Some Thoughts on Setting Goals for the New Year

Ah, the end of year. I love it. The reflection. The celebration. The stats. Bring it on!

One of my favorite parts of the year’s end is an escape to a quiet location to spend some time looking back, as well as some time looking forward. I’m a planner (shocker to absolutely no one who knows me). This means that I work best with a target, a trajectory of where I want to go, and some accountability to check my course along the way. So, it’s no surprise that I love to set goals.

There are people who spend their lives talking, writing, and teaching about goal setting, and there’s so much to learn from them. And while I’m not claiming to be anything close to a goal-setting guru, I thought I’d share some of my goals for the year ahead with you.

1. Stillness for one day a month. Time to reflect. Space to breathe. I’m so, so bad at this. I’m always eyes forward, eyes on the prize, but I’m realizing how much I can learn from pausing and looking back. This time of stillness isn’t something I’ve come up with, and it won’t come easily. But it’s a muscle I’m excited to exercise! I’m sure I’ll learn some important things about the past AND the future.

2. List 100 homes this year. This is a MAJOR goal. It scares me, but it also motivates me. In 2021, I sold 75 homes—a new personal record. In 2022, I want to list an even 100. It will take massive amounts of work to accomplish this, but I’m going for it. What’s the point of setting a goal if it doesn’t scare you a little bit?

3. Hike the El Camino de Costa Rica. I’m trekking across Costa Rica with a group of fellow crazy people this March. We’re going from Atlantic to Pacific. Ocean to ocean. In total, it’s about 280 kilometers, which equates to about 173 miles . . . in 13 days. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? (More to this in an upcoming blog post, so stay tuned.)

4. Meet Jesus daily. Through people. Through scripture study. Through nature. Through prayer. He’s there, I just get such tunnel vision that I miss out. And there’s too much good to miss out on!

How did I land on these goals? Well, usually they come during a time of reflection of key areas of my life: Family, Business, Financials, Health, Spiritual.

Then I ask myself a series of questions:

• What was missing this year?
• Where have I failed in the past?
• What did I learn?
• What daily habits are needed to avoid repeating that failure?

From there, I can dig deeper into new habits to establish to reach the intended goal/target. You can learn so much by asking yourself these simple questions.

What are your goals for 2022? I’d love to hear from you! Just leave me a quick comment below.