Angie Marie I have felt stuck in a rut lately without clearly defining our homesteading goals. It didn’t take me long to realize the reason why I felt stuck. It was because I wasn’t feeling a fire in my soul. When we first started our homesteading adventure last year, I was feeling on FIRE. I was excited to finally work toward this dream of ours that we’ve had for years. Somewhere along the way though, that fire started to fizzle out. I felt like I wasn’t working toward our dreams anymore because I didn’t know where to start. There are so many things that I want to accomplish, and it’s been hard for me to stay focused. This is because I haven’t set clear goals to work toward.
Our overall goal is to live on a self sufficient homestead. That goal itself though has to be broken down into smaller more achievable goals to help us succeed. We need a solid and realistic plan with goals to reach along the way so that we continue to feel excited about our dream. Knowing that it will be several years before we can achieve our dream has made me feel impatient and defeated. However, this time we’ve been blessed with will allow us to achieve our homestead dream and set us up for the sustainable and debt free future we truly want. Continue reading to grab a FREE SMART goal printable worksheet below to help you with your own homesteading dreams.
Review the Past
Before creating goals for the year, look into the past year and reflect on it. What worked for you and what didn’t work for you? If you failed a goal, what lessons were you able to learn from it? Learning from our failures actually means success in the future because we grow as a person. There is a saying that states if you aren’t failing, then you aren’t growing. Don’t allow failure to stop you. Failing means that you will be pulled out of your comfort zone, but if you don’t focus on the uncomfortable things then nothing will change. Celebrate your accomplishments and failures, and take what you learned to establish new goals that you will both fail and succeed at this year.
Make Your Homesteading Goals Manageable
Take the big audacious goals that you have for your homestead, and break them down into smaller and more manageable goals. Too many goals as well as too big of goals can feel overwhelming. I know this is true for me. In order to achieve your homesteading goals, you’ll want to break them down into smaller goals that you can check off your list so that you feel accomplished. You can totally take your goals and expand them when needed. Don’t be afraid to push yourself out of your comfort zone, but also don’t take on more than you can handle either. Once you’ve come up with a list of homesteading goals that you can achieve, you’ll want to make them as specific as possible so that they are clearly defined.
Set Deadlines for Your Homesteading Goals
Having deadlines for your goals will keep you motivated toward achieving them. You can have daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly goals. If your goal is a huge one, don’t forget to break it down into smaller and more manageable goals that you can achieve. Setting a time frame for you will achieve your goals along with the resources that you have available are all key elements for successfully completing a goal. Don’t be afraid to make a 1, 3, 4 and 10 year plan so that you will be able to set realistic goals within those time frames.
Examples of First Year Homesteading Goals
If this is your first year homesteading, your goals won’t be the same as a homestead that’s been established for years. Think about small goals you can achieve now that will get you to where you see your homestead in the future. Goals like building a compost bin, owning chickens, starting a garden, learning to can food, making your own cleaning products are all great starting points for a homesteader who is just starting out. Instead of having a big goal of living on a sustainable homestead, you can break that goal down into smaller ones that you can achieve now that will help you get there to that big audacious one.
Other examples of first year homesteading goals include:
- Learn to cook from scratch
- Make your own beauty products
- Learn to ferment
- Eat local produce and meats
- Practice Using and Making Herbal Remedies
- Learn to Sew or Knit
Keep Your Homesteading Goals S.M.A.R.T.
You’ve more than likely heard of SMART goals before. This system will help you achieve your homesteading goals, especially if you are new to goal setting. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic or Relevant and Timely. As stated before, you’ll want to keep your homestead goals as specific as possible. Instead of saying that you want to have chickens this year, you could write down a goal that says you will have 5 laying hens in the spring.
Measurable goals mean that you will be able to measure your progress along the way. Whereas attainable means that you need to be able to not set your dreams too high. For example, you wouldn’t put a goal down of having a 20 acre homestead by the end of the year if you have a lot of debt and not much income. Instead, you can make a goal to pay down your debt and save money for land. Make it a goal to save a certain amount of money each month, and record your efforts along the way.
Additionally, make sure your goals are not only realistic but relevant. Does the goal make sense to you right now? Does the goal align with your other goals and your beliefs and values? Once you’ve checked off all the above goal setting criteria, you’ll then want to ensure that your goals are timely. You can do this by tracking your progress on a spreadsheet. This will involve breaking your goal down so that you can achieve it. For instance, if you want 12 chickens by July, then you would need to create goals along the way like building a coop, researching which breed to buy, etc well before July arrives. Of course, we all know that a wrench can be thrown into our plans at any time. So you can always go back and adjust your goals as needed. Don’t feel defeated if they aren’t going as planned!
Start Big and Go Small
Don’t be like me and overwhelm yourself with too many goals at once. Clearly define your goals, and stick with just 2 to 3 at a time. Start with your biggest goals, and then work backwards to create smaller goals that you can achieve and mange over time. For instance, if you want to buy land in 3 years, then you’ll need to think of the steps it will take to get there such as a down payment, ways to save money, sticking with a budget, etc. Once you have a big goal, it will give you that to-do list and structure that you need to complete it by breaking it down.
Always review your goals monthly or even weekly. Work on scheduling your weeks according to your goals. Track your progress along the way, and make changes as needed. Figure out what is working for you and what isn’t. Don’t give up when things aren’t working the way you envisioned. You may just need a new goal or plan to get you there.
The biggest tool that will help you achieve your goals is a solid planner. Use it to set goals daily, weekly and monthly. Check out some of my printable options in my Etsy store.
Grab this FREE printable SMART goals worksheet below to help you with setting your own homesteading goals.
