How to Plan and Set Homestead Goals – (From Experience)

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Learning how to plan and set homestead goals can be challenging. I know for me it has been. But I’m going to help you learn how.

I really didn’t see the importance of it, but after finally realizing it helps to identify what is important to us as individuals, goal setting has become more important than ever.

A simple definition of goal setting is the process of deciding what you want and then creating a plan to achieve that desire. How simple is that!

As we are drawing to the end of this year, did you begin it with a huge list of “to do’s or dreams” as some call them? I know I did, as I do every year.

But then when the year starts coming to an end, it’s easy to look back at the list and get really discouraged for what you “didn’t accomplish.” I’m talking to self as well.

It’s very natural for us as humans to look at the glass half empty rather than half full. So it is important to look at our accomplishments as well.

Just know that if you are striving for a simple life, it’s not going to come easy. Success is a journey and you have to consistently be working toward it with the end result always in mind.

So this year, I wanted to give you some inspiration, to help you learn how to plan and set homestead goals and achieve them!

Not because I’m a professional goal achiever far from it. I just know with many failures along the way, what has worked for me. And I want to share that with you. If it helps great! If not, then laugh at me and just move on.

How to Plan and Set Homestead Goals

1) Review the Past Year

Reflect back over the past year. If you made that list, pull it out and take a few minutes just to reflect on it. But look at the big picture. Nothing is too small.

What worked or didn’t work? If a goal was a failure, what lessons did you learn from it?

If you learned anything at all from a failure – SUCCESS!! You grew! And once you can develop the mindset that “failure or mistakes” are actually permission to take even bigger leaps, you’ll find yourself on a positive growth future.

I’ve become a believer in failing! I know that sounds strange, but if we are not failing, then we are not growing. Sadly I used to be so horrified of failure that it literally froze me. I refused to try anything new, confidence in myself was void, and if something was going to be hard, I for sure wanted nothing to do with it.

But since my husband travels so much, I’ve had to suck it up and deal with it. And I can say now, I’m thankful for it. Not for his traveling and rarely home, but for him being gone and me having to learn how to be more self sufficient and “just do it.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love having him home, but unfortunately, at this time in our lives, he has been traveling for about 5 years now, so it’s been a time of growing for both of us and we don’t see an end in it anytime soon.

So if we are not willing to step out of our comfort zones and do the “uncomfortable” then nothing changes and we don’t grow.

Remember nothing changes when we are comfortable.

2) Make Sure Goals Are Manageable, Attainable And Achievable

I love big goals and dreams – I have them too. But having a list that is 100’s of items long can make you feel scattered. It can cause overwhelm and the human brain is not known to function at 100% when it is overwhelmed.

So take a real assessment of your situation and be clear on the values that you place on each of your goals.

Make your list manageable and achievable. Give yourself some quick wins. No goal is too small.

For example, I’d love to build a huge barn on our property that can serve several beef cattle, a couple milk cows, 15-20 goats, several sheep and a few dozen chickens. But this is not doable on our 1.5 acres.

So my dream of owning a “big farm” has to fit on the property we currently live on. I can have a 2 stall barn with 2-4 goats and some chickens, but no pasture for a beef cattle or sheep, so keeping your list real is important.

3) Be sure goals are clearly defined and specific

This is one I really struggle with. It’s easy to write down big garden, barn, fence, chicken coop, etc but if you are not on target, chances are that goal will not come to a reality.

For example, the goal – cook better for my family. This is pretty vague. You should be more specific in how you will cook better. Have clear actions of cook from scratch meals at least 4 times a week.

And then list the steps you need to take to achieve this. But don’t worry, when we are trying to start something new, it can be a challenge in beginning, but it will become habit and much easier as you continue to do it. And before long, it will just be second nature to you.

4) Set End Dates or Deadlines For Your Goals

Give yourself deadlines to have a goal or task completed. If you are serious about achieving them, then it is much easier to do it when they have a definite time frame. And if it’s a big goal, like building a fence, break it down into smaller steps to achieve the end goal.

Break it down and start…..

• Order supplies from saw mill
• Pick up lumber at saw mill on Thursday
• Pick up supplies from the hardware – and have my list
• Friday start digging post holes on lower wall
• Saturday – set posts in concrete on lower wall

I know this example sounds strange, but it’s actually one of my own. I’m currently working on getting 70+ fence posts in the ground – by myself remember. It is a huge undertaking, but necessary and important to me.

Sometimes if a project is huge and overwhelming then tendency during overwhelm is to shut down, give up or never even start. But if you break it down into small achievable steps, as small as they may be, you are more apt to accomplish the task at hand.

Maybe an idea is to get a yearly planner to use as a goal setting journal and keep your notes all in one place, I use this one and highly recommend it! I learned the hard way that notes on all different pieces of paper and just laying around does not work. Keep it all together.

I keep all my daily notes, lessons, agenda, and more all in one place. It has been a real help.

I also this planner for my garden journal. I have a stack of them and can refer back year and year.

Related: 2018 Homestead Goals

5) Tell Someone! Have Accountability & Support!!

When you speak it out loud, your mind hears that familiar voice and stores that task. When it’s time to work on it and accomplish it you are more physically motivated.

I know it sounds crazy, but just try it. Talk it into existence. When you speak it, you tend to take it more serious.

But also, tell someone besides yourself. Have that person who will hold you accountable and offer support along the way.

If you are one of the lucky ones and have support nearby – this is great! Living in a rural or suburban area, having close neighbors that are interested may not exist.

Since my husband travels, he is home less than 1 week a month. And when he is home, I try really hard not to burden him with physical labor. It’s my guilt since he should be able to enjoy being home.

And then my best friend lives in Canada. Bless her, she is a homesteader too and the great thing is, even though we have never met in person, she is a great support. I think she may know me better than my family at times.

She understands my goals and dreams since she and her hubby are on the same journey. The great thing called the internet has helped many of us to find great accountability partners. I’m thankful for mine.

Do you have that person? If not, maybe that can be one of your goals this year!

Goal Setting Worksheet (free Printable)

Are you ready to get serious and set some homestead goals for this coming year? I’ve included this free goal setting worksheet to help you. Feel free to download this and use it as a guide or maybe you prefer to use a journal. Either way as long as you do it.

Remember setting goals is empowering! So push yourself just a bit and set some. Growth doesn’t happen when we are in our comfort zone, so step out of the box and challenge yourself. You’ll be thankful you did.

So are you ready? Grab your free goal setting worksheet and get yourself a journey to keep all your records in one place.

More Goal Planning Journeys

• 2018 Goals for Become more self-reliant
• 2019 Self-Reliant Challenge
• Becoming Stronger – Homestead Goals

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