January was, overall, SUCH a great month. I feel much more focused this year because of setting fewer personal, family, and business goals and just sticking with a few priorities that we feel like will make the biggest difference.
It was so encouraging for me to review my progress in January!
My 12 Goals for 2015
Marriage
- Read 1 book per month on marriage.
- Read in January: 52 Ways to Wow Your Husband
- Write at least 1 love note to Jesse each week.
- Done in January
Motherhood
- Read at least 1 book aloud to the kids per month.
- Read in January: James the the Giant Peach
- Write 1 love note to each child every month.
- Done in January.
Myself
- Complete all She Reads Truth 2015 Bible Studies + memory work.
- Done in January — I absolutely loved the John study & am so excited for the Esther study that started today!
- Read 1 fiction book per month.
- Read in January: What Alice Forgot
MoneySavingMom.com
- Hire a local personal assistant.
- We spent January spreading the word about the position and conducting interviews. We’ve almost narrowed it down to our final candidate and I hope to be making this hire in the next 2-3 weeks. Yay!!
- Launch 2 courses (we’re planning one for spring and one for fall — stay tuned!)
- We made some major progress on our first course in January thanks to the help of an amazing long-time reader, Allison, who I’ve hired to help me write, organize, and compile the content. We’re scheduled to shoot all the video for it in March.
- Launch our new product line (slated to soft launch in the summer).
- Release my third book (slated to come out November 2015).
- I finished up the in-depth content edits from my editor today & am so thrilled at how it’s coming together!
Money
- Increase last year’s overall giving totals by 10% in 2015.
- Part of my going to South Africa was to investigate the possibility of our family personally supporting the work of Take Action. After coming home, we both felt this was the direction we were supposed to take and our partnership with them will allow us to meet this goal. We’re so thrilled with what God is doing there in South Africa and, for those who have asked, I’m excited to share more next week of how you can be involved, too.
- Finish funding our Rental House #3 Savings Account (we’re beginning the year at 35% funded).
- This goal is currently on hold while we’re in the process of saving up enough to fully fund both of our IRA’s for this year.
How are you doing on YOUR goals for 2015?
If you set goals for this year, I’d love to hear how you are doing on them! Leave a comment telling us about your progress on them or leave the link over to your blog post about them. Here’s to a year of living with purpose, intentional, impact, and meaning!
My best accountability!! Your goals keep me accountable and when I post mine, they keep me accountable as well…check them out here:
http://www.intheworldnotofitdotcom.wordpress.com
Thanks!!!
We are right on target for our financial goals of paying off student loans in 2015. Plus this weekend we made the goal of making our home a bit more energy-efficient by adding insulation. http://www.homesweetgrown.com/insulation-spend-money-to-save-money/
It feels really great to be on track in the financial area and reaching our goals. Now, I’ve got to work on the personal ones….like being in bed by 10.
Congrats on your good progress!
I set 12 goals for 2015, and I’m happy with my progress in January. The things I’m happiest about are that I finally attempted baking bread – although I waited until the next to last day of the month to do it – I read three books, and I made a meal plan for every week. Here’s the full list: http://www.debtgal.com/2015-goals-check-in-1/
I’m excited about my new goals for this year! I started a bit behind because we were out of town. So far though I’m down 2.8lbs (goal lose 26 this yr for a total loss of 65lbs). Exercise 3x wk, 2 minimum which I met. We have a decreased income temporarily while we wait for my husband’s VA disability to kick in. Luckily we are debt free and had just met our 3mo income savings goal so we are using that to supplement our income while we wait. Our goal is NO DEBT! Once it starts, we’ll get a back pay check to replenish our savings & hopefully we’ll have extra because of intentional spending. Then we’ll reevaluate our financial goals. My reading goal is 8 books this year. I’ve read one so far & am part way through 3 others. Yay! I love having a plan to accomplish my goals. Thanks so much for teaching about this on your website & in your book!
I love your blog and started doing something similar to what you do (goal planning) on my blog.
I even shared your link on my page
Every week (I try lol) to post my weekly goals and encourage my friends to do so as well
Here is the first goal post
http://runningredhead04.blogspot.com/2015/01/weekly-goal-planning.html
and this weeks
http://runningredhead04.blogspot.com/2015/02/weekly-goals-february-2nd-8th.html
What a great start to your year! Congratulations! I like that you are updating your goals each month – I do that quarterly, but monthly might be better.
You did great in January, especially with the trip overseas! I loved some of your ideas so much that I am working on a couple of your goals myself- in particular, the love notes and marriage books.
One-one-one time with children each month is another goal I am enjoying- http://www.mymothermode.com/2015/02/finding-one-on-one-time-with-kids/
I took the time to break down my goals into bite size pieces this year so that I would have them done by the end of the year and it made January be my most successful goal month in a long time. My favorite goal this year is running 1200 miles. I got really into charting my 100 miles over the month of January. http://snailpacetransformations.com/2015-goal-update/
Last year my goals were way too ambitious with all the unexpected life changes we faced. This year my New Year’s Resolution was simple: develop one habit each month that improves my health.
