I’m keeping my goals very simple and measurable this year. I’m also breaking them down into weekly goals and will be using my habit tracker to track them plus I plan to do weekly blog posts and Instagram stories sharing my progress, since that is something many of you have asked for.
My hope is to wrap my time and life around things that will matter for years to come, so each of these goals are chosen with this in mind.
Goal #1: Lose .1% Body Fat Per Week
Micah is 6 months old and it’s time to finish losing the baby weight! My body typically loses very slowly the first six months and then once I hit the six-month mark, it comes off more easily. However, I’ve never been 41 before, so we’ll see!
I decided to choose a body fat goal instead of a weight goal because I’m focusing on strength training, eating good protein, getting enough sleep, and overall healthy versus a specific number on the scale. My goal is to take care of my body and health well I can so I can have energy to do what God has called me to.
My plan: I’ll be working out 5-6 days/week using a version of the Mayhem30/Mayhem Moms program that Jesse is putting together for me each day. I’m also tracking my protein, carbs, and fats eaten on My Fitness Pal. And I’m using a Wyze body fat scale to track this.
Goal #2: Have One Family Dinner Per Week
With three teenagers who have work, social activities, and sports many nights, we decided that we’d aim to consistently have one family dinner each week — where we’re all home and we all sit around the table and eat together. And maybe play a game or two, as well.
We are also working on establishing the habit of lunch and reading around the table every day with the three youngest ones — now that Micah is starting to eat solid foods with us
The plan: We plan to look at our calendars at the beginning of the week to figure out which night will work with our schedules to have our family dinner that week, as it will likely change each week.
Goal #3: Finish One Book Per Week
I’m going to be honest, it was hard for me to not set a higher reading goal… you know how much I love to read! But I think this goal will encourage me to get creative with making reading a priority right now while also being pretty realistic.
The plan: I’m setting a daily goal to listen to 30 minutes of an audiobook and to read for 10 minutes every day. Since I usually always have 2-3 books going, if I hit these daily goals, I should also be able to accomplish my goal of finishing one book each week.
Goal #4: Have One Date With One Family Member Per Week
This one is pretty self-explanatory, but I want to prioritize a special date with one of the kids or Jesse every week. And my goal is to rotate which one gets a date each week so that I have a date with each of them almost every single month.
The plan: I plan to look at the calendar at the beginning of the week each week to determine which day/time/person I’ll have a date with that week, depending upon that week’s schedule and other people’s plans.
Goal #5: Spend 25 Minutes on Organizing/Decluttering Each Week
There are a lot of areas in our home that I want to declutter and come up with better organizational systems for. So I plan to spend 5 minutes a day on this — tackling one area at a time.
The plan: I’ll be posting a quick organizational project each day on Instagram + my results from doing the project each day, if you’d like to follow along. Plus, I plan to do a weekly round-up post here showing what areas I organized/decluttered.
Goal #6: Delete 300 Photos/Videos From My Phone Each Week
I take a LOT of photos and videos on my phone each week — one of the parts of having a business that is online and being very active on social media! I will often take multiple photos from different angles to get good lighting/a good shot. Which means that I often have many photos/videos that can be deleted. But I don’t do a very good job of keeping them pared down. This year, my goal is to get in the habit of regularly deleting them and keeping my phone less cluttered.
The plan: I plan to delete 50 photos/videos from my phone every day. My hope is that I’ll slowly work through the backlog of photos/videos I can delete from previous weeks/months/years plus keep on top of new photos/videos I take.
Those are my goals for 2023. Stay tuned for my upcoming post on my habit chart for 2023 to help me focus on following through with these goals on a weekly and daily basis!
What do you use to track which books you read? Is there an app you use or good old fashioned pen and paper?
I track them on GoodReads!
There’s 2 I use with Our Library Reading Programs. The Libby Free App and The Beanstack Free App.
I have set a goal to workout moderately every day after work. I have the videos picked out and they only take 20 minutes.
I also have a goal to build my blog and create content to share and sell.
I, too, have a reading goal (although not near as lofty). I plan on reading two books a month.
I’m going to limit screen time by creating a landing zone for my watch and phone after work away from where I am.
Lastly, I need to digitally organize. I have a lot of photos to delete to the point where Google is yelling at me! I like your goal of deleting 50 photos per day.
What great goals! Thank you for sharing!
I don’t have a specific set of goals, but my word for 2023 is “Utilize.” That covers a lot, including decluttering the items I am no longer using!
ps. Not to be too fussy, but in the picture of the 3 littles in front of the window, there seems to be several stray cords dangling.
Yes, we have cord hooks on all our windows that we installed when our home got licensed for foster care and can use to put them up. Thanks so much for your concern! And thank you for sharing your word!
We still have child safety “remnants” from when we had to become foster care licensed as part of our adoption process, including locked tackle boxes for medicines. Now that he is way over 12, I supposed we can get rid of them!
I’ve followed you since 2008 and have always admired your goal setting! I’m concerned to see that this year you are believing the lie that your body fat percentage matters the most! A few books that you may appreciate on this topic: More Than A Body by Lexie Kite and Lindsay Kite and Breaking Free From Body Shame by Jess Connolly. Healthy habits are important for good health, and I applaud your efforts to move and nourish your body! But please don’t reduce your goals to a number on a scale, even if it’s body fat percentage vs weight.
