Life Goals for the Season Ahead

I know this is primarily an herbal and gardening blog, but some principles are universal and apply no matter our focus. One of those principles is goal setting. So today, during this final season of the Gregorian year, I’d like to dish a little dirt and talk about life goals.

Growing up, I was never strongly impressed to set goals. I more or less willy-nillied my

way through things, though I did observe my dad carefully planning his professional, family, and spiritual life. Since my dad was my hero, I figured goal setting must be important—it mattered to him.

Goals became more real once I reached college and then entered the workforce. College orientation included a basic goal-setting workshop for freshmen, and it helped me keep up with classes, assignments, events, and deadlines. That’s about as far as I took it—until work life began.

I was fortunate to land under a supervisor who truly believed in planning and goal setting. He bought me my first real professional planner and taught me how to use it as a tool for success in every area of life. I followed that practice throughout my working years, but once I left the workforce, it slowly slipped away. Little by little, planning fell through the cracks until I was mostly winging it.

That worked… until it didn’t.

Life began piling up. My mom came to live with me. I was starting my own business. I was managing life for two people—household responsibilities, car maintenance, yard work, pets, appointments—you name it. Goal setting became a thing of the past, and I found myself reacting to whatever life threw at me each day.

After about seven years of floating, I didn’t realize how close I was to drowning until one Friday morning at a Toastmasters meeting. A friend gave a speech on goal setting. It wasn’t the big ideas that broke me—it was the simplicity with which she described managing her housekeeping tasks.

Housekeeping. Sheesh.

That was the area where I felt the most defeated. I could barely keep from crying. When she sat down beside me, I turned to her with tears in my eyes and said, “I need help. I’m overwhelmed. Will you help me?”

And she did.

She helped me rediscover not just the practice, but the necessity of planning and setting goals—yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily. That’s what I’m sharing with you today.

Failing to Plan Is Planning to Fail

That familiar phrase, often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, is profoundly true. Think about planning a trip. If you want to drive from Houston to New York, your first step is setting the goal: New York. Then comes the plan—timeline, route, stops, reservations, budget, and packing list. You don’t just head out without a map and hope for the best.

Life works the same way.

You can’t reach success without a plan and a guide.

A Simple Way to Start Setting Goals

This time of year is perfect for reflection. Sit down with pencil and paper and look back over the past year. Are you where you thought you’d be? If so—great! Celebrate that. If not, there is always hope.

You don’t need a fancy planner or expensive courses. You need:

• Vision

• The ability to dream

• Realistic goals with enough stretch to grow

• A pencil

• A notebook or binder

Today, we’ll focus on one-year goals.

On the first page of your notebook, write down your dreams. Beside each dream, write your why. Ask yourself, “Why do I want this?” Without a strong connection to your values and desires, it’s easy to quit when things get hard.

This becomes your vision.

Under your vision, write a clear end-of-year goal. For example:

Dream: Become a multi-millionaire (1–5 year dream)Driving Force: To build tiny home villages for displaced veterans and help fund medical travel2026 Goal: On December 31, 2026, my net worth is $________

One word of advice: let your goals stretch you—but don’t make them outlandish. Your primary goal is to reach your goals, not sabotage yourself.

Repeat this process for each dream.

Breaking Goals Into Action

Here’s how I structure mine:

• Page 1: Dreams, driving forces, and goals

• Page 2: Goals for the year (2026)

• Page 3: Monthly goals (January)

• Page 4: Weekly goals (Week 1)

• Pages 5–11: Daily goals for the week

• Repeat weekly through the month

• At the start of February, evaluate January and adjust

There are many ways to do this—the method matters less than writing it down and working the plan.

Why Writing It Down Matters

Studies show that people who write down their goals are 33–42% more likely to achieve them. Those who write goals, create action steps, and share them with a friend have success rates as high as 76%, compared to about 23% for unwritten goals.

Writing transforms vague ideas into clear, actionable plans.

Final Thoughts

Goal setting gives me something to look forward to—something that makes me want to get up early and get started. Joy. Hope. Possibility.

Don’t leave your life’s purpose to chance while expecting success to fall from the sky. If you’re not already setting goals, I encourage you to try. Start small. Build momentum.

And above all—go all Nike on it.

Just do it.

Oh, and you want to know the housekeeping secret?  They are not listed as goals. They are daily tasks to accomplish on the side.  Choose a day for each chore and do it early. Example: Monday – Vaccumn; Tuesday – Wipe kitchen counters and sweep floor;  Wednesday – dust and clean mirrors, etc.  Easy peasy.