I already feel different this month. I feel excited for what's to come. I launched my new fitness, wellness & nutrition program yesterday, which was one of my goals this year and I'm so glad you guys are loving it! The feedback has brought me to tears. I am so passionate about creating programs and content that will encourage you, motivate you but most of all help you find your balance. The fitness industry can be very toxic and sometimes push an "all or nothing" approach, which is not sustainable or healthy.
With that, grab a coffee and a snack and let's chat about our goals this month. I absolutely love setting goals and intentions at the start of the month. They don't have to be crazy big goals and most of the time they are small goals that I want to work towards. I thought I would share some of my goals and perhaps you can write down a few things you want to achieve this month. I like to section my goals into 3 categories: God/Faith | Family & Marriage | Career...but choose the categories that align with you and your values.
God/Faith
Goal 1: Continue writing my book. I have spoken about this a few times, but I am writing a book. It's been in the works for a while and I don't have a strict time frame because I want to enjoy the process rather than put pressure on myself to have it done by a certain date and be stressed out by it.
Goal 2: To be constantly including God and constantly praying. Sometimes I'll get to the end of the day and realise I only prayed that morning. 9 times out of 10, it's a day I feel stressed or moody. Praying throughout the day and leaning on God brings a peace that I can't even explain. It's like a blanket of peace that covers me and keeps me joyful. Best of all, it's free and accessible for everyone. He is always there waiting for us to lean in, we just need to make the move and begin to pray and lean into Him.
Family
Goal 1: Date mornings as well as date nights! Truthfully, our date nights have been a little wishy washy at the moment. Sometimes Luca will wake up before he's supposed to and then one of us tends to him and one of us is trying to finish the housework or cook dinner and date night gets a little...lost. We want to start doing a 'date morning' where we schedule an hour or two where we are baby-free and work-free/phone-free to go for a walk or a sauna or a gym session together or go out to breakfast. Whatever we feel like that week. But the goal here is to leave the house! I know it is a luxury to be able to do this. Brenton and I both work for ourselves and I know this isn't everyones situation, but perhaps you could try an early morning walk before work or a weekend date morning? I also understand that to be able to be baby-free (and have such a hands-on mother in law and sister in law) is a huge privilege. I understand some people have no help at all. You are doing an amazing job. I'll do a blog post on keeping marriage alive amongst sleep deprivation and a new season of parenthood soon. It was a highly requested topic and I LOVE that you guys care about your marriage and want to work on it. So beautiful!
Goal 2: Pack our house and move into our new place and get some new pieces for the new house. Very exciting times! There will be a home series will be coming, of course. I want to show you guys some budget friendly home hacks. I've found some amazing dupes while shopping for our new place. It's a little bigger that our current place so we need a few new pieces.
Career
I only have one goal this month and that is to dedicate particular days to particular aspects and areas of my work. I do lots of different things for 'work'. I have my business, State of Wellness (fitness bands, recipe ebooks, fitness programs, customer service, blog, etc) and the I have my Instagram (creating content for you guys, working with brands, etc) plus, I'm a full-time mama (the biggest and best job of them all). Essentially, I structure and plan my week so that each day there is a clear designated aspect of my work. For example, Monday can be a 'content day' where I batch shoot content for brands, shoot content for my feed, etc. Tuesday can be a writing day, where I will write my blog posts and book. Wednesday can be editing content day and so on. If you're at uni, this method could be really helpful for you too. When I was at uni, this worked really well for me! I would spend 1 day per week focusing on one subject/unit per week, or sometimes I would do AM 1 subject/unit and PM another subject/unit.
So, let's set some goals for you this month.
The biggest thing to remember is that it's not actually the goal, it's the reason behind the goal. For example, someone might want to save money. Why is that their goal? It's not so they can have X amount in the bank, it's because this money will allow them to buy a house or an experience that they are after. If you want to be a morning person, ask yourself "why is that"? Is it because you want to be able to have more time in the day? Is it because you want to get fitter and healthier and getting up early allows you workout and make a nourishing breakfast? Find your reason why you have set these goals and hold onto them. You will not always be motivated, so you have to learn to be disciplined. In the hard times, remember your 'why'. So goals are great, but you need to know the reason behind the goal. Ed Mylett put it perfectly when he said that someone who is self confident is someone who keeps promises to themselves. Keeping promises to yourself means you have a great reputation with yourself and you know that you can trust yourself and your word. If you consistently do what you promise yourself, you will gain self confidence.
You have probably heard about SMART goals. I actually really love the idea of this. The acronym stands for:
S - Specific. You need to be specific. "Save money" is not specific. If your goal is to "save money" and you save 5 cents, you technically have hit your goal. You need to say a specific dollar amount.
M - Measurable. You need to be able to measure this goal. How do you know you have achieved it? In the example above, it would be a numeric number.
A - Achievable/attainable. Can you achieve it? Be realistic! Saying you want to squat 90kg in 2 weeks when you've never strength trained before is not realistic. Make sure your goals are challenging but realistic.
R - Relevant. How much does this mean to you? How is it relevant to you? Does it align with your values? Why is this goal important to you?
T - Time-bound. When do you want to achieve this goal by?
So, put pen to paper and reflect on the following questions
1. What are 3 goals that I want to set for the month of September? (could be faith related, family related, mental, physical, financial, career etc)?
2. What is my word of the month? My word this month is 'intentional'. I want to be more intentional with my time, more intentional when listening to people and in conversation and more intentional with the content I produce (I want to help you guys and this amazing community).
xx