On Your Mark, Get Set, Goal!

Last blog, we talked about brainstorming your goals. But let's assume, you just got engaged over the holidays and you're on cloud nine. It's a wonderful feeling. You're enjoying being newly engaged and then it hits you: you better start preparing! But where on earth do you start?

For those brides-to-be with little or no wedding planning experience or involvement, this can be a daunting task. Your mother says you should begin with the venue, your sister wants to take you dress shopping, and your best friend forwards you a plethora of wedding websites that will surely help you create the perfect day. So who's right? Everybody and nobody. Your wedding will be one of the most significant and special days in your life, so you need to treat it as such from the start. In the big scheme of things, you will definitely have to prioritize your wedding day goals.  But for now, and if you have plenty of time before the big day, pick the thing that excites you most. Choose the action that will get you in the wedding planning mentality and inspired to make your day uniquely yours.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed, feel confident to pick the thing you want to do most as a newly engaged woman. The key here is to choose one thing. The good news is that there are no right or wrong answers. Trust that wherever you decide to start, it will carry you to your next goal to accomplish, person to meet, or decision to make. You will meet people or a planner along the way, who will guide you with all the details and timelines. Your job is simply to get the ball rolling. Make the one thing, that feels right to you, your first goal in this exciting journey!

Brainstorming Your Resolutions

There are three types of New Year's resolutions: those that aim to change everything, those that aren't substantial enough to create change, and those that are clear and reasonable to produce the change you want in life. Some people desire change in so many aspects of their lives, that it becomes unreasonable to expect any change at all. This is not the path you want to take. You also don't want to fall in the category of those with sketchy or uncertain goals. Instead, it's best to create enough good goals to make them count.

As a bride, you have wedding day goals. But you may also want to accomplish some non-wedding related goals for the year, as well. So start by categorizing your goals. Ask yourself, what are your wedding goals? What about personal goals? Relationship goals? Career goals? You get the idea. Write down whatever it is you've been wanting to do and then separate them into whichever category it fits best. This is the brainstorming phase. You can jot down as many things as you like, but realize that only a handful may actually come to fruition. This phase is great to get the wheels turning and put onto paper any ideas that might be floating around. It can bring to life subjects you gave little attention to before or help you narrow your focus on what's most important to you at this time in your life.

Once you've written out and sorted your 2014 goals, rank them by category. For example, number your wedding day goals in order of importance (1,2,3,4,etc.).  Do the same for your personal, career, and other goals. Take the top one or two from each category, except the wedding one, and make them your goals for the year. Ideally, you want to accomplish all your wedding day goals, so rank that list, but put it in your MUST pile. It will be interesting to see what is most important to you, especially as you plan your big day. Once you've refined your list, you'll be ready to write out your goals more clearly and with the best likelihood of being achieved.