Can you believe that it is December already? It feels like just yesterday we were creating last month’s goals. In case you didn’t see it, make sure to snag your free Monthly Goal Setting Planner to make achieving your goals even easier. Whether you’re looking at November’s goals and feeling a little discouraged or you are excited to rock another month, it is time to create your December goals. Don’t get discouraged if last month wasn’t as successful as you hoped. If you’ve never been a goal planner it will take time to get on top of your plans. If you need some inspiration, keep reading below to see how I did in November and what this month’s goals are.

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[bctt tweet=”Whether you’re feeling discouraged or excited to rock another month, it is time to create your December goals. #goals” username=”diyadulation”]

 

November Evaluation

Business Goals

Create an Instagram Plan – Success

• Not only did I manage to post more consistently, I was introduced to an awesome tool that makes this easy to schedule and post. Yay!

Add Daily New Listing to Etsy – Fail

• Seriously, I failed so hard at this. I think I got 10 items listed and that’s it. I literally have 100’s of items to upload and currently they are sitting in boxes and organizers just waiting. Daily was too ambitious of a goal. This month I’m going to shoot for adding 2 items a week.

Plan New Revenue Stream – Success

• I did decide on a new revenue stream. It is technically something I’m already doing but in December I’m going to focus on affiliate marketing. Currently I simply throw links in to direct you to the supplies needed for the projects. I have been neglecting in this area and I want to really hit this hard in December.

Get Ahead on Posts – Success

• I have been very diligent about outlining and creating. This has given me a leg up on my posts. Admittedly, this week I have been on overdrive because in addition to my regular editorial calendar, I have some other projects that I am taking part in. That’s why this week (and for the next 2 weeks) you are seeing 2 posts go live on some days.

Finance Goals

Save $200 (or more) in an Emergency Fund – Near Success

• I saved $150 so I’m pretty happy. It would have been more but most of our “extra” money was allocated to Christmas in our budget. My oldest also conveniently forgot about multiple school events, trips, etcetera that cost money so that came out of this fund. The joys of mom-life, right?

Meal Plan – Success

• While I haven’t gotten any posts about it up yet, we totally rocked our meal plan this month. Of course, having so many holiday dinners helped make it easier.

Extra Cash – Fail

• I didn’t even attempt this one. I was going to sell some of the items we’re purging but I only got as far as boxing them up. On the upside, that will make it easier to do this month.

Organizational Goals

Get rid of one item each day. – Crushed

• I didn’t just get rid of 1 item a day. I boxed up hundreds of items last month and I plan to continue to do so in December.

Empty Living Room – Semi-Success

• It is not done but I’ve made huge strides in the room. I knew this would be a huge undertaking for around the holidays so that fact that the entire living room remodel should be done in the next week is pretty awesome. A huge thanks to my best friend for coming over one night and helping me knock a lot of it out!

Family

Family Dinners – Success

• Sometimes getting through the family dinner was rough but we are getting into the swing of things. They are much better now than they were at the beginning of the month.

Weekly Family Night – Success

• We did make weekly family nights a priority. Some were very successful and fun while others, not so much. Either way we made memories that I wouldn’t trade for the world!

Self-Improvement

Complete Monthly Fitness Challenge – Fail

• I have realized that I really need to restructure my days and get more rigid with my routine. Tasks are not done at the same time each day (except dinner and working after the kiddos go to bed). I wasn’t remotely consistent with my schedule and fitness became hit or miss.

Increase Gratitude – Success

• I didn’t remember to write the 3 things every day. I set an alarm on my phone to remind me each day around the middle of the month. Before having the alarm idea, though, I would write additional entries for the days I missed. Since the entire exercise was about becoming more mindful about being thankful, I’m considering it a success. I feel that I have accomplished that.

Read 20 Minutes a Day – Success

• Some days I actually surpassed this. I got caught up reading and go well past 20 minutes. This is definitely one of those goals that once your sit down and start, it is easy to complete (for those who enjoy reading).

 

December Goals

Business Goals

• Affiliate Marketing – I want to really spend December testing what works and what doesn’t. This will help me plan the coming months.
• Create 2017 Business Plan
• Take the Week of Christmas Off – I think the most important aspects of building a successful business is to be able to take time off and the business continues to run. This will be like the ultimate test to see if DIY Adulation is ready to go to the next level.

Finance Goals

• Save Another $200 – I like this number because it small enough to seem possible but large enough to require some sacrifice (such as not eating out or skipping extra trips in the van).
• Continue Meal-Planning – This made dinners such a breeze that I definitely want to keep going.
• Re-Read The Total Money Makeover – I love this book. I cannot say enough good things about it. However, when you haven’t referenced it in a while you can lose intensity. By re-reading the book I hope to re-ignite that fire. (This works directly towards my long-term goal of paying off my student loans.)

Organizational Goals

• Continue to Get Rid of 1 Item A Day
• Finish Living Room – I am tantalizingly close and I want to finish it by the end of next week so I can get Christmas decorations up.
• Start Moving Office – Being a DIY blogger takes up a lot of space. Right now my office is in a tiny room in the corner of my house and it is overflowing, not-to-mention staging photos is a nightmare. The office is moving to the basement to provide me with the space I need to get everything done.

Self-Improvement Goals

• Develop a Specific Routine – I am going to create a specific daily routine that will allow me to spend time doing all of the things I want and need to do each day.
• Do One Activity that Brings Me Joy Each Week – The stress of the holidays and growing my business are really getting to me. Part of this is because I am pushing myself so hard that I’m no longer taking the time to do the things I love. Instead of reading a book or going to karaoke, I am filling that time with work. While I am seeing results, it is also killing me. I need to be more diligent with my “me-time”.

Family Goals

• Weekly Family Nights – Even mixed results are worth it. We are enjoying the time together and I want to continue making these a priority.
• Create and Enforce Chore Charts – This will be for everyone. Somewhere along the line my kiddos started developing lazy and self-entitled attitudes. I’m not having that so the whole family is getting chore charts.

 

Wow, you guys, that is a lot. Even the goals I failed at taught me something to make my life (and future) better. Conquering your goals is moving towards creating your future. Even if you only manage to accomplish half of your monthly goals you are moving towards living a life you love. What are your goals for December? How did you do on your November goals? Don’t forget that there is an evaluation page in the Monthly Goal Setting Planner that helps you figure out what worked, what didn’t, and why.

See where I’m linking up!