October Smart Goals & What I Learned In September

It is the start of a new month, which means it is time to set some smart goals and reflect on the month that has passed by. This is quickly becoming my favorite post of the month to write. And I have to tell you, going public with my goals helped keep me motivated on working on them!

What I learned in September.

Blog- I was struck by the power of Pinterest. I completed Blog Clarity’s Pinning Perfect e-course with blog clarity and revamped six old posts. Those six posts are all currently sitting in my top ten posts with the most traffic. For some of them, I completely reworked the entire post. Others just got a new graphic. All of the time spent behind the scenes paid off.

 September blog goals hit:

• Completed Blog Clarity’s  Pinning Perfect e-course
• Revamp 3 old posts (revamped six).
• Develop a better system for social media

September blog goals missed:  

• Sell six posts as a virtual assistant.
• Participate in The Influence Network’s forums. This one would have been it, but the forums were down for the first part of the month.

Life-  I crave rest. I am learning so much about the power of rest and what it means for us as a family unit to rest. Part of the reason why I didn’t hit all of my blog goals was because I have started to rest more with Michael in the evenings. I used to think that rest meant laying down or napping. But what I am learning is that rest means to give your body and mind a chance to chill out. Michael and I have been enjoying weekly couch dates twice a week. It has done so much for our marriage and my mind. I really loved this post by my friend Tara at Family Sport Life about Hitting The Pause Button On Life where she speaks about the power of rest.

September life goals hit:

• Go on a date with my husband. Couch dates totally count!
• Earn $500.00. For the month of September I earned $508.00!
• Send five pieces of snail mail.
• Run/walk 40 miles. Lola and I walk a 2.5 mile loop every weekday that it isn’t raining.

September life goals missed:

• Organize and attend a girls night out.

Motherhood- I was struck this month at just how happy and fulfilled I am to be at home with my kids. I love getting to wait outside in the morning with Malone as he goes to school and I adore picking him up. During the day, Lola and I run errands together or play. This is the first time in a really long time that I’ve really felt content with the life The Lord has called me to lead.

Motherhood goals hit:

• Take Malone on a date. Lucky me! We snuck out for one on one time three times!
• Sell, donate, or hand down five totes of toys and clothing.
• Wean Lola off her middle of the night bottles.

Motherhood goals missed:

• Complete Malone and Lola’s birthday thank you cards.
• Take a family hike.

 

And now on to October goals!

You should know that I set SMART goals.

These goals are:

• Specific
• Measured
• Action based
• Realistic
• Time Bound .

Setting smart goals is the only way I know how to actually hit my goals.

Sure, I could say something like “I want to lose weight.” But what does that even mean? How would I measure my success?

A better idea of a smart goal about weight loss would be “I want to lose five pounds in the month of October.”

My October Smart Goals.

Blog

• Revamp three old posts.
• Complete my new series, 31 Days of Blogger Rehab.
• Pitch to ten companies for my holiday gift guide.
• Sell three blog posts as virtual assistant.

Life

• Complete Whole 30.
• Go on a date with my husband.
• Organize and attend a girls night out.
• Sent five pieces of snail mail.

Motherhood

• Turn in the back to school paper work that has been sitting on my desk since the first day of school.
• Go through Lola’s outgrown clothing. Pack away, donate, hand down, or sell them.
• Take Malone on a date.

 There you have it. My smart goals for the month of October!

What smart goals are you setting this month? What did you learn in September?

Linking this post up with Emily Freeman’s What I Learned and The Tiny Twig’s Goals With Grace.