Thank you for your concern! That means so much! And yes, that’s actually why I decided against a weight goal — because I didn’t want this be about body image or what I look like. I want to instead focus on building muscle not necessarily on losing weight (what I have focused on the past and which hasn’t always been a healthy thing for me).
I usually just focus weight loss after having a baby but since I’m 41 I know that to be strong and healthy for the long haul as I get older, muscle-building is actually so much more important. I’m not sure how much you’ve studied about body fat percentages but it’s not about losing weight, but about building muscle and it’s a great way to track that your healthy choices like eating lots of protein, getting enough sleep, etc. are working well. And it’s not a be all, end all sort of thing just a great indicator that I’m on track.
And yes, to just set your mind at ease, this isn’t a body shame thing or that I don’t appreciate this body; I’m just ready to have more energy and to continue to make good choices and I know that setting goals helps me to be more disciplined and focused on making those good choices. I’m excited about this very realistic and doable goal and how it will help me serve my family and others and be stronger and healthier longterm!
Crystal, I love these photos! What a beautiful family you have! God’s best to all of you in 2023!
PS I need to delete photos too! Never thought of adding that to my goals list. Thanks!
Thank you so much!
Your goals are so meaningful!
My new year’s goal for many years now has been to have just one goal. I like to work on micro habits as goals, and the one I really want to stick is the do-a-few-pushups-every-morning-when-you-wake-up. I already work in some squats and stretches while I’m baking or waiting for something to boil, etc. but I’d like to have a set time for this in the morning, maybe after coffee, cause I really can’t function before it.
I also get overwhelmed quickly so I never schedule anything on a weekly basis. I always do monthly or bi-monthly and shorten the period if I manage it later. Micro-habits are different since they’re meant to be done everyday, but I also don’t like to track anything, so if I manage to fit them in whenever I remember, I’ll be content.
Happy New Year!
2022 proved so challenging for our Family in many ways. A goal I have and have tried to live by even this past year was to simplify…Not just in things but with thoughts. Really try to enjoy the moment, the one I am in and not worry about the future or fret about the past. It’s good to plan ahead and it is good to look back with fondness and remember or to learn from mistakes but something I want to build on in the new year is to be present always in the moment, in the gift that is the now, with myself and my Family. Happy New Year!! Love seeing your kiddos-young and old! God bless.
Simplifying and being in the moment makes such a difference, doesn’t it?!
meals
I’m using your goals as kind of a template for mine! I love the simplicity – your precious yearly goals were overwhelming (for me) to look at ….though inspiring at the same time.
I have 2 kids 7 and 10 – what kinds of (free cheap) things do you do for dates? (Ideas for husband would be helpful too)
I have a weekly coffee date with my kids. I have two kids so I alternate between the two of them. My son likes to go to McDonald’s for his coffee date so he can have ice cream. My daughter likes a local coffee shop for hers. I use the McDonald’s app for the deals and freebies. The coffee shop my daughter and I go to has a rewards program so we eventually get a free $5 drink every so oftwn.
Just think about things they love… you don’t have to go anywhere. It could be letting them stay up later one night a week and doing something with you. Or baking something with you. Or you playing something they love with them, etc. Keep it simple! I’d ask them to make a list of ideas for you!
I love that you’ve adjusted to one dinner together a week. I remember I used to have to guard against comparison when you used to share about eating together daily. My kids have always been very involved in sports and it was so challenging to find times to eat together. I loved when you shared about eating breakfast together instead. It encouraged me to get creative and just be happy with any together time we got!
Life definitely changes when your kids get jobs and start driving, doesn’t it?? 🙂 But I love that we get to have meals together with our little ones more regularly, that’s so fun and such a gift!
I’d appreciate it if you’d come back to the family meal topic at some point. My kids are younger so it’s not been too hard to keep daily family meals. Growing up we continued to do family meals most nights throughout our high school years. I still highly value them and my siblings and I are very close friends. Obviously, we weren’t as involved in outside activities as some families are. I didn’t miss the activities. But I’m an introvert. I can see teens thinking all the activities are important now, but will they feel that way in the future? I had a friend so involved that she was very stressed out and into adulthood felt like she needed to perform and do all the things.
I don’t want to hold family meal time as an idol because I happened to enjoy it and have strong family relationships. But do adults that didn’t have that look back on their teen years wishing they’d had more family time? Or are they satisfied with the busyness?
Obviously I’m talking about functional families, not people from toxic families.
Just to clarify, we have a lot of family time, it just doesn’t necessarily happen around the table. I know some people will disagree, but I think you can have a very close family and not have dinner around the table every night. In fact, I would rather that our teens *choose* family time than that it’s required, if that makes sense — especially as they get older. We often have family time later at night when they get home from work, etc. They’ll all come hang out in our room or in the kitchen for 30 minutes or an hour. It’s not uncommon that some of their friends will be here, too, and we’ll all be hanging out laughing and talking about our day. It doesn’t happen every single night, but multiple times a week it happens and I love it!
I think it’s something every family needs to prayerfully decide together and there is not one right way and I think it will look different for every season and if our kids were feeling stressed out, we definitely would strongly encourage them to pull back.