I love goal setting! I love dreaming up all kinds of ways that my life could be better and making that my goal. Like losing weight. Who doesn’t want to lose a few pounds? It’s easy to set that as a goal! Or having a tidy house. Yep, check that box too; it’s another goal of mine. I have a goal of reading more, of being a more engaged parent, of indulging in my own creative hobbies, spending more time with my spouse – all of these are goals of mine. They are great goals… but having the goal is not enough to achieve the goal!

I remember when I first learned about S.M.A.R.T. goals. If you don’t know about S.M.A.R.T. goals, I will give you a very brief description.

Essentially, it provides a system to break down your goal to make it more achievable.

S – Specific – this is about being as specific as you can about your goal!

M – Measurable – you want to use some type of method to track the progress of your goal

A – Achievable – this is a way of predetermining if your goal is actually doable.

R – Relevant – does the goal actually add value or relevance to your life?

T – Time-bound – set a deadline that will help you determine the goal’s success or may simply be a stop deadline so that you can reasses and set new goals.

The system is great as far as providing some structure. It digs deeper than simply saying, “My goal is to have a clean house!”

BUT…

I find that even using this process, I can never be specific enough. I feel like I am setting myself millions of little goals following these letters, which just makes me feel overwhelmed and like I have failed before I get started. It still doesn’t give me any idea of how to set up my habits so that I can truly get some headway on achieving my goals!

Looking at the big picture of your final goals will rarely help you actually achieve them! Deciding what small thing you can do every single day instead will almost automatically ensure you reach your goals eventually.

Too often, we put ample pressure on setting or visualizing our goals. But no one talks about how you actually put in the work to achieve them.

It’s not nearly as simple as having a goal and working your butt off.

The apparent ease of accomplishing your goals comes in the tiny daily decisions you make about how you spend your time!

If I have a goal of losing weight but sit on the couch all day, I’m probably going to be disappointed with my progress or success rate. If instead, I have a goal of losing weight, and decide to go for a 20 minute walk at least 3 times per week, I will feel more proud of my progress and might even be able to “measure” a pound or two lost! The goal doesn’t actually matter if there are no small daily habits leading you towards the results that you want.

It’s a give and take

You can’t expect something from nothing. You’ve got to give your time to your habits in order to get to where you want to be.

If my goal is to have a tidier house, but I spend my day shopping for new things, rather than actually tidying the house – then not only am I not using my time to tidy, I am also bringing in more stuff to have to tidy! Neither shopping nor spending my time out of the house help me on my quest for a tidier house! The only way to get a tidier house is to set daily habits or do daily tasks that make me tidy my house.

All you need is a 6-pack!

Create a list of 6 things that help you achieve the goal you want. So, let’s go back to the goal of having a tidier house. Pick 6 things you can do daily (or maybe some days you already do them) and try your best to do them every day. If you miss a day or two, no big deal. But do your best not to miss more than two in a row.

Here’s an example of my household 6-pack

1. Have nothing on the stairs when I go upstairs to bed. (meaning that ANYTHING that is on the stairs throughout the day is fine, but by the time I am heading up to bed, it ALL MUST be put away)
2. Have a clean, empty sink at bedtime. (meaning that any dishes must be cleaned and the sink must be drained of dirty water or little food bits)
3. Always put shoes away. (meaning that any time I come into the house, I must put my shoes away properly. I can have only one pair accessible at any one time!)
4. Set up the coffee. (I love my morning coffee. Nothing makes me happier than sipping on it while the sun rises, but sometimes, there’s clutter in front of it. So this one is about ensuring there are coffee beans in the hopper, wiping the coffee machine so that it looks clean, and clearing the clutter from in front of the machine)
5. Put away the laundry ASAP. (meaning that as soon as I can when the dryer is done, the load must be folded and put away.
6. Tidy and clean a surface. (meaning one surface, any surface, must be tidied and wiped each day)

Each one of the items is pretty easy and simple to complete. It’s what makes the process so powerful. The other part of it is telling yourself that this 6-pack IS the priority. Nothing else is worth the stress. Just focus on these 6 items. When they’re done, you can move on, and any other tidying is a bonus. Each thing should feel so easy to do that you could tell yourself to just do it now, why not? Of course I can put my shoes away! It should probably be a no-brainer, but sometimes, those simple things are what cause the most clutter frustration.

My 6-pack will look different from your 6-pack because everyone will have different priorities. Just pick 6 things to do that align with your goal. Make them basic, simple, and easily doable! Then, forget about your goal and simply try your hardest to complete your 6-pack EVERY DAY! I, 100% guarantee, that if you fulfill your 6-pack daily for, let’s say, 2 months, you will be well on your way to a tidier house or whatever your goal is!

It’s not enough sometimes to set a goal for something that you truly want. It’s not even enough sometimes to set a S.M.A.R.T. goal. But if you can master creating your 6-pack lists and nail down 6 core tasks that you can pretty easily do daily, you will be achieving a new goal every couple of months!

So, go get your 6-pack in order and crush it!

Thanks for coming home!