Well, it’s 10 days into the new year, and I will tell you a secret… I didn’t set any resolutions. I spent the week after Christmas and the past 10 days contemplating if I would even make resolutions for 2020. There was so much hope and happiness spread around at the end of 2019 I wondered if I was “broken” since I really didn’t have any desire to make resolutions for the new year.
So according to Wikipedia- the best source of information, a resolution can be defined as a tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere in which a person resolves to continue good practices, change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their life. While I find the idea of continuing good habits or changing traits to be a wonderful idea.. I find it more manageable to instead create goals.
So, setting goals as a parent is a daunting task. How can you set a goal when you feel like you’re in survival mode each day?! This season of life is pretty tough… 2 under 2 while Ollie isn’t quite sleeping through the night can lead to some long days and sleepless night. It is hard to also set over arching goals that may not be attainable, so I turn back to my counseling education and think about the best way to set goals- and that is by using SMART goal setting.
SMART goals are an acronym used to make the goals that are most likely to be achieved. S- specific M- measurable A- attainable R- relevant T- time based.
So.. where to start? I think the most important goal for myself this year is to write a blog post each week. This easily meets all the qualifications of a SMART goal and keeps me moving towards my decade goal of keeping a blog of my kiddos childhood for them to look at when they are older.
I also have goals that involve my kids- but these are the harder to make SMART. It is easy to say I will spend more time with my kids doing fun things or I will help Izzy potty train and Ollie learn to walk. These sweeping goals will likely happen on their own- but also, how fair is it to set goals for kids that don’t even know what a goal is?
So here we are 1 solid goal for the year that I can continually work toward and check in on. I know some weeks will be harder than others so I will have to be prepared. Writing and reviewing to prep for those weeks when time may just come up short. But here we go! Kicking off 2020 with my goal to post on the blog every week!
Do you have a resolution or goal you set for this year? I would love to hear about it in the comments below! And check back for my next blog post- a review of Lumaze Pittsburgh!
Hickory Dickory Mom 