Tips For Setting Grace-filled Goals

6 Tips for Setting Grace-filled Goals {+ FREE Bonus} Sweet friends, you might be cringing at the name of this blog post or maybe your type A personality can’t wait to read more because you live for setting goals- either way, keep reading because there just might be a bonus at the end ;)I don’t know how this hits you, but regardless, before we dig too deep into goals, I want to say that you are enough- yes, YOU- right where you are and exactly as you are. Please, please don’t ever feel less than by starting to compare your goals- or lack thereof- to someone else’s {been there, done that- still do at times}… be confident in who YOU are and whose YOU are and focus on your life aligning with how you’ve been uniquely created, okay? So, with all of that being said, why do I encourage goals with my clients you ask? Well that’s because we are given one life mamas and I believe we are to steward it well. Sometimes stewarding it well means barely getting out of bed to put one foot in front of the other. If that’s the case for you, then please just celebrate that first foot on the floor moment and focus on surviving right now- and, don’t shy away from seeking out help and support- it’s one of the best gifts you can give yourself! Other times we are in a more “normal”/standard season and we find ourselves going about life pretty consistently… Possibly everything is pretty status quo, no really high highs, nor any really low lows… when we are in this type of season, I believe it is all too easy to just keep doing things the way we’ve been doing them {I see this time and time again in my own life and in my client’s lives}… and some might even say, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it”. Yet, I don’t agree with that. In my training and life experience, if we aren’t growing consistently, we can end up in a really not so great place. We wake up one morning and suddenly realize our life is passing us by, we realize that all those things we’ve always wanted to do aren’t getting done. And, we realize that we feel stuck, unfulfilled, unsure of our purpose and our worth. We find ourselves not being the healthiest version for our people and our community- I can tell you firsthand, it’s a really yucky place to be. Keeping that in mind, as valuable as it can be to really get clarity on your life + family purpose statement, your vision, mission and values, I believe goals are so very helpful in keeping us “on track”. They enable us to live with intention and steward our days well. Goals also provide such great encouragement as we can gauge progress we’ve made and growth we’ve experienced. Okay, friends, let’s dive into 6 tips on goal-setting, all the while remembering that we are filling these goals with grace because life happens! TIP 1- Journal and ask yourself what is the END goal in my life and what is the END result I am after. Then, reflect on what was working really well and what wasn’t over the last year. Perhaps make 2 columns one entitled “what worked” and one entitled “what didn’t work”.  TIP 2- Have 2, or more lists- writing all the goals in one big list isn’t super helpful… separate overarching life goals/ideas from more day to day goals and tasks. I often see 2 extremes with this- either REALLY big goals and no day to day goals OR small goals that are more like daily tasks and don’t include dreams, life vision, etc. TIP 3- Break down your goals into chunks - essentially developing yearly goals and then quarterly goals that become daily tasks. That being said, I am a HUGE proponent of the 90-day year- essentially focus on the next 90-days and how to live the most intentionally in that period… then address the next 90-days. Often times, with children in the picture, it just feels like there are too many moving parts and there’s no way to make any progress so we might as well just not make goals- this 90-day approach will help, trust me. TIP 4- Get with your spouse or a friend you really trust and ask them “What’s it like to be on the other side of me?”. Get their take on what they see going on in your life. Ask them where they see you excelling {so you can continue doing those things} and ask them where they see room for growth {so that you can build out intentional goals to start addressing those areas}. TIP 5- Involve your children in this part of your story- the part where you want to live intentionally by making good choices. Encourage them to understand your goals and let them be involved in some way. Maybe one of your goals is to have a daily quiet time but they seem to get up early too- why not encourage them to read their Bible at the same time or color in a young children’s Bible workbook/study? Or read your study aloud, or just share with them that it’s important time for you to be the best woman, best wife and best mom so you need them to respect that and entertain themselves for those quiet time minutes. How much could their involvement encourage their little hearts? TIP 6- Addition by subtraction- it is so easy especially in this culture of more, more, more to get wrapped up in thinking that if I just add some tasks, some more organization, some more systems, etc. it’ll all miraculously get done… mamas, you and I both know that all the tools in the world don’t fix an over-stuffed, max capacity life! You HAVE to say no to things, you have to remove things to fit new things in. As I often say, “Say no to the good, so you can say yes to the best!”BONUS tip: Align your goals with your values- in doing so, you’re so much more apt to feel motivated and inspired by them… Feel like they might be different than they were years ago? That’s completely normal, don’t worry! Many people really aren’t sure what their values are without some coaching and reflection. Aren’t sure about yours? Click here to get your own FREE Values Guide for Setting Grace-filled Goals- just enter your email and it will go straight to your inbox! Bio-Katie Crocombe, the founder of Flourish + Co, is a professional life coach who partners with women to design an intentional life. Katie is passionate about encouraging women by sharing her grace-filled story in an effort to remind them of their worth and that they are so worth celebrating! *  Friends, are you tired of feeling like you aren’t enough? Are you a mom who thought she’d find her purpose in motherhood and didn’t? Are you a woman who at the end of the day is really just feeling unfulfilled and unsure of what the next best steps are for you in life? Are you one of the 60% of women who doesn't know her purpose?Then please know that there is no shame only celebration in recognizing this, and do yourself and those around you a favor and just email Katie at hello@flourishandco.com.She will partner with you simplify, organize, uncover your unique purpose, help you set grace-filled goals, hold you accountable, challenge you and help you say no to the good so you can say yes to the best.And, since Katie is a friend of Reese & Rowe and is just officially launching the Flourish + Co website + blog this month, she is offering ALL readers 10% off her professional life coaching packages that are booked in 2017 and an additional $100 off packages booked by 2/28 with the code RRFCLAUNCH!!!You can also follow along on Instagram- her favorite- for consistent encouragement and tips on living an intentional life!! @flourishandco_