Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

Our family had a blast spending some time together for Thanksgiving last week.  I was beginning to wonder what kind of week it would be when we started the week tired and with a little one throwing up.  Thankfully we didn’t have any big travel plans and have gotten past that little spurt of sickness now everyone seems to be on the mend.    Over the Thanksgiving week together we laughed, snuggled, read books, worked on projects, ate delicious food, went shopping, put up the Christmas tree, and just had fun relaxing as well as doing stuff around the house.    I am thankful for a wonderful family and an opportunity to spend some extra time together.

Here is the update on last weeks goals:

Family Goals

1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
2. Read a book to the girls everyday
3. Have the girls read 1 book to me 5 days this week – didn’t make do it 5 days
4. Do devotions with the girls every night (sometimes it gets late and we rush to get them into bed) – not quite every night
5. Spend extra time with my family over the Thanksgiving Holiday

Personal Goals

1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – the first half of the week went well
2. Go to bed by 10:30 or earlier on Monday and Tuesday

Home Management Goals

1. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
2. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
3. Dinner on the table by 5:30 PM (Monday through Wednesday)
4. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
5. Put up the Christmas Tree

Business Goals

1. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk – my desk was buried by the end of the weekend, time with the family took priority
2. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week

Ministry Goals

1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

Financial Goals

1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4 – ahem….this one didn’t happen with birthday and Holidays, my sweet husband did a trip for me which brought it up as well. 
2. Pay off remaining debt – working on it
3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses – on hold until the debt is paid off

Here are my goals for the upcoming week:

Family Goals

1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
2. Read a book to the girls everyday
3. Have the girls read 1 book to me 5 days this week
4. Do devotions with the girls every night (sometimes it gets late and we rush to get them into bed)
5. Get the girls passport pictures taken

Personal Goals

1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
2. Go to bed by 10:30 or earlier on Monday and Tuesday
3. Finish reading  The Money Saving Mom’s Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and Save Thousands a Year by Crystal Paine who has a blog called Money Saving Mom (VERY excited about the opportunity to preview this book by a blogger I have been following for years and thankful to be featured on her blog weekly with the Save A Lot Deals!)
4. Listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (I am going through this book with my Community Group)

Home Management Goals

1. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
2. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
3. Dinner on the table by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday)
4. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
5. File the receipts and coupons for the last couple of months.

Business Goals

1. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
2. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
3. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
4. Review my 2011 Business Goals and start planning ones for 2012

Ministry Goals

1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
3. Make at least $25 towards my Creative Cash goal this week so I can give more to others.
4. Deliver a meal to a new Mom.

Financial Goals

1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
2. Pay off remaining debt
3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses

I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

Why Share My Goals?

• To keep me accountable
• To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
• To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
• Create healthy habits in my life
• To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results