Here's Why Mapping Your Goals is Important

It was the end of December, when I found myself sitting at the kitchen table of our Colorado vacation rental. The whole house was quiet, it was early morning and everyone was still asleep. Except me of course, I can never really get proper sleep in a bed that isn’t my own. What about you?

Regardless, on this particular morning, I had something pressing on my mind, something that filled me with enthusiasm (and lots of excitement)… my goals for the year ahead. Reveling in the curiosity of how to effectively spell them out on paper, and how to create small, actionable steps to achieve them, I grabbed a notebook and pen, and got to work.

As many parents know, alone time with kids at home is kind of like a ticking time bomb. You never really know how much of it you’ve got. And, with that understanding, sometimes it can be hard to find the motivation to utilize any small pockets of time that may present itself.

Nevertheless, the decision to just start on this particular December morning had a huge payoff – 2 hours of uninterrupted time. Time to brainstorm, dream, and plan and it felt fantastic! I share all about the process I used in this post here, as well as, my personal goals. Give it a read if you’re in need of some motivation or inspiration to get started.

Still, putting pen to paper and writing out my goals definitely took longer than that gloriously gifted 2 hour session that late December morning. To be honest, it is something that I work on and tweak almost daily. But, just choosing to get started made all the difference.

If you find yourself without time on your hands, I challenge you to be more aware of how you’re spending it. Carving out time in your schedule for mapping your goals, is truly transformational, and undeniably time well spent. It can change your outlook for the year ahead, and give you the framework you need to course correct your path.

MAPPING YOUR GOALS

To me, a goal map is a framework for making your goal/dream a reality. It’s something you revisit regularly to evaluate your progress. Moreover, it’s completely unique to you because more likely than not, your dreams/aspirations are quite different than mine.

When crafting my goals for the year ahead, I used the smart goal setting method, which you can see, first-hand right here. This method encourages you to create specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound goals. And, it forced me to view my dreams in a different light.

Rather than writing a vague idea onto a piece of paper, I was challenged to dive a little deeper. Each category: career, education, family, artistic/creativity, mindset, fitness, and public service, were fervently assessed. Each goal given a distinctive target, defined deadlines, and time calendared, to work towards each and every goal.

But, life has many moving parts, and life exists outside of the few categories I shared a few short sentences ago. So, it’s imperative to create systems that not only hold you accountable but, also push you toward your desired outcome. And, now I am going to share a system I have decided to employ this year. This system loosely follows many formulas shared in a book I recently borrowed from the library on personal mastery, The 5 AM Club.

THE 5 AM CLUB CONCEPT

While I wasn’t a huge fan of the storyline of this book, I can definitely get behind most of the formulas that were shared, and the overarching theme – “own your morning, own your life”. Let me give you a brief overview of my takeaways from this read…

THE 5 AM CLUB QUOTES

Here are some of my favorite quotes from this book:

The place where your greatest discomfort lies is also the spot where your largest opportunity lives

Education is truly inoculation against disruption.
Your perception isn’t reality. It just isn’t. It’s just your current perception on reality, kindly remember that.
Most people take the limits of their vision to be the limits of the world. A few do not. Join them.
The fact is that the illusion of safety is always so much more deadly than your rise toward personal mastery.
People who hurt others really are hurting within themselves. They are behaving in the wisest way they know how to behave.
Small daily achievements, when done consistently over time, definitely do lead to stunning results.
Delegate tasks that not only are a poor use of your hours but also diminish your happiness.
Your heart is always wiser than your head. Your heart knows where you must be. Follow it. Trust it. You’ll find the magic.
I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.
An addiction to distraction is the death of your creative production.

THE 5 AM CLUB FORMULAS + MAPPING YOUR GOALS

In a sense, the 5 AM Club lays the groundwork for mapping your goals. Here are a few formulas that I have chosen to employ in my goal mapping framework – victory hour/golden hour (and the 4 interior empires), the 90/90/1 rule, the 60/10 method, 5 tiny targets, and the second wind workout. And, if you need further clarification on any of these methods, I highly suggest borrowing this book from your local library.

Though, after your first read you may consider purchasing it. As with many, many products these days, this book can be easily found on Amazon but, I do advocate supporting your local bookstore, if you are fortunate enough to have one in town.

Nevertheless, after I organized my goals into daily, weekly, monthly (etc) tasks I gravitated towards a simple ritual highlighted in the 5 AM Club; a ritual presenting how to create time in your schedule to honor your commitments, and intentionally work toward your goals.

THE BLUEPRINT FOR A BEAUTIFUL WEEK

Since reading The 5 AM Club, I have set aside time each weekend to plan for the week ahead, basically, creating my blueprint for a beautiful week. Using the big rocks approach, I start by designating time on my weekly calendar for the tasks that absolutely must get done. Tasks such as – golden hour, homeschool, 90/90/1 rule, appointments, extracurricular activities, field trips, family obligations – you get the idea.

Secondly, I account for daily tasks that are a necessity like the girls morning routine, meal times, errands, household chores etc.

Finally, I add in time for the 60/10 method, 5 tiny targets, and the second wind workout. I need to be flexible when I am scheduling these particular 5 AM Club formulas because my schedule is always changing.

You may have noticed when it comes to the 60/10 method, 5 tiny targets or second wind workout, I don’t get into specifics on what each task or activity will be. There is just not enough room on my weekly calendar for that! So, I created cards that sit on my desk to alert me of which task/activity to accomplish during the allotted time. Here is an example:

I even included a FREE printable template for you right here to help map your goals Monday-Friday. Feel free to download as many times as you need, and share with your friends!

To Recap, Here's the Process:

Complete a yearly review
Define your S.M.A.R.T goals
Organize Your Goals with the Goal Planner worksheet
Categorize your tasks/activities following the 5 AM Club formulas
Create your Blueprint for a beautiful week
Design your cards to keep you on track Monday through Friday

Another great way to visualize success? Create your vision board after mapping your goals. This post shares more about my process for creating a vision board.