When summer starts to wind down and September hits we are ready to start “school” and dive into our curriculums, activities and homeschooling field trips for our kids. We have out our task managers and teacher’s planners to keep us scheduled but the one thing that is missed is the need to life plan. Life planning inspires you to think outside the perimeters of just a calendar of activities and appointments. Instead of just following pre-marked timetables of your hour-by-hour activities… imagine living out your life goals of dreams and aspirations that you have scripted in a life planner. Bottom line is that if we don’t life plan… life will plan it for you. Leaving you unfulfilled and only touching the surface of whom you can become. I want you to reconsider everything you ever thought was planning. Life planning is different and very simple and I would like to show you how.
Here’s my Planner Perfect tip: life plan your months starting with September by writing down your goals on some reinforced, loose-leaf paper. Do this at a time where you have some quiet time to yourself such as the morning before children awake. Start with writing the month at the top and listing all the things you want for yourself and your kids. Don’t give up if you can’t think of some things right away, this takes time and if you are used to following the guidelines of a task manager this freedom might feel funny. But soon you find it will set you free. This practice will help you become more of a visionary and will soon become very natural. Here are some examples that you may want to consider for your monthly goal planning: do you want to learn something new or maybe finish a project? What are some learning goals for your children and you? What activities are they in and do you need to scale it down? Is there something in your life that you want or need to change? If so, after writing down the change needing to be made, indent underneath it and start writing the ideas and details needed to make that change a reality. Does your family need clothes for the fall? Do you want to read, write, and learn to crochet? What service projects do you want to do as a family? Do you want to bake and freeze this month so you can have homemade meals, fast? Ladies—the sky is the limit.
Homeschooling and goal setting go hand in hand because it enables you to jot down all the learning interests of your children. Sit down and talk with them about their learning interests and their learning goals. Helping them execute these goals is teaching them to think for themselves and see the results; it’s very empowering! Goal-set with as many months in advance as you can, allotting a fresh page(s) for each new month. December should be a lot of fun… can you think of all the possibilities? From decorations, gifts and the cookies you’ll want to bake—you’ll have a hard time putting your pen down. Once finished, you can harness your goals in a 3-ringed binder. Don’t worry about organizing this for right now. I just want you to get in the monthly goal setting frame of mind and in the practice of becoming a life planner. Pray about these new goals—they can be life changing! Next time, we’ll talk about execution. I hope you feel inspired to create goals, dreams and aspirations.
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