Choosing Goals to Focus on in 2020

Welcome back to the Give Life in 2020 Planning Series! Today we are going to be talking about how to choose goals to focus on in 2020.

If you’re just now joining us, today is Day 4 of 5 in the Give Life in 2020 Planning series.

You can checkout the previous posts in the Give Life in 2020 Planning Series below:

Yesterday you decided what your main focus for 2020 would be, what you would focus on allowing to take root in 2020.

Now we’re going to mine out the actionable goals you can set to help you grow in 2020. We’ll be using the Brainstorming and Organizing Your Goals pages in your 2020 Made to Give Life Seasonal Goal Planner.

Don’t have your 2020 Made to Give Life Seasonal Goal Planner yet? No worries! Click here to get your copy, then come back here and start with Part 1 of the series. I’ll be here waiting when you catch up. 🙂

Choosing goals to focus on in 2020. How to set goals as a Christian woman and grow deep roots in 2020.

As you’ve been working through your 2020 Made to Give Life Seasonal Goal Planner, you’ve been tilling up the soil of your soul.

You’ve been pulling up weeds and uncovering sticking points.

You’ve been identifying the seeds of faith in your life and determining which ones you will nurture in 2020.

Now it’s time to identify and name the goals you want to invest your time and energy into in 2020.

Goals provide a sense of direction and focus.

Goals provide actionable steps to move you toward growth.

Goals provide a measurable way to determine your progress.

There are two types of goals: short-term goals and long-term goals.

Goals that grow for a season are short-term goals, and goals that we nurture and tend each year are long-term goals.

A long-term goal might be to own a used bookshop or go back to school for a Master’s degree.

A short-term goal might be to declutter the house and restore peace in the home.

I talk about long-term goals more at length in my Free Guide to Developing Your Personal Mission Statement. I talk about mission and life purpose in that free series.

You can get the guide here.

Made for Him: Guide to developing your own personal mission statement

The goals you set for 2020 will likely be a mix of long-term and short-term goals.

Pull out your Brainstorming Your Goals page in your 2020 Made to Give Life Seasonal Goal Planner and start jotting down any goals that come to mind.

Think about the various areas of your life: personal, family, church, social, work, home, ministry.

How do you want to grow in 2020?
What relationship do you want to see changes in by the end of 2020?
What do you wish you knew more about?
Is there anything you’ve been neglecting that needs to come back to priority status?
Is there something you want to accomplish?

Don’t forget to think specifically about goals for your One Word for 2020.

Once you’ve jotted down all the goals that come to mind, start organizing your goals into groups.

You can use your Organizing Your Goals page in your Seasonal Goal Planner to help you.

It’s very likely that you have some goals that are similar in nature. Grouping them together will help you choose the main focus and break it down into smaller, actionable steps.

For example, maybe you have on your goals brainstorm list:

Become a better encourager to those in my life.
Read books on gratitude
Write a thank you letter to someone once a month.
Start a gratitude journal

When you group these together, you find that your big picture goal is to “Grow in Gratitude” in 2020.

So, go through your list of goals you just brainstormed and decide if any of them are similar in nature.

Group them together and give them a “Big Picture Goal” title.

2020 Made to Give Life Seasonal Goal Planner

When you’re done, write your list of Big Picture Goals on Your Goals for 2020 planning page in your Seasonal Goal Planner.

Some things worth noting about setting 2020 goals:

You do not have to set TEN goals for 2020.

I provide space for ten goals in the 2020 Made to Give Life Seasonal Goal Planner, but it’s not so you can “aim higher.”

I just wanted to give you plenty of space to grow how you need to in 2020, so choose the goals that you need to focus on right now.

You only need to focus on the season ahead of you.

If the whole year feels daunting to you, that’s okay. Don’t bother trying to set goals for the entire year.

As you work through your 2020 Made to Give Life Seasonal Goal Planner, you’ll be given more opportunities to set new goals throughout the year and make adjustments to the ones you’re setting now.

Last year, I only set three goals and those three goals carried me through the entire year. Sometimes, I believe, less is more.

Don’t worry about whether or not your goals are S.M.A.R.T. goals.

You’ve heard it said, a goal isn’t a goal if it’s not specific, measurable… and whatever else those letters stand for.

I’m telling you to let that go.

Just pick what you need to focus on. Write it down, and don’t worry about if it’s perfect.

Goals are all about focus. Goals give you something to aim at.

Don’t let perfection, or getting it just right, keep you from picking something to focus on.

Releasing myself from having to set goals like “the experts say I should” has made a huge difference in my life.

Numbers don’t motivate me. Experience motivates me.

I think that’s why the Word says to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). God’s goodness is best understood through experience.

If I want to grow in gratitude, sending twelve thank you cards next year probably won’t make much difference.

But if my mind is set on growing in gratitude, and I’m sending thank you cards, reading books, repenting each time I grumble and complain, seeking to encourage more than I correct…

It’s going to have a much larger effect on me because I will experience growth as I discipline myself according to the Word of God. As I taste the fruit of gratitude, I will want more of it.

I don’t know if this makes sense to you, but suffice it to say, if setting goals is daunting. Just take the rules out, and answer this one question: “What are you focused on?”

Remember to think about those repeating themes you wrote down over and over during your time of evaluation.

Those are seed of faith to be nurtured. Think of ways you can turn those themes into goals.

Once you have your Big Picture Goals determined, it’s time to put your Goal Action Plans together. That’s what we’re going to talk about tomorrow.

I’m going to teach you how to take your Big Picture Goal and break it down into actionable steps that will help you see that goal to fruition.

I think this might be my favorite step in the whole process. I can’t tell you how many times this formula for working out an action plan for your goals has made women hug me.

I’m not kidding. Even my mother-in-love had to admit this method is pretty spectacular. 🙂

So come back tomorrow. I’ll share with you my secret for eliminating overwhelm and putting together a plan of action to get things done in 2020.

Don’t have your 2020 Made to Give Life Seasonal Goal Planner yet? Now is a perfect time to change that! Click here to get your Seasonal Goal Planner, and then come back here and finish the series with your planner in hand. Not sure if you the Seasonal Goal Planner is for you? Not worries, click here to get all the details.

You can checkout all the posts in the Give Life in 2020 Planning Series below: