Episode 64: The Deliberate Start-From Frazzled to Focused
What You’ll Learn
Goals (02:15)
Dreaming on Paper (03:25)
Connecting Your Dreams with Your Big Picture (07:40)
Narrowing Your Focus (11:00)
Invitation (14:10)
Moms get to have goals too…whether you’re a stay at home mom who’s busy raising little ones, a mom who feels like she’s barely surviving, or a mom who is balancing homeschooling, a side hustle, or ALL OF THE ABOVE. We’re here to tell you, you get to have goals.
We’re continuing to take you step by step through goal planning for moms,
We're talking real mom-life moms, the ones balancing all the things and all the people. We started with self-reflection in podcast #61, unpacked a vision for your future in #62, then we learned how to set priorities and align our goals with them in podcast #63, and today is all about THE GOALS!
We've tried ALLLL the goal planning things and it's because of this that we created the Deliberate Start. It's designed by moms FOR moms. The experts have incredible suggestions, steps, and programs, but they always need tweaking to be able to apply them to the unique challenges and struggles of motherhood.
The Deliberate Start was created from its conception WITH the unique call to motherhood in mind. It has 3 sections, the Deliberate Reflection, Deliberate Beginnings, and Deliberate Goal Planning. The prompts are designed to guide you through with good questions and checklists that save you from overthinking or getting hung up staring at a blank page.
Whether you’re brand new to goal planning or a seasoned planner, we promise you, you’re going to hear something on this podcast, or you’re going to find something in the Deliberate Start that you’ve never considered before. And dare we say, you cannot come away from this guide unchanged.
Goals (02:15)
Goals are desired states that people seek to obtain or maintain. When we set goals, we envision, plan for, and commit to achieving these desired results.
As mothers I think it's tempting to get caught up in the day to day, feeling & believing we don't have time or energy for goals, or we think we don't need any goals because it's always the same day in and day out.
Momma, we all deserve to go after goals, they can be as simple as "Read 15 minutes a day with my kids" or as elaborate as "Travel to Ireland in October!" we just need to dream again, plan a little, work where we can, and give ourselves LOTS of grace.
Dreaming on Paper (03:25)
Now is the time to grab that pen and paper or if you have it, your Deliberate Start guide...are you ready?
The first step here is to get your creative goal setting juices flowing...if they're a little stale from just surviving or feel non-existent...get ready because we're going to wake them up!
For the next 5 to 10 minutes, pause this podcast (even if you're driving...don't write anything down of course, but if you have a kid you can hand the phone to, have them pull up voice memos and record them!) we're going to start dreaming and rapid fire different goals you'd like to see happen.
Enthusiasm begets enthusiasm...so we are going to spend a minute with us getting inspired, encouraged and enthusiastic about planning your own goals...
Pray/meditate
Daily Mass
Do Barre workouts
15-minute Walk
Monthly mom-cation
Journal 5 gratitudes
Weekly date nights
10 minute check-in daily (no kids!)
Daily post-its
Read each day with different child
1-on-1 dates
Family nights
Family vacation
Send happy mail
Re-start Birthday cards
Summer travels (hands on learning)
Prioritize relationships over progress
10,000 downloads on the podcast!
$5,000 profit
ITALY!!!!
Weekend getaway
Watercolor more!
Nap!
Read more books
Paddle boarding
Hiking
Devour podcasts/books/courses
USE said devoured knowledge
Be present at my kids sports
Save more
Get new roof
Budget better
Volunteer at CCD
Encourage volunteer opportunities for my kids
SEE & know my kids
SEE & know my husband
Learn Italian & Spanish
Take courses in Reels and course building
For the next 5 to 10 minutes, pause this podcast, start dreaming and write down all the goals that come to your mind and heart.
If you're driving...don't write anything down of course, but have a kid pull up voice memos and just record them! You can write them down later.
Connecting with your Big Picture (07:40)
Once you have these goals written down, circle any that connect with your big picture or deeper why.
Of your circled goals:
Are there any that absolutely don't fit in this season of life?
Put a GENTLE line through them.
It doesn't mean never...just not right now
If there are any that don't align with resources you feasibly see having through the next 90 days (funds, time, energy), can you simplify them? If not...put a gentle line through them.
For example...
A Cross-country Road trip...
Cost: $5,000
What is the root of goal? (To spend time, travel, experience, get our kids outside their comfort zone so they are better prepared for adulthood, etc.)
We don't have and won't have $5,000 extra in the next 3 months...SO
Is there a way to achieve those results and make memories that fit with the values of this goal?
YES. A shorter trip, or even multiple day trips.
Narrowing Your Focus (11:00)
Looking at all the goals that are left...get serious about what goals you want to focus on because you're going to choose only 8 that passed the questions we mentioned earlier…
Does this goal fit with your big picture or deeper why?
Does it fit in this season of life?
Does it align with the resources you feasibly see having or being able to achieve within the next 90 days?
Are you really passionate about making it a reality?
Let’s get serious about what goals you want to focus on...
Choose only 8 that passed the questions we mentioned and that you are passionate about making a reality!
Don't worry about listing them out perfectly, we're still in the process of breaking these down.
Okay...that's it for today. You’ve done enough! We’re really proud of you momma! This is big work. This is meaningful work. This is work that will change your life, but also your children's lives. Every hard step you do right now is something you will be able to mentor your children in later. Your children will learn from your example AND your beautiful hard won wisdom.
Invitation (14:10)
If you are all in on this goal planning journey, OF COURSE YOU ARE! We created a beautiful workbook that walks you through step by step with easy templates and checklists and even goes more in-depth than we're able to here on the podcast, if that gets you excited...head over to our website, thedeliberateday.org, and get a copy of the Deliberate Start Guide!
