My 2018 Goals and New Year Theme
I absolutely LOVE this time of year because it’s surrounded with so much promise, hope, and desire for change.
Every year, I sit down and take advantage of that energy to plan my entire new year out.
So, as 2018 kicks off, I want to share my goals and theme for the new year!
If this post inspires you to create your own goals, don’t forget to checkout the download below.
It will lead you through 6 actionable steps to create achievable goals in 2018!
I firmly believe that you have to know where you’re coming from in order to know where you’re going. So before I dig too deep, let’s look back to 2017…
I had a lot of great wins, but also a lot of things I wish I would have done better. Things in my business and life started to feel overwhelming and complicated. I frequently felt rushed, bombarded, and dazed. At first I thought it was just the pains of growing a business, but by the end of the year, I realized success doesn’t have to look that way!
This realization lead me to my 2018 New Year Theme… “fun, light, and simple”.
I find that new years themes are more helpful than resolutions because they provide a solid framework and “why”.
I use new year themes to make decisions and assess what I’m currently doing. Rather than saying “my resolution is to simplify my life” (overwhelming and nonspecific), I say “my year should be fun, light, and simple”.
The theme becomes a measuring stick that I can hold everything up to. So if something starts to feel stressful, heavy, or complicated this year, I know I need to re-evaluate.
2018 BIG GOALS
In my last video and blog post I explained how to set achievable goals (so be sure to check that out here if you haven’t yet).
In that post, I mention that step one to setting those goals is to picture where you want to be. When you envision your endgame, it becomes easier to define what you’re really going after (and why you’re doing it).
In fact, that’s how I came up with my new year theme! I knew I wanted to live a simpler, more light life, so I created that motto to hang all my big 2018 goals on.
BIG GOAL #1: MAKE MY PERSONAL LIFE FEEL FUN, LIGHT, & ENJOYABLE
As my business continued to take off last year, I felt myself getting overwhelmed and stressed. Rather than accepting that those feelings are what success looks like, I’m making the decision to recreate my personal life.
This goal is also the theme for my year and dictates all my following big goals.
Because this big goal could sound overwhelming (the opposite of what I’m going for!) I created details that will help me achieve it:
Create a capsule wardrobe.
Declutter apartment.
No scheduled work on Fridays.
No meetings or calls except Tuesdays - Thursdays.
Without those details, my big goal is specific, but not measurable or actionable (check out more about S.M.A.R.T goals here!).
BIG GOAL #2: PRIORITIZE SELF CARE AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
When I began my business I quickly realized that personal development was key. The podcasts I listened to and the books I read shaped my career and helped me be where I am today.
I also noticed that if I wasn’t at my best, neither was my business. Those understandings lead me to this big goal.
While it may not seem as big as shifting to a 4-day work week, it’s critical to the overall picture. Placing a high value on my self-care enables me to live a lighter life. Prioritizing personal development brings me closer to hitting my revenue goal.
But no goal is achievable without specifics… so here is how I plan to prioritize myself and my development this year:
Read at least one book per month.
Work out at least three times a week.
Journal every day.
BIG GOAL #3: INCREASE VISIBILITY & BE CONSISTENT
Consistency… every business owner’s nemesis! It seems like one week we do great at publishing a blog post and getting on social media, and the next week flies by without so much as a Tweet. But this year I’m vowing to change that.
My goal is to increase visibility which will, in turn, force me to be consistent. If I’m on a podcast, I’ll need to be sure there’s a relevant blog post that week, right? Also, increasing my visibility and consistency will help me achieve my revenue goal (see how they all go hand in hand?).
Here’s how I plan to make this goal happen…
12+ podcast interviews.
Publish a book on Amazon.
Email my list every week.
Post on Facebook and Instagram at least three times per week.
Go live on Facebook and Instagram at least two times per month.
BIG GOAL #4: HIT REVENUE GOAL DOING WHAT I LOVE
Now, I do have a revenue goal for the year, but I won’t be sharing the dollar amount. However, I wanted to note two things about the goal.
First, the second part of my big goal is key… notice how I say “doing what I love”. It’s possible that I could go out and hit my revenue goal in a job that drained me. But if I did that, I wouldn’t be achieving my FIRST big goal: making life fun, light, and enjoyable. So not only do my goals go hand in hand, they complement and depend on each other.
Second, as I mentioned in my previous post, revenue goals must be backed with specifics.
So this is how I plan to meet my goal…
Courses, products, and templates.
One on one consulting clients.
Increase affiliate revenue.
Those buckets all have dollar signs attached to them that allow me to create quarterly and even weekly goals to stay on track and achieve my dream.
Well, now you know what my 2018 goals and new year theme are!
I’d love to know what yours are. What does your next year look like? Do you have a new year theme?
If you find you need some help setting your goals for 2018, be sure to download the FREE Goal Setting Workbook so you can work through this for 2018 and each quarter.
