was wood adjacent, lol, well I thought it was real wood when I bought it.  Once I started sanding it, I realized that wasn’t the case.  But, after applying several coats of paint, it almost looks usable.  I plan to put it on my kitchen table, to hold napkins, etc. etc. (Pics to Follows)

7.  In preparation for the Fairs we plan to attend in the Fall, we have been stocking our Etsy Store with Printables.  Right now they are digital, but we plan to offer the Physical Prints when selling in person, and hope to add this to the Etsy Store as well.  I am still hunting for a good printer in the Metro Atlanta Area.

Stage Presents Printables

Even though it really feels like it has been a while.  We are really only in the second week of Summer Break.  What are your Summer Goals for this year, consider leaving it in the comment section below?

5 Questions to Ask Yourself as You Re-Evaluate Your 2015 Goals

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First Quarter Reeval I can’t believe that we are already nearing the end of the First Quarter of the New Year (if I can still call it that).  Four months in seems like a good time to go back to the drawing table and re-evaluate the goals that you made at the beginning of the year.  Often times, we get married to the goals that we set, so much so that even if they are not serving the purpose we intended, we do not want to let them go.  But, there is absolutely nothing wrong in making changes. Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you take stock.

1.  What were your goals for the New Year?  Did you write them down?  Can you quantify them?

2.  If you feel like you did a good job of planning your goals for the year, then the next step is to Evaluate.  Where are you in comparison to where you want to be at the end of the year?  Are you making progress at a rate that you are comfortable with?  Do you feel like you are developing your brand and your business in a way that makes you proud?  If you set smaller goals quarterly or monthly?  Did you meet those goals?  If your goals were not clear for the first quarter, you may find yourself working backwards.  The good thing about that is by now you should have accumulated some data for yourself.  You know how much buzz has been created about your service or product, what kind of Social Media Following you have developed, and even what does or does not work for you.

3.  If things are going the way you intended and even if they are not.  It’s time to recreate and fine tune the next steps.  For example, ABC worked for you at this rate.  But, if you tweak it how can you  make things better?  Are you spending more time advertising than you are creating?  Do you think that you need to spend more time networking or on your craft?  In setting up your plan for the next few months, consider this Are you Setting SMART Goals?  This is a tool that has worked for me in both my Personal and Business Life.  Are Your Goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Based?  These questions tend to bring you back to exactly what you want your focus needs to be.  For more information about the process click here:
SMARtGoals

4.  Now that your New and Improved Action Plan is in place, what do you need in order to reach them?  What tools are necessary to achieve your goals?

5.  Are you ready to put your Plan in Motion?  Ready Set Go.

“NOTHING CHANGES, IF NOTHING CHANGES.” – EARNIE LARSON

What steps do you take when planning out the next steps for your business or your life?  What are some tools that you find invaluable?

Creating S.M.A.R.T Monthly Goals for Yourself and Your Family!!

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WorkPersonalLife Our S.M.A.R.T – Specific – Measurable – Attainable – Relevant – Time Bound

Goals for January 2014

images

Personal Goals:

Ride my Exercise Bike 3 times per week.

Lower my Carb Intake

Take My Daily Probiotics

Start my day off with Daily Wisdom for Women – 2014 Devotional Collection

Finish Confessions of a Prayer Slacker by Diane Moody

Reread “Their Eyes Were Watching God” – by Zora Neale Hurston

Family Parenting Goals:

Finish Reading Amelia Bedelia Storybook Treasury with the Girls

Help Morgan(3) to Write her Whole Name

 

Teach Jai(9) to Make a Grill Cheese Sandwich (Fostering Indepence) and Work On Vocabulary Words and Start Working On Science Project

Complete Valentine’s Day Cards — To Avoid the Mad Rush in February!!

bus

Business Goals:

Blog @ least twice a week

Write/Research Daily

Decide on Items (First Installment) for On-line Store

I also, created Relationship Goals (which I will keep to myself, but, it helps to carve out time for you and your honey).  We try to do at the very least two date days a month, even if it just means that we get a babysitter and watch a movie.  ALONE.

Don’t forget Valentine’s Day is coming up!! So, even if you aren’t going to do anything extravagant, do something thoughtful.  I am a big fan of Photo Books.  I do one each year for my family.  I have also done DVD Montages through out the course of our relationship. It’s great to look back at all the amazing moments you have shared over time.

Some Other Categories that I Included on a More Personal List were Financial – Spiritual and Of Course Marriage Goals.  Only you know what areas you want to focus on… so Happy Picking and Planning!!

I feel like I kind of started some of these GOALS mid month(though not really).  So, I should get some extra time, lol.  But…. I will update my progress at the end of the month anyway.

Hope this gives you some ideas for your very own GOAL List.  If you would like to share what you come up with please feel free to do so in the comments.  I got the idea to do these Monthly Goals from Money Saving Mom.  Check out her 2013 Goals Here.  I hope to be as ambitious as her in my Goal Setting one day!!

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Did you read our Last Blog Past?? No Time like the Present – Catch Up Here