So, I already confessed that my lack of setting weekly goals last year affected my goals overall. As in, I didn’t accomplish hardly any of them and even actually forgot about most of them that I had set because I wasn’t reviewing them weekly. Oops!
In 2022, in addition to committing to going back to setting weekly goals again, I’m only setting 7 goals for this year to keep it simple — especially since I’m pregnant and due in June, we’re very hopeful our adoption of Baby D is happening this year, and I’m finishing up my next book draft.
Here are my goals for 2022:
Myself
1. Go through 5 She Reads Truth studies for the year. (I’ve been loving going through these studies again this past year, but I realized that it’s better for me to go through much more slowly than what they designate the pace should be. I usually take 2-4 days on each day and that’s worked out well for me so that I’m really soaking the verses and learning from the passages.)
2. Finish at least 4 books a month. (Last year, I set the audacious goal of reading three books per week. I ended up falling very short of that. So this year, I decided to set a much more realistic goal. I hope to exceed this goal by a lot, but we’ll see! And if you missed it, I’m setting monthly goals instead of yearly goals for reading — and I’m really excited about this approach!)
3. Complete at least 1 craft per month. (I plan to use some of the craft kits that I’ve gotten from Annie’s Creative Girls’ Club and Annie’s Creative Woman Craft Club. Since so many of you purchased the fantastic deals I posted from them, they signed me up for both subscriptions as a thank you! While crafting is not something I’m really gifted at, I find that it is relaxing for me and something that challenges creative parts of my brain that I don’t use very often!)
Motherhood
4. Have a monthly date with each of the three older kids. (I’m planning on having the kids help me decide what they’d like to do each month. I love hanging out with my kids and I cherish our time together even more as they get older.)
5. Read 10 chapter books aloud to Kierstyn and Baby D. (I’ve been reading a Bible story from The Jesus Storybook Bible and a chapter from a read-aloud book each afternoon before their naps. While they are little and much of it is over their heads, I love to establish this habit when my kids are tiny so that it becomes an important part of their family culture for the most formative years of their life. Plus, it’s fun for me!)
Marriage
6. Have a monthly date with Jesse. (While we hope to occasionally get an actual date night out, with multiple little kids, we want to be realistic… so we plan to at least do one Date Night in a Box kit at home every month — even if we can’t get out for a real date every month).
MoneySavingMom
7. Finish my next book draft. (The first draft is due to my publisher mid-February. Then, we’ll be going through multiple rounds of edits before it goes to the printers. It’s slated to release in spring 2023!)
Thank you for the information on She Reads Truth. I want to read some of those this year too. Congratulations on the new baby coming in June. I love your emails & always look forward to reading them. God Bless ❤️
Aw, thank you so much for your encouragement!
Yeah!! Congratulations! You can do this. I became a mother the first time at 45, then 46, then 47. Lol. So happy for you.
Having a 17-year span between kids is certainly something I never dreamed of a few years ago, but we’re really excited!
When I listened to the last podcast of 2021 and you mentioned you had big news, I knew you were pregnant! WOW, what a wild ride God has put your family on the last few years!!! You have handled it all with such grace. I am so happy for you. AND your older kids are rocking life also!!
That’s so funny that you interpreted what I said as “big news” as I specifically didn’t use that phrase or anything like it… instead I said we an exciting episode/big episode coming out that you wouldn’t want to miss. Most people thought it was just a big name guest we were having on! 🙂
I always love seeing your goals. I wrote my goals in categories that I got from Dave Ramsey. My top five priorities are 1. Be in church more regularly and be closer to God, 2. Saving for a family vacation and taking that vacation this fall, 3. Walk 3x a week and eat cleaner. 4. Since we homeschool, I read all the time, but I want to read 4 books for my pleasure this year, 5. Graduate my oldest from homeschool and help him move to the next phase! So excited for this milestone, but also it’s very bittersweet.
It sounds like it’s going to be a BIG year for your family!
I love reading your goals! I was interested in about how many hours you work each week. Since you are responsible for more “little people” in your life 🙂 – do you work part time or do you still work full time?
I definitely work around 40-ish hours a week over a 7 day period… but it’s broken up into little chunks throughout the day. I usually try to get in a 2-3 hour focused work period each day and then I do multiple 15-minute and 30-minute chunks in the cracks of each day.
When we had three young kids and Jesse was running his law firm, I was often working 60-70 hours/week, so this feels like part-time since he’s home full-time now and I’m only working 40 hours/week! 🙂
Sounds like you are the baby days! Keep everything as simple as possible😄 Now I like to say “ keep our life as simple as if we were expecting a newborn”😂 I like how in just 7 goals you also covered every aspect of your life!
Yes, I’m definitely all about keeping it simple these days! Having 4 babies in two 1/2 years (including fostering Champ for 8 months) will definitely encourage you to simplify like never before!
Thank you for sharing, I was struggling with setting goals for the year and this gave me some ideas of how to set mine 😊
I’m so glad that it was helpful!
Hi Faith, this is off the subject but I noticed your last name – are you of Mozambican descent? My friends Tryphena and Supresa Sithole are Mozambican.
on dates with your kids can you give a loose idea of how much time you spend on each one? With so many other activities and dates it would be nice to have an idea what is realistic !
It just really depends! Sometimes, it might be watching a movie together. Sometimes, it might be going out for a quick treat together. Other times, it could be a half-day sort of event that we attend together. It will likely look different every month!
Hi Laurie. My kids are 9 and 7 and I do a coffee date with each one every other week. I alternate weekends. We go to a local coffee shop (or McDonald’s for my son) and get drinks (hot chocolates or smoothies for them) and just sit and chat. Sometimes they’re only 15 minutes long; sometimes they’re a bit longer. It just depends on what we have going on that weekend and how much time my kids need/want. I’ve been doing this consistently for a year and our kids really look forward to it.
Thanks so much for sharing what has worked well for you! Those are great ideas! -Olivia, MSM Team
I love that! Thanks for sharing!
This all helped!