Breaking Down Goals

Sometimes it can be overwhelming to know how to break certain goals down. Here are some examples of how I break down some goals in my life. 

I have a goal of reading and studying all my Sunday School and church lessons before those classes actually happen. Every Sunday I have simple reminders built into my task list to help me stay on top of this goal. It is generally quite easy to remember to spend time on this each week, but I will probably never get rid of the rotating task reminder because it helps me think about coming prepared to my church meetings every week and it is really important to me. 

I have a goal of reading every church magazine, called the Ensign, each month. There are several articles in each issue and this seemed a little overwhelming, until I decided to give myself a reminder to read one article every day. Sometimes I read one, sometimes two, and sometimes I just do not have the time and so I check it off and know the reminder will come up again the next day. Having the reminder constantly in front of me helps me to break down the goal into daily amounts and to not feel overwhelmed. 

I have a goal for either my husband or I to do something one-on-one with each kid every month. This one requires a lot of creativity, but we are having some wonderful adventures and making fond memories. I have a monthly reminder set up on the 1st day of every month. This reminder is to help me remember to schedule those dates into the calendar. When we treat these dates like actual appointments, we more consistently follow through and forego other things moving in on our time with our children. This one can be tough and it does require some juggling, but it is always rewarding to give each child their special time with a parent. Sometimes we go out together and sometimes we just pick a room at home to be in, but the other kids know that everyone gets a turn and they are happy give each other those memories as well. We generally schedule about an hour, but even 20 minutes playing games together counts. Mix it up and ask the child what they are interested in doing, at least from time to time. 
The most important part about this goal is to not check off the monthly reminder to set up the one-on-one dates until you have actually scheduled them into your calendar. Getting them on there with a time will hopefully remind you to both not double schedule your time on those days and help remind you to move the date to another day, just as you would for any other appointment that needed to be changed. 

I have a goal to send a note in my children's lunches once a week. This seems silly, but it was important to me, so I found a way to make it happen. I give myself a reminder every Sunday to put a note in my children's lunchboxes. The important part here is to not delete the task until I have actually done it. Sometimes that means they get a note on Monday morning and sometimes that means they get one on Thursday, but I put a note in their lunch sometime that week. One time I was just not feeling it and deleted the task. Two of my children commented how much they missed my notes that week, and they noticed because I am normally consistent. 

If it is important enough to be on your brain and something you wish you would take care of, do yourself a favor and figure out a way to incorporate it into your life. It will take some planning, some failing and some getting up and trying again. But just because something did not work out, even for a few months, does not mean that it will never work out. I have struggled with all of these goals until I figured out how to break each one down into daily and weekly actions I can work with and that help me remember those small things that I feel give a big impact to my life. 
I truly believe that it does not matter so much what your goals are, but more that you have some. It is important to have things that you are consistently and repeatedly trying to work for in your life. It gives your life purpose, meaning and something to focus on and work towards. 
Figure out one or two things you want to work for this month and break those down into daily and weekly actions. Get up every day ready to work on your goals and discover the purpose and motivation having just one goal can bring to your life.