March Goals – Are You a Goal Oriented Person Too?

Hi friends! Happy Thursday! And also, happy first week of March! I am excited about March being here for several reasons, one being that spring is right around the corner which means that we get to “spring forward” and move our clocks ahead this coming weekend! I cannot stand it getting dark so early out, especially getting off of work at 6pm. By the time I make it home, it’s close to dark!

Anyway, like I do a lot of times at the start of the month, today I want to talk about monthly goals. Either you know this about me, you see it through my writing or I’m telling you today, I am a goal oriented person to the max. I do so much better with goals. Without goals, I am like a lost puppy – unsure of where I am going and unsure of how I will get, well, anywhere. Setting yearly, monthly, weekly and even daily goals is how I keep my sanity. I keep a running to-do list to keep up with my daily and weekly and goals than then my monthly and yearly goals I keep note of in my planner (yes, I’m old school… an electronic planner just doesn’t do the trick! I need the old fashioned pen and paper.).

Like I mentioned, for me, the beginning of the month is always a good time to reevaluate and set new goals, therefore, today, I am going to do just that and share my March goals. Also to note, I like to set SMART goals so that I have a very clear picture of where I am going and what the end result should look like.

1.  Goal: Dance more

SMART goal: Attend 2-3 dance classes weekly

You all might have noticed that I have been talking a little bit more about a true passion of mine over here: dance. Dancing has always been more than just a hobby to me, as a child, it was a way of life, as they say: I ate, slept, breathed, and danced. In order to help me meet one of my longer term goals, getting back to my old dancing ways is something that I am going to focus on in March, taking 2-3 classes per week (hip hop, jazz or leaps and turns). In order to do so, as I mentioned earlier, this weekend I took a “Leaps and Turns” class that woke up muscles that I didn’t even know existed. Even if my turns were rather shaky and my leaps were, well, let’s just say a little too close to the ground, with more practice, I know that it will all come back to me soon! I also took another hip hop class this week with a dear old friend and am already seeming improvements in my ability to pick up the choreography and combinations. It was awesome not only to do something that I love, but to do it with an old friend made it even better!

2.  Goal: Focus on pre- and post-workout nutrition 

SMART goal: Eat a light snack (including carbs and protein) before my workouts and refuel again after my workouts (either breakfast if working out in the morning or protein shake + 4 dates if working out in the evenings) 

{Photo Credit}

In case you missed my article on AWS regarding recovery nutrition, you can check it out here. It is a great reminder for all of us of the importance of recover nutrition. I definitely think that I could get even more out of my workouts if I started focusing a little bit more on my pre- and post-workout nutrition. I often fail to recover properly which certainly isn’t doing me any favors! This is something that I am definitely going to work on in March.

3.  Goal: Be more consistent with post-workout snacking (as stated above) in order to enjoy a lighter dinner

SMART goal: focus on goal # 2 so that I don’t to go to bed with a full stomach

Because of my hub’s job, my schedule changes every single day. You might be thinking, “why does your schedule change because of his job?”  Let me explain. He’s in town. He’s out of town. He’s eating dinner at home. He’s eating dinner with another scout. He’s home for dinner at 6:30pm. He’s home for dinner at 10:30pm. He texts me at 7pm saying that he won’t be home for dinner. He walks in the door at 8pm starving. You catch my drift.

Sitting down to the dinner table together is something that is very important to me. Growing up, this is how I was raised and going forward, this is how I plan on raising my children (obvi, we will have to work on the consistency before then). Although change is a regular part of my life, this inconsistent schedule really throws me for a loop in the evenings. If I’m working out in the evening, because I have not been practicing proper recovery nutrition, I usually come home starving and find myself eating everything in sight before I have even thought about dinner – but wait, it’s already 8pm. I’ve never been the type of person that is just able to skip a meal, so regardless of my snacking, dinner will still happen, especially if I know Dustin will be home soon and not to mention, hungry. So I’ve gone from eating a meal through snacking, to eating dinner at 9:30, to gosh, now I’m going to bed with a full stomach… not the best feeling to say the least! Because I’m not liking how this is going, I’m going to make a change and that change starts with my recovery nutrition (goal #2). If I recovery properly, I won’t come home ravenous, then I will be able to quickly prepare a lighter dinner and either wait on the hub or eat when I am ready. While his schedule will never be consistent, getting used to the inconsistency and finding something that still makes me feel my best is vital since this will always be a part of our lives.

4. Goal: Spend daily quite time with God

SMART goal: sit quietly for at least 10 minutes a day, reading the word and listening to God’s direction

This is something that I have been working on for years. I seem to go back and forth with accomplishing it. I do really well for a few months, and then some sort of change occurs, like another move, and I fall off the wagon for a few months. In March, I really want to get back into this amazing habit of spending daily time with God. Charles Stanley remind me of this,

“The Lord has done everything possible to reach out to us, but the question we must ask ourselves is, Have I positioned myself to hear and respond? You see, the Lord is looking for people who are willing to listen and know Him more deeply. That means we have to make ourselves available by just sitting quietly with Him, reading His Word, and spending time in prayer.”

Right now, I am not making myself available to listen to Him in order to follow His plans for my life, and therefore, that is something that I really want to work on during the month of March and beyond.

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And there you have it, my 4 SMART goals for March! Are you a goal oriented person? If so, what are your goals this month? 

Have a wonderful Monday!

Good health!

Tagged as: goal oriented, goals, march, march goals