I set out with gusto in 2012… and I sort of fizzled out as the year went on. Sure, I did accomplish quite a few goals on my list, but there are a number of goals that were only 50-75% finished.

Here’s what I learned about myself and goal-setting in 2012:

1. I Tend to Be Overly Ambitious

I was so excited about basically accomplishing all my goals for 2011 that I went a little hog wild in planning for 2012. And I bit off more than I could chew, as is evidenced by my list below. In 2013, I’m cutting back on the number of goals I’m setting, as well as scaling back those that I do set.

2. I Need to Think Carefully Before Setting a Goal

I had grand ambitions for some of my goals, but I didn’t carefully consider whether they were things I could stick with for 12 months — or things I could reasonably accomplish in 12 months! In 2013, I’m carefully considering each goal and the time it will take before it’s making the list.

3. I Need to Stop Trying to Do Too Much

It seems I forgot to “keep it simple” in planning some of my goals for 2012. Too much of a good thing is just plain too much. In 2013, I’m going to have a much shorter goal list so that I can really hone in on the most important things… and save my other big ideas for another year! 🙂

4. My Goals Need to Be More Measurable and Specific

Some of my goals — like the monthly habits and business goals — were too vague and broad to really nail down. In 2013, I’m only allowing myself to set clearly specific and measurable goals.

Stay tuned for my goals list for 2013 coming early next week. In the mean time, here’s my wrap-up from 2012:

Personal
Read through the Bible in a year.
Read through the 24 books on my 2012 booklist. {I also read quite a few other books!}
Listen to 12 audiobooks. {I only made it through September on this one.}
Run in at least one 5K race.  {You can see a picture and read more about my experience here.}
Complete the Couch to 10K program. {Started this in October.}
Tackle 12 Do-It-Yourself Projects. {I did a lot of DIY projects, but only did three on my actual list. Bad me!}
Focus on one habit per month. {Totally bombed this one for a few of the months.}
Learn to use my new DSLR camera.
Take at least one photo a day and put together a page every week for my Project Life album. {I didn’t quite stick with this one, but I did put together an almost-completed album over the course of this past year.}
Memorize Colossians using the plan and free download here. {I didn’t do very well on this one.}

Marriage
Go on the Love Like You Mean It Cruise. {Done–read my recap here.}
Go on two Marriage Retreats.{Went to Cincinnati together in April & Pennsylvania in October.}
Have monthly date nights.
Read four books together. {We only made it through 2.5 books.}
Read at least 3 books on marriage. 

Children/Homeschooling
Continue regular dates/outings with each of the children individually.
Continue Grace and Truth memory book.
Ice-skating lessons for all three children.
Swimming lessons for all three children.
Finish second grade, begin third grade with Kathrynne.
Finish kindergarten, begin first grade with Kaitlynn.
Start preschool with Silas.
Go on at least one field trip every month. {Except for one month when we were sick, we accomplished this goal.}
Go on at least one family vacation.
Finish at least 15 read-aloud books. {We’ve finished a total of 27 read-alouds this year!}

Ministry/Friendships/Extended Family
Write at least two handwritten notes every month to encourage someone.
Continue being involved in our local church, homeschool group, young couple’s group, and blogging accountability group.
Continue with weekly get-togethers with both sides of our extended family.

Business/Blogging
Continue to take Sundays off from blogging/business work.
Continue keeping strict Office Hours for the business/blogging time each day. {Still plugging away on this!}
Switch to a paperless planning system. {This is the one goal I think I’ve officially decided to drop this year as it just wasn’t working for me. Back to the paper.}
Follow my weekly blogging plan. {I made some good progress with this in 2012.}
Plan blog posts out at least a month in advance. {I made some real progress in this area in 2012 — yay!}
Write and schedule blog posts at least a week in advance. {I’m doing somewhat better on this.}

Financial
Continue to tithe 10% of our income. {Ongoing}
Give generously to needs in our community and around the world, as God prompts us. {Ongoing}
Pay cash for a new-to-us vehicle to replace our family’s van.
Finish saving for and purchase a rental property with cash. {We closed on a house in November, did some work on it over the last few weeks, and are excited that our first renters just signed a one-year lease… we’re excited to continue this rental investment adventure!}

How Did You Do on Your Goals for 2012?

If you’ve posted goals for 2012, I’d love for you to post an update on how things went for you and share your link in the comments. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to just leave your update as a comment. Let’s encourage one another to live lives of intention and purpose!