Each year I set goals for myself that are in line with my four priorities:  faith, family, work, and personal growth.  At the beginning of each month I sit down and take a look at the progress I have made (or not made!) on those goals so that I can create a plan for the upcoming month.

 

 

Then, at the end of the year, I try to evaluate things.  What worked?  What didn’t work?  Why?

 

I’ll be honest.  This year I didn’t reach all of my goals.  In fact, I didn’t reach most of them.  As I have been thinking this over the past few days, I have come up with a few possible reasons:

 

• The goal is no longer important to me.  For example, I have decided not to put much time at all into my Teachers Pay Teachers shop at the moment.  Instead I am focusing all of my “business energy” on the blog.

 

• The goal needed another person in order to accomplish it.  A few of the goals were dependent on my husband.  And, since he has been REALLY busy this year finishing up his dissertation, I just wasn’t able to make the goal work.  For example, I did not take my spiritual retreat this year because my husband has been working each weekend.

 

• The goal was based on someone else’s goals instead of my own.  Finally, I had a few goals this year that reflected other people’s priorities instead of mine.  And, while they may be perfectly wonderful things for other people, because I didn’t have total buy in, they didn’t become a priority in my life.  For example, I did not start another form of social media for The Orthodox Mama.  I am pretty content right now with my Pinterest and Facebook pages, and I never felt really motivated to start another.

 

Altogether, here is how I did on:

My Goals for 2016

 

 

Spiritual Goals

1. Read through the Old Testament

I did not finish this goal.  I read a substantial portion, but did not complete the Old Testament.  For next year, I am looking into some kind of study to help motivate me in my Scripture reading.  Does anyone have suggestions for good Orthodox studies?

 

2. Read one spiritual book each month

I did it!  I was able to read one spiritual book this month, and truly enjoyed doing so.  I am very thankful to my spiritual father for suggesting this goal and will likely have the same goal next year.

 

3. Take a one day retreat of silence and prayer

As I mentioned above, because of my husband’s schedule and dissertation work, this goal did not happen.  I still have hopes for a later year!

 

 

Family Goals

4. Go on one family outing each month

This is one of my favorite goals!  Our family loves spending time together, but sometimes that takes work and planning.  By setting this goal of having one family outing per month, I give myself that little push I need to make time.

 

5. Have one date night a month (in or out of house).

Another of my favorite goals.  Because of budgeting concerns, we usually have in house date nights, but we have perfected that art!

 

6. Read to my children 5 nights a week

Done!  The kids and I have read TONS of books this year–picture books, chapter books, audiobooks, etc.  Such a fun goal!

 

7. Watch 15 movies on the AFI Top 100 Movies List

We watched a total of 5 movies on the AFI Top 100 list this year. This is another of those goals that was dependent on my husband’s schedule (since we have a goal of watching all 100 movies together), and it just didn’t happen this year.  However, we did see 5 great movies!

Personal Goals

8. Run a 5K, an 8K, and a 10K race

I ran a grand total of zero races this year.  Part of this was due to our limited budget and the cost of entrance fees.  I am going to look for another way to challenge myself to run more next year that is not dependent on races and their fees.

 

9. Complete my Healthy Lifestyle Habits Challenge and blog about it each month

Done!  You can read my December post about spending time outdoors here.

 

10. Complete the 2016 Reading Challenge and blog about it

This was one of my favorite posts to write each month!  You can read the December reading challenge (a fantasy book) to see the grand finale.

 

11. Take a Craftsy cooking course

I’ve decided to take another online cooking class through Craftsy.  Craftsy has hundreds of classes available–from photography to cake decorating, quilting to gardening.  If you’re wanting to gain a new skill or improve an old one, I’d highly recommend taking a class through Craftsy. I have finished my course.  Yippee!

 

 

Professional Goals

12. Write and launch an ebook

Done!  I wrote and launched my e-book Seasons of the Faith in September.  It was a TON of work, but a great experience.

In order to complete this goal, I purchased Abby Lawson’s course “Book Boss,” which walks you through the step-by-step process of writing and launching an e-book.  It is an amazing resource that I highly recommend!

 

13. Join another social media form to grow The Orthodox Mama

Right now I have a Facebook page and a Pinterest account for The Orthodox Mama. As I mentioned above, I really wasn’t excited about this goal, and it just never got done.

 

14. Add 4 products to my Teachers Pay Teachers store

I have not added any yet this year.

 

15. Write another children’s book

This year I submitted my first children’s book manuscript to a publisher.  I found out that it was not accepted for publication.  However, I will revise it and continue submitting to other publishers.  I have a new idea for a children’s book and hope to submit it to the publisher soon.  Exciting!

 

Overall, I reached 9 out of my 15 goals for 2016.  And, as the cliche goes, I would have reached zero if I hadn’t set any goals at all.  So, I will continue to set goals for myself, to push myself to grow and develop as a person, and to give myself a break when I don’t reach them all!

 

Be sure to stay tuned next week for my Goals for 2017.

 

Did you have any goals for 2016?  How did you do?