I have a love-hate relationship with goals. I love the idea of recognizing areas that need growth and making actionable steps. And I especially love the empowering satisfaction of being able to strike a line through a goal when it’s accomplished. But, I hate the process of setting goals. Maybe our Pinterest/Instagram saturated culture is to blame, but I feel like traditional goal setting requires perfect goals; ones that don’t just contain inspiring aspirations but are also written in beautiful calligraphy on an effortlessly styled, crisp, clean planner.
Last year I decided to try a new way of setting goals. I had seen a lot of posts about an intentional goal planner called Powersheets, and everyone who talked about it, raved about it. I wasn’t quite sure how it’d be different than any other planner I tried, but I decided to give it a whirl. I am so glad that I did because founder, Lara Casey and the words inside Powersheets changed my perspective.
I used to think that setting goals was limiting, that I had to pick an Instagram- worthy objective, and stick with it or I’d be a failure. But Powersheets has taught me that goals don’t have to be concrete or perfect to be effective. In fact, I’m now a firm believer that goals are much more valuable when they’re revisited, adjusted, and sometimes altogether thrown out.
What this planner does differently is constantly remind that the process of setting goals is about progress, not perfection.
“Imperfect, messy, undone, meaningful, bold, powerful, leap-of-faith-filled, intentional, PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION.”
“You have permission to change your mind! You can update your goals as you go, change course, or make completely different goals along the process.”
“And remember: your words don’t have to be perfect.”
These words, scattered throughout the planner are what brought freedom to my goal planning - Goals don’t have to be perfect; goals can be messy. Now that is something I can get behind! And this year was the perfect example of why.
2017 has been my year of unmet expectations. Most of the goals I set at the beginning of the year have yet to be finished (or even started). I’ve struggled with disappointment and been really tempted to throw in the towel, to be sassy and say “fine – I guess that goal isn’t happening so forget it; I give up.” But honestly, the encouraging words in Powersheets and the permission and space to re-define my objectives gave me freedom to say, “So what if I haven’t started writing my book yet? Just because my timeline may have changed, doesn’t mean I am a failure. It just means I need to go back to the drawing board, check-in with the Lord, and re-adjust my goal. And that is okay.”
“You can’t do it ALL and do life well. But you can choose to cultivate what matters. And that means letting go at times and making a mess.”
This quote by Lara Casey beautifully encompasses what makes Powersheets so powerful; the freedom to make a mess and the reminder to cultivate what matters. This is not your average fill-in-the-blank checklist type of planner; with words like these and pages that prompt you to cultivate gratitude and let go of mental clutter, Powersheets gently presses you to take steps towards what matters. My ultimate goal is to be faithful and obedient to Jesus – any other goal is secondary. Having this visible, monthly reminder to keep my focus on what truly matters helps put everything else in perspective.
The reason I am sharing all things Powersheets with you is because this is a product I truly believe in. I am not an affiliate, I am not receiving anything for sharing my love for this planner – I just want to give you the opportunity to use a tool that has been really beneficial and effective in my life. And guess what? Powersheets 2018 comes out October 25th.
If this sounds awesome to you, here's what you should do:
- Head to cultivatewhatmatters.com and sign up for their Powersheets email list. (Here's one thing to know - once they run out of the one-year planners, which they do quite quickly, that's it. So you want to make sure to be on their email list and get ready to order. You won't want to miss it.)
- Follow @cultivatewhatmatters and @laracasey on Instagram - they share all sorts of sneak peeks and snippets about how to use Powersheets. It's incredibly helpful!
- Visit laracasey.com/blog to see examples of how founder, Lara Casey uses Powersheets. Seeing the types of goals she set and how she uses the planner inspired me in my own use.
Want to learn more?
Today I’m teaming up with two fellow bloggers who are sharing why they love Powersheets.
Head over to their blogs to find out more.
- Lauren Anderson - a blogger who documents the journey with her husband to build a rustic modern farmhouse build, is sharing about how Powersheets helped her recognize that what she needed in life wasn't a longer list of to-do's but instead, an actionable plan to allow her to simplify.
- Tomissa Porath – fellow writer and Ripon alumni (woot!) is sharing about how Powersheets allow her to make progress on large goals by making small changes every day.
