Sometimes between juggling children their endless activities, school runs, laundry, cooking, cleaning and everything else in between I find myself watching my goals and dreams slide away. I’m not always the best *I’m pretty rotten* at organising my time effectively. I sometimes feel like I float around not quite getting there. Something since Olive was born has plateaued. The fire in my belly is gone. What better way to give myself a virtual kick up the bum than a new year.
Teacherboards offered me 2 boards to review and I had visions in my head of a beautifully designed goals list which would keep me going . Daddy Moo also in need of a kick up the organisational bum opted for a magnetic dry wipe board for his office in our bedroom and I went for a magnetic chalk board. Imagine my surprise when two ENORMOUS boards arrived! I have a serious tendency to underestimate sizes. I have literally no spacial awareness. I’m that person insisting that the new sofa will fit in that small space. It really will. Of course it won’t! The wall space in my office is quite limited and if you follow me on Instagram you will know Daddy Moo recently built a radiator cover and all our Harry Potter memorabilia is being displayed on the hall wall. I started to panic that I wouldn’t have anywhere to home this magnificent beast! I’m also not the tallest of people AND I didn’t want random people (ie. couriers, handymen and the likes) being able to read my goals. We therefore decided to hang the chalkboard portrait instead of the traditional landscape (which Daddy Moo went for no vision 😉 ). Nestled between my shelving and Harry Potter wall at the perfect height for me to go nuts on! Teacherboards have a variety of sizes to suit all budgets and wall space.
I’m a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to writing I like everything to be neat and the same size letters I knew it would drive me nuts having chalk dust everywhere. I’d been sent some earthy coloured chalk pens to review which stated they were perfect for whiteboards, glass, chalkboards and paper. I must admit I was a little dubious that they would be any good but OMG they are amazing! These pens have dried on my chalkboard in a matt finish like you would expect from chalk and yet on Daddy Moo’s white board have dried glossy like dry wipe markers! #mindblown They easily wipe off with a wet wipe and don’t leave any mess behind. The earthy coloured chalk pens work well with the vibrant pack each pack contains between 8/10 pens and are priced from £10.
I’ve divided my board into areas.
Monthly Mini Goals :
I started by writing January at the top the board and then added my mini month goals. The reason behind doing this is that each month I will need to remove the month and add the new one. The action of doing this will make me assess the previous month.
Monthly Dates & Weekly Schedule :
My MIL bought me a great planner from Flying Tiger which is a week per page. This is handy for deadlines/children’s activities/meetings and means I get to use the magnet aspect of the board. I also added the key dates of the month so I didn’t double book myself and can plan my week accordingly.
The top half of the board will be rubbed out on a monthly basis. Not only can I visually see my goals EVERYDAY. I will physically have to assess them each month and I’m hoping this will motivate me to work harder, plan better and achieve them.
2017 Goals :
I’ve written down 6 large goals for 2017. Both business and personal, a few of the personal goals rely also on achieving my business goals. Seeing the goals written down is seriously motivating. I remember last year I made a mood board at Lemur Linkup BUT then put it in a draw and basically forgot about it. This Teacherboards act just lie a visual cue. I find myself already thinking about how I will reach the goals, what baby steps I need to make, what information I need to find out. I also ensured the goals varied in both size and time constraint to keep me motivated.
When writing your goals you need to ensure they are SMART.
- Specific : Make sure your target or goal is well defined.
- Measurable : You need to know if the goal is obtainable and when it’s been achieved.
- Achievable : Try not to make your goal to easy or too hard.
- Realistic : It’s OK to dream big but ensure your goals are within realistic reach and actually attainable. If your goal is massive set smaller mini goals. Unrealistic goals aren’t very motivating.
- Time based : A year is a long time but one that will come around fast. Don’t get to 2018 and realise you haven’t achieved your goals. Set a date, this will spur you on and keep you on track. It’s also a perfect time to reassess where you are at.
Further Reading on Goal Setting : Mums in Business Round-up | Goal Setting
Word of the Year :
I’ve seen before on Leonie Dawson’s Facebook page the idea of having a word of the year. I toyed with grow or believe but in the end decided my 2017 word would be DOUBLE.
I want to :
- Double my social media following : According to my Social Stats counter in the sidebar I’m sat at 12,800 by January next year I’d like to hit 25,400. This is a rough number as I’m sure if you add Charlie Moo’s Facebook, Email Subscribers and took out duplicates it would be completely different. But for the purpose of this goal and consistency this is the number I will use to ascertain if I have achieved my goal.
- Double my income : I can easily track this goal (by staying on target with my accounts!). As I have multiple income streams it will give me a chance to work on each stream a little every month, especially the passive ones.
- Double my traffic : I know it’s not completely accurate but for ease of use and speed I shall be using Jet Pack insights. Every year I have steadily increased my traffic but this year I really want to make an impact.
- Double my time : I need to organise my working day better. I easily get distracted by social media and regularly come off task. I also found myself a lot last year stating I don’t have time, when in reality I had plenty of time I just used them badly. Being more efficient with my time will increase my income too.
Of course I let the children write a goal on the board too.
Charlie : Watch an Arsenal Football Match at Emirates Stadium
Megan : Win a dance competition
Olive : Ride a pony (which considering she has riding lessons twice a month isn’t hard!)
Do you have a goal based planning board for 2017?
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I was sent 2 Teacherboards and 2 packs of Chalkola Pens in order to write a review. Both items directly from the brand it just so happened they went together so well.
