Goal Setting is not a completely new thing for me. I’ve always enjoyed reflecting on the past year and setting new goals for the year to come. I love the idea of a fresh start and a renewed purpose. However, my goals never really seemed to get accomplished. I would always fall a little bit short. This year is different! I feel empowered to tackle my goals for the coming year and doing many things that I’ve always wanted to do! What changed? This year I bought the Cultivate What Matters Goal Planner and have been learning about setting Cultivated Goals!!

My Cultivate What Matters Goal Planner

You might be asking, “what is a cultivated goal?” That’s a great question!! Recently one of the Cultivate What Matters team members shared that a Cultivated Goal is a goal that’s connected to your WHY, or a goal based on reflection, not projection. For example, my goals used to look something like “Shoot 15 Weddings this year” or “Make $XX this year” or “Read 20 books this year.” My goals have always been based on setting a numerical standard for myself – projecting an amount of something that I need to attain. This year my goals sound a little bit different!! My goals are centered on my WHY. My purpose for existing.

The thing I love most about my goal planner is that the first 35 pages focus on reflection about who you are, where you want to be, and what matters to you. I really had to do some deep soul searching for this!! But it helped me focus on the things that really matter to me and let go of the rest. It is impossible to do everything well!! I want my life to be intentional and purposeful.

“Only one life, ’twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

This year I was especially influenced by the poem line that reads… “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.” That’s why my word for the year is PURPOSE. If you look up “Purpose” in the dictionary, you get this definition: “The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.” The reason I exist is to honor Christ, and I want to do that in every area of my life!!

It’s not about making a certain amount of money. It’s not about reaching a certain amount of people with my blog or having a certain number of weddings on my calendar. For me, it’s about building relationships and serving others. So my goals look a little bit different this year!!!

My 2018 Goals

• Establish a daily routine of Scripture reading and meditation, prayer, and coffee to start your day early and intentionally
• Begin to tackle big things in my business that previously brought me fear
• Daily find ways to help/encourage Matt and show him respect
• Share music regularly with others
• Eliminate fear in my daily life/grow in trusting God
• Build contentment, not comparison, in my business
• Begin to organize all family and personal photos and make prints regularly
• Cultivate kindness/selflessness with Matt
• Build better relationships with others by encouraging them and listening more than I talk
• Say yes to healthy activities/foods

After settling on your goals, the action plans help you choose small steps to take towards accomplishing your goals! Because what good is a goal if you don’t take steps to accomplish it? I love the emphasis on making small steps and not having to be perfect! Thanks to my action plans, I’ve already made progress on some of my goals, and the month is not even over!!!

The Cultivate What Matters Goal Planner is NOT a daily planner. So I bought a cheap planner to use along with it!

Each month has a “tending list” to help you focus your efforts in achieving your goals. It helps you take little by little steps and focus on progress, not perfection!!!

“Progress over Perfection…”

Over and over again, Lara talks about “progress over perfection.” I love that it’s not about being perfect! I love that after each quarter there is a “goal refresh” so that you can refresh your goals, eliminate any that aren’t working, or reword any of them!! Sometimes once you get into a goal you realize that your focus has shifted. I love the freedom to change my goals if I need to!!

There are SO many things I could say about why I love my Cultivate What Matters Goal Planner!! Most of all, I love Lara’s heart for others! Her words are so encouraging, and she has really helped me feel like I CAN accomplish my goals!! If you want to get your hands on a Cultivate What Matters Goal Planner, the six month planners are still available in their shop! Check them out HERE!

Happy Planning!