I can not believe 2017 is almost over and yet, I really can. This year was such a year of growth for me and my family. What started out as another year of trying to survive financially and the day to day overwhelm, turned into something beautiful, blessed and so meaningful. How I made that happen was by literally looking at my life and saying “This is NOT working. How am I going to change this?”

It took a few months for that change to happen and also a willingness and openness to the “new”. I am seriously blessed and amazed at how much fell into my lap this year. I’m also amazed at how putting myself out there has opened new opportunities. I’m telling you . . . growth. It’s amazing to let yourself grow.

As I head into 2018, I am so excited for what’s to come. There is uncertainty and believe me, I’m pushing back fears about all the unknowns, but I’m also encouraging myself to leap and not be afraid of falling. Fear has crippled me so much in the past and now it’s time to push it aside and show my girls what a strong, fearless woman I can be.

I thought it would be fun, instead of blogging about podcasts this month, to take a look at 2017, 2018, and how I set meaningful goals for myself and my family.

So what worked in 2017?

1. Letting go of my product based business in it’s current iteration. Now I’m working on printables and searching in my heart for what’s next. What has resulted is a business that is thriving and an industry I’m excited to a part of. Products will always be a huge part of my heart and mission with Creative Biz Rebellion, but it was time to move on.
2. Homeschool has been a huge blessing. We’ve achieved a home culture that we wanted. There is still work to do but I’m loving the childhood we are creating for our girls.
3. Creative Biz Rebellion. That podcast has been the biggest blessing to my life as has my cohost. I seriously can not imagine life before CBR and Kelly and I’m so excited to see where we go in the future.
4. Getting organized. My life felt incredibly chaotic. All. The. Time. I decided to organize almost every aspect of my life which at first sounded exhausting, but honestly, it has been amazing for my sanity.
5. Sticking to my guns when it comes to my schedule. I seriously can not state this enough. My kids are number one and so my schedule has to match theirs, especially since we homeschool. It’s easy to let things creep in and take over their time but sticking to it has made things so much more peaceful.

What did not work in 2017?

1. Lack of date nights. Mama needs to get better at these ASAP and cultivating my relationship with my husband. So hard when we are so busy but so necessary.
2. Not taking care of myself. While I’m pretty good at keeping everyone at my house happy, I’m pretty bad at letting myself go and not taking the time to make sure I’m healthy. I had a serious reality check this past year and now I’m making me a priority too.
3. Not having systems. At the beginning of 2017, I had no systems. Now I’m a Trello, Dubsado loving girl and it has made my life SO much easier. This is something I’m determined to stick to from now on.
4. Trying to work while schooling. I mean, seriously. The two have to be separate to work and I kept trying to be wonder woman and do them all at once. Having those separations are so so important.

Moving forward, I know that I have to keep every thing in the same pile when I’m goal setting, instead of separating it all out. My life and family goals effect my business goals and vice versa.

So here are a few of my goals for 2018:

1. Create content consistently in an authentic way. Excited about this one.
2. Regain some peace in my home. Slow down when the time calls for it and relish my girls while they are young.
3. Create some passive income.
4. Connect more with people including those in my podcast community.
5. Headstand. It was my goal this year and I almost got there. I’m going after it again in 2018.

These certainly are not all of them but this is a good place to start. The other thing to consider is that each goal can be broken down even more into action items and steps. I am super pumped to tackle these things and really make 2018 a year that counts.

Some tools I use to help:

1. Powersheets. I LOVE this thing. It really helps me dive deep into what I’m thinking and taking the time to work through them has been amazing
2. Google Calendar. My new love. This baby syncs with everything in my life. Everything.
3. Trello. I’m mapping out a lot of my business goals in Trello and creating timelines and checklists.
4. Inkwell Press Planner. I love this planner and it loves me.

So my encouragement to you is to take the time to reflect and think about next year. It has been such a blessing in my life to work through and set actual goals and it is something I plan on continuing for years to come. What are some of your big goals for 2018?

I feel like goal setting has always been an ugly thing for me. It has never worked. I would set goals, wouldn’t track them and would not accomplish them. Then an even uglier cycle of guilt and resentment would start.

This year feels different. I’ve realized that there are many areas of my life that need “work”. Not in the “my life is a wreck” sense, but in the “things are so good. Let’s keep the momentum” way.

Let’s take a look at everything I do:

• Homeschool my kids
• run a household
• Run a product based business
• Creative Biz Rebellion Podcast and more
• podcast production

It’s a lot and sometimes it can feel very overwhelming. I knew going into this year (yes I’m starting my year in July) that I would need more clarity and more direction to make the things I want to make happen, happen. So I decided the best course of action would be to try my hand at goal setting again.

Why will it work this time? Because I’m ready. Let me say it again: I’m ready.

I don’t think you can do anything well until you are fully and completely ready to commit. I realize that in the past, I have not been in a place where I was ready to make goals and keep them. Part of my goal setting this year is to change that. I’m going to become the type of person who sets goals!

So, how am I doing it?

I have a few tools that I’m working through and loving. I recently picked up the Cultivate What Matters Powersheets by Lara Casey. In all honesty, I’ve purchased them before and not used them. I have actually been sitting down and working through them like a boss! I love that it is spiral bound and I can tote it anywhere.

Now, the powersheets are not a planner but a goal tracker. To help me keep my planning in place, I’m using the Inkwell Press planner. This will be my home and hub for #allthethings. Last year, I had 3 planners: one for homeschool, one for home and one for work. This did not work for me so I decided to commit to the Inkwell Press planner. Best part? They built in some goal setting pages and tracking too so I was able to transfer some of my work from the powersheets to the planner.

Lastly, I’m still BFFs with my buddy Trello. Trello is where I house all my nitty gritty work things and where I manage the many projects I’m working on. Some of what is in Trello will be in multiple places and vice versa but it serves a very different purpose from my planner and powersheets.

I’m excited to see where my goal setting and planning journey takes me. I’m also very excited for my word of the year: Harmony. This is the year I make it all work so my life and work are less stressful and peaceful.

So, I’m curious: what roadblocks have kept you from goal setting?