Intentional School Start
In Indiana school is starting again. For families this often means a different morning or evening routine (or both!) Moms, this is a GREAT time to start a new intentional habit. Perhaps you want to initiate a healthy lifestyle practice like drinking a glass of water in the morning or taking a couple minutes to stretch. Maybe you want to take a moment each day to pray or read a Bible verse with your children before school. Let's face it though - not everyone is a morning person! If that's you, you might prefer to focus on an evening change like intentionally making sure homework is done before screens are turned on, going on more walks, or discussing the best part of your day around the dinner table. Because routines are just getting formed, it's much easier for something new to "stick" and become a normal part of each day.
Here are a few tips that will set you up for success.
1) Start Small
One of the most common mistakes in goal setting is starting off with your ideal. For example, if you ideally want to be reading a book for 20 minutes every morning, often the goal is - read every morning for 20 minutes. If you are not currently reading at all, 20 minutes every day can be a pretty big leap. One tip for success would be to set the initial goal smaller. The initial goal might be to read at least 10 minutes a day for at least 4 days of the week. If you do more days and minutes - wonderful! If you only hit 10 minutes of reading for 4 days of the week - fantastic! You still hit the goal. Once that initial goal becomes easy and routine, then expand it. Expanding it might include reading for a longer time, for more days of the week, or both.
"It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward."
- Old Chinese Proverb
Tip 2 ) Answer Two Important Questions
1) What could get in the way of my success?
2) What would I do?
Often continued goal success hinges on having a game plan for times when conditions are not ideal. If your intentional goal involves your child, "less than ideal" conditions might be times of illness, a morning that everyone oversleeps, or times when your child might have a "less than" cooperative attitude. :) Knowing what you would do in each of those scenarios provides you with emotional calm when they do occur as well as a ready plan to keep moving forward.
Tip 3) Tweak as Needed
Sometimes circumstances change. Or, sometimes when you start doing your intentional action, you find that the particular way you are doing something just isn't going to work. At that point, evaluate, tweak your goal, and then start going again.
One of my summer group members wanted to get back into running, a sport she had greatly enjoyed in the past. Her initial intentional goal was to run in the evenings after her children had gone to bed. She did this successfully for a few weeks. But, then she realized that often by that time of day, her physical energy was spent. She found evenings were a hard time of day for her to accomplish her goal regularly. Additionally, she realized she really enjoyed walking too. She wanted a variety of exercise included in her goal as well. As a result, she made some changes. She started exercising in the morning before her family is up. She also changed her goal to include running or walking. She now is enjoying her new success as a result of her tweaks.
Tip 4) Use what Motivates You
People are motivated in different ways. Some people are motivated and driven by competition. Others are motivated socially. Socially motivated people like to have fun with and be around others. They enjoy being part of a team or in partnerships and find great joy in doing something together with others. Still other individuals are motivated by passion. If these people really enjoy something, they will continue working on or toward a goal with limitless zeal. Finally, others are motivated by accomplishment. Being able to check that box and say they achieved something is very important to them. What about you? Are you socially motivated and would do best if you were intentionally working toward a goal with a friend? Do you need a progress chart to check so that you can visually be reminded of your accomplishment? Do you need to find a way to add in an element of passion into your goal such listening to a podcast during a walk, or while doing an organizational goal? Using what motivates you can help you succeed in living intentionally.
What is one intentional habit you want to start this school year? What tip might help you succeed?