For January I chose to stop biting my nails. And I did it! They are polished red right now. 🙂 I accomplished it by attending to my emotions when I wanted to bite them and by putting cream on my cuticles first thing in the morning before I pray and whenever I get into the car.
For February, I am choosing to meal plan all three meals and snacks and to record what I eat. I hope to be more mindful of what I eat (and in the process start to lose 15 lbs!).
Way to go on stopping biting your nails!!! You’re an inspiration!
Your goal updates are very inspiring, makes me want to try harder at achieving my goals for this year too. 🙂
I’m so impressed by anyone who can set goals and stick with them by breaking them down into digestible bites. I usually get so distracted somewhere in the process and completely forget what I was doing! I’ve recently started using Wunderlist app and created yearly, six month, three month, one month, weekly, and daily goals. It really helps me to have all of my goals easily accessed in one place. That way when I forget, all I have to do is click! Now if I could just remember to click… 🙂 Thanks for your inspiration!
Wohoo! Gotta love those good months. 🙂 I looked over my goals today too and was proud of everything I accomplished. I simplified too since we have a new baby coming in March. My March through May goals are really simplified!
I did the “one word” approach – and it is going so, so well. As a non-resolution maker, I’ve finally found an approach that works for me. 🙂 My silly little word – “savor” – is making me slow down and enjoy every day a little bit more. http://www.letsdosomegoodtoday.com/2014/12/31/352/
I set a reading goal of 30 books this year. So far I have already read five. Later this year we will be buying a newer used car. We will be paying cash and using our tax refund. The only debt we have is our house. Every month I apply a little extra to our principal (even if it is only $10) to lower what we owe.
Hi Crystal,
I really like the idea of writing love notes to our children. I’m not the most creative person, so I’m kind of at a loss where to start.
Can you offer some insight on what you include in your letters for the kids?
Thanks!
You made some great progress! I posted my update here:
http://mrsrogersfrugalneighborhood.blogspot.com/2015/02/januarys-goal-update-2015.html
I finished all but two of my January goals; the last two involving my personal painting and the need to start removing wallpaper and priming my dining room, but the weather isn’t quite right to do so now, and will need to wait until Spring. I am excited about Februayu, as I’m blogging about a no-spend month, so the extra time will help me to be able to catch up on a lot of little things around the house- maybe even some me time! http://theladyprefers2save.com/?p=10968
I feel like I did fairly well with my goals although I did not achieve all of them. I simplified mine a little bit this year, too.
http://nikkis-notes.blogspot.com/2015/02/january-review-of-goals.html
Love seeing the accomplishment of the simplified goals!! 🙂
We accomplished two big things in January. As empty nesters we needed some help getting chores done outside. We have 2 1/2 acres and at this point still plan to stay in this house for a few more years. We are blessed to have new neighbors with an 11 year old boy who is a hard worker and willing to do whatever we need done. He is excited to have a paying job! We also needed to keep my husband off the roof of our tall 2 story house. We replaced our old gutters with Rainhandlers and he will never have to get up there to clean the gutters again. Our yard is looking much better and the kids and I have peace of mind that the gutters are taken care of. We are blessed!
This was the first year I made an intentional effort to set and track goals for myself. Overall, I’ve been pleased with how I’ve done except for I the area of my health goals. Need to find a way to get motivated to exercise and eat better! Here is the link to a post on how I’m doing. http://www.aheartrevealed.com/january-in-review-and-how-im-doing-with-my-goals/
I love reading goal updates! Yours are always inspiring. I didn’t do much for January. Here are the goals I set for February:
http://www.morningmotivatedmom.com/february-goals/
I love reading your goal updates! 🙂
I also reflected on my January goals..I was really happy with the progress I made! The only goal I didn’t accomplish was making a dermatologist appointment, which I did today since I got a day off of work due to the weather. I set the goal of reading 2 books and I actually ended up reading 7! I read “What Alice Forgot” and it really made me think and remember to sometimes just kick back and enjoy time with my hubby instead of worrying about the to-do list. I enjoyed the book a lot. Another favorite read this month was “The Best Yes” which I listened to in the car on the way to work each day. Also made me think and enhanced my life this month and I’m sure it will continue to do so!
I keep waiting for the best yes to go on a good sale. I know I’ll love it, I really enjoy reading her stuff.
Do you have a local library? That’s where I got it! 🙂
I set goals that were a little too ambitious, but I did get some of them at least partly accomplished! I’m pleased with the progress I made, though, and I’m sure if I *hadn’t* set goals, I would have done much less.
Here’s my update post : http://www.realitychickorganization.com/?p=151