Setting Sustainable Goals That Will Change Your Life

As women, we often set goals for ourselves that are lofty and grandiose. We want to achieve the most in life, and sometimes this can lead us to set goals that are too big or unrealistic. Instead of focusing on these impossible dreams, let’s focus on setting sustainable goals that will help us change our lives in a positive way. Setting monthly or even weekly goals is an easy way to work on consistency and make progress toward who we really want to be. In this post, I’ll help you learn how to set monthly goals and give examples that are sustainable and easier to stick to!

Why Setting Sustainable Goals is Important

I’ve talked before about how I don’t like resolutions because I feel like they set us up for failure when we can’t stick to them. While wanting to change something about your life is fine, we should be choosing things that will make our life better or improve our health. So many times, we make resolutions from a place of discontent, and that leads to choices that can become unrealistic. I had one goal for this year- I didn’t want to buy a single loaf of bread. I’ve been sharing my favorite recipes (which you can find here!), and I am so excited to share that we are 3 months into the new year, and I haven’t purchased any bread!

Here are 4 steps that have helped me stay on track toward making true success toward my goals.

Be Specific

The first step to creating sustainable goals is to be as specific as possible with them. It’s difficult to keep up with a goal if it’s vague; you need something tangible that you can work towards and measure your progress against. For example, instead of saying “I want to get healthy” try something like “I want to hit 10,000 steps a day 6 days a week, and choose healthier meals’’. By creating specific goals, it will make them easier to achieve because you have a clear direction of where you want to go and what steps you need to take in order to get there.

Use the SMART Goal Method

SMART goals are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. I love using this method when setting goals because it increases the likelihood of you achieving your goals.

You have to be very specific- What is the goal? Who is involved?

Make sure the goal is measurable- How much? How many? How long?

Act on your goal- What am I going to do to achieve my goal?

Ask yourself if your goal is Realistic- Can I achieve this goal? Is there anything in my life that would hinder my success?

Choose a timeline- Have I given myself enough time to achieve this goal? When do I want to accomplish this goal?

Answering all of these questions will help you create a SMART goal!

Here’s an example of a SMART goal:

I have a goal to reach 10,000 steps per day in 4 weeks. To do so, I am going to increase my step count every day by 500 steps per day until I reach my goal in 4 weeks. Walking 45 minutes per day broken up into 15-minute increments throughout the day will help me reach my daily steps goal.

Take Small Steps

Another important component of setting sustainable goals is taking small steps toward achieving them. Big changes won’t happen overnight—it takes small steps over time for us to reach our desired destination. For instance, if you set a goal of running a marathon next year, start off by walking around the block once or twice every day this week and gradually increase the distance every week until you can run an entire mile without stopping. Taking small steps each day or each week will help keep your momentum going so that eventually, your goal isn’t such an overwhelming task but rather just a series of achievable tasks that will lead you closer and closer to success!

Breaking up your big goals into smaller, monthly portions to help you stay motivated and encouraged to keep moving forward is crucial. This is how we stayed on track, became debt free, and saved $20K toward our first home. Most life-changing goals are going to take more than a month to achieve, but staying focused can be difficult when you feel like your progress isn’t going as fast as you’d like it to.

Stay Accountable

Having someone who holds us accountable when it comes to our goals is essential for success. This could be anyone from your best friend or family member checking in on how far along you are on achieving your goal, or even an online accountability group with people trying to reach similar goals as yours! Having someone who can keep track of your progress helps ensure that no matter how discouraged or overwhelmed we may feel at times, we stay motivated and continue working toward our desired outcome.

When we were saving toward our first home, we would sit down monthly to talk about our goals and how close we were to achieving them. We would talk about our budget, try to find areas we could cut back, and ask ourselves if our goals were sustainable. Checking in monthly helped us communicate often and make sure we had made choices that month that helped us meet our goals.

Don’t be afraid to share your goals! Write them down, and share them with others who will encourage you. Make sure you are checking in with yourself at least once a month to check your progress. I like to write my goals in a place that is visible to me daily. You are much more likely to achieve your goals if you vocalize them. You can do this!

As promised, here are some awesome sustainable goal ideas that will help you get organized, get healthier, work on self-care, and more:

Financial Goals

• Try a no-spend month
• List items for sale that are taking up space in your home
• Create a monthly menu and only purchase what you need for your meals
• Don’t eat out for 30 days
• Create a sustainable budget
• Write down any debt and make a plan to start paying it off

Need help creating a savings plan? This chart can help you with your goal!

Self-Care Goals

• Take a bath
• Start a gratitude journal
• Get yourself ready every day
• Set a goal to go to bed 30 minutes earlier
• Spend 30 minutes less on social media
• Take a full day off of social media every week
• Go out for coffee with a friend
• Buy yourself flowers

Organization and Cleaning Goals

• Make your bed every day
• Clean out one drawer a day until each room is done
• Do one load of laundry every day or every other day
• Clean out the fridge and freezer every week
• Create a cleaning schedule you’ll stick to
• Create a capsule wardrobe
• Clean out your car

Health and Fitness Goals

• Increase your water intake by one cup each week
• Eat breakfast before you have a cup of coffee
• Increase your daily steps average by 500 steps per week
• Get outside every morning for 5 minutes
• Take a nap
• Create a meal plan you like
• Reduce your alcohol intake
• Balance your meals with carbs, fats, and protein

Personal Development Goals

• Unsubscribe from useless emails
• Start a blog or side hustle
• Find a motivational podcast and listen to in on a daily walk
• Make a 1-year plan to help you reach a goal you’ve always had
• Download a language app and finish a lesson every day
• Try a new recipe
• Work on a skill you’ve always wanted to improve

Relationship Goals

• Say ‘I love you’ every day
• Make time for a weekly date- this can be done at home, too!
• Learn each other’s love language and start practicing how to use it
• Make a meal together once a week
• Kiss your spouse every day
• Take 30 minutes once a week to talk about schedules
• Go to bed at the same time
• Write each other love letters

Family Goals

• Start a new tradition
• Go for a family walk
• Schedule one-on-one dates with each child
• Have a living room campout
• Have a game night
• Make homemade pizza
• Create a chore chart
• Do something kind for each person
• Create a family mission statement

Conclusion

Setting sustainable goals is key for any woman looking for positive change. Be specific about the goals you set out for yourself so they are measurable and achievable; take small steps every day towards achieving those goals; and find someone who can hold you accountable during this process! You don’t have to tackle all of the changes at once – Rome wasn’t built in a day! So remember, one step at a time leads to reaching great heights! With these tips in mind, nothing can stop us from creating positive life changes! I hope this post has encouraged you to start creating your own goals. Thank you for being here!

-M