My 10 Goals for 2016

Happy almost 2016! I can't believe how fast Christmas came and went. It blows my mind every single year how quickly December goes. The only good thing about Christmas being over is that it is time to celebrate a new year.

I've been working through the prep for the 2016 Lara Casey Powersheets to help me decide on my goals. It has been REVOLUTIONARY for my goal setting. Instead of feeling like I absolutely can't fail, I'm giving myself some grace and know that it's okay to not chase perfect. It's more important to chase progress. So even if every checkmark box doesn't get filled each day, each week, each month, it's OK as long as I'm still progressing.

So without further adieu, there are TEN goals that I've set. And yes that might be an outrageous amount, but I don't plan on focusing on each one every single month. I'm just taking these goals, and adding the action ideas to my tending lists for each month to tackle what feels most important to me that month. Some things will sit on the backburner each month and some will be a priority every single month.

+ GOAL ONE: Find Creative Ways to Worship 

My sweet parents got me a Journaling Bible for Christmas and I am so excited to dig into that. I set a goal to read ONE book in the Bible a month. I've also pre-ordered the Write the Word Volume 1 Journal to use. I also plan to continue attending the temple 2x a month with my husband and having a monthly Ponderize scripture. We were created by a creative being, and I believe that by stretching myself creatively in worship will help me become closer to God.

+ GOAL TWO: Use the Internet for Good

I find myself mindlessly scrolling through social media far too often. I plan on taking #socialmediafreeweekends all year. This is going to be so hard. I did a trial run last weekend and caved a few times. I'm trying to figure out what to do with all the free time I have without being on social media. LOL! I plan on continuing my Monday in the Word series and sharing a weekly goal setting periscope every Monday morning as well. Another goal is to share a monthly family update on my blog and use NO SOCIAL MEDIA AFTER 9 PM. How much time could I spend in the scriptures or with my husband if I wasn't so attached to my phone at 9 pm. This will also be hard.

+ GOAL THREE: Tend to my Marriage

Make the bed every single morning. Colten loves a clean house more than anything. And when I make the bed it makes him so happy. He is 100% an acts of service love language. I also told Colten I wanted to plan two overnight getaways. We have a gift certificate we purchased this weekend to use at Anniversary Inn so we will be scheduling our first one soon! I want to write him a love note every week and read a book about marriage. I also plan to buy him a surprise at least once throughout the year. Whether big or small, just something that shows how much I love him.

+ GOAL FOUR: Take Control of Our Finances

I'll be real specific here folks. We've been using $500/paycheck from my paycheck to pay off our down payment mortgage. We should have that paid off in 4-5 months which is super exciting because we have been working super hard to pay that off. We also auto save $100/paycheck and I want to make sure that even though our goal is to pay off debt that we also are continuing to build our emergency fund. I want to complete a personal no spend month. No eating out while working, no Diet Coke runs, no new clothes, books, etc. Just one month of not spending money I don't need to. I want to donate some of my personal money each month (it's kinda like a grown up allowance so Colten and I don't have to get permission for all personal purchases) to causes that I care about. We are also building our food storage so I want to buy one thing for food storage each month.

+ GOAL FIVE: Take Care of Myself Emotionally

I want to plan one refresh day a month where the entire day is open and dedicated to recharging my personal batteries. I might have to work during the day, but the evening will be for me. I want to walk my dogs 1x a month, which I know is ridiculously low, but they get to run around our yard and we just don't take them on walks. But I want to. I plan on getting ready head to toe every single day. I work from home so I can be slobby/lazy in my appearance. Which was nice for awhile, and it's nice I can wear leggings every day, but it's done a number on my self esteem. On the days I get ready I feel so much better about myself. I'm also going to get my hair done 2x at least this year. It's been over 6 months since I last got it lightened and I am dying to be blonde again. I also plan on doing some capsule wardrobing and one big surprise for me is to get a massage this year, which I have never done!

+ GOAL SIX: Be an Encourager

I feel like I have been given the gift of being an encourager. However, I am shy and have social anxiety and struggle to reach out. I set some goals I want to try and reach this year, but will give myself lots of grace and praise for what I do accomplish. I want to invite someone over for dinner one Sunday every month, go visiting teaching and put my phone away when I'm with ANYONE. I am planning on hosting a Galentine's party again in February but truth be told I'm terrified. I also want to donate to good causes and send out "Happy mail" to someone at least 1x a month.

+ GOAL SEVEN: Improve my Eating Habits

I plan to meal prep my lunches for my work week. It may not be much, but it is do-able for me and I think it will make a big difference. Hopefully by July I can start meal prepping my breakfasts too. I want to stop eating when I'm full + eat slowly. Drink only 1 soda per day and eat only 1 dessert per day. My sweet tooth is OUT OF CONTROL. I also want to study the Word of Wisdom in Doctrine & Covenants to really understand God's perspective on eating/taking care of my body.

+ GOAL EIGHT: Improve Self Physically

Walk on the treadmill during my work breaks. This adds up to 30 minutes per day. I have been doing this for awhile now and it is so convenient and fun! I read or watch Netflix while I walk and love the break from work. I got a Fitbit for Christmas and am wearing it for awhile to get a feel for how many steps a day I take and will set a stretch goal to start reaching for. Go to bed at 10:30 and wake up at 7:00 am. Do yoga sun salutations 5 minutes per day. Walk the dogs 1x per month and stretch before bed. January I am focusing on my treadmill walking & my Fitbit. Everything else may come later.

+ GOAL NINE: Prepare to be a Mom

We are getting closer to starting a family! (My mother is probably so happy about this lol!) There are so many things I can do to prepare. I want to continue building our savings so if we have an expensive hospital baby we have savings to help, I want to tour a birth center and read books about pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. I also want to look up some classes in my area about birthing. (aka Bradley, Hypnobirthing, all that jazz) Another exciting thing is we are going to start taking the steps to be approved for adoption/foster care. Ever since we were married Colten and I have talked about the possibility of fostering and adopting children. We decided this year we want to take the steps to be approved including doing a home study. I'm not sure how this will all play out or what God's plan is with this, but we want to be ready for anything.

+ GOAL TEN: Pray More!

Scripture reading comes pretty easy to me, but prayer for some reason becomes an afterthought, which is totally backwards I'm sure. I want to write out some prayers in my journaling Bible, and ask my Facebook friends for prayer requests. I've started a prayer list on my phone of all the times I think "I should pray for them..." or "I should pray for that..." or "I'm so grateful for this..." so that way when it comes time for me to pray, I am prepared with all the things I've been waiting to tell my Heavenly Father. I want to read a book about prayer and ask on Twitter for more prayer requests.



Phwew that was a long post. I would love to hear what some of your goals are so be sure to leave them in the comments below! You can also tweet me about them @brooklynjolley and I'd love to chat. Happy goal setting loves!