My first idea for this post was to help you set a New Year’s Resolution or goal.  I LOVE New Year’s Resolutions.  However, I love setting goals the way that feels best for me.  So instead of telling you how to do it I just want to encourage you TO DO IT. 

As a principal, I start each day with the morning announcements.  At the end of the announcements, I say, “Let’s have a great day and get a little bit better.”  This is the expectation I have at our school.  For everyone.  Each day we need to get a little bit better. 

For some students, it means tying their shoes on their own and for others, it means acing a test.  For adults, it might mean taking a deep breath when dealing with a behavior or having realistic expectations when trying something new.  I love the phrase “Get a Little Bit Better” because every individual can make it their own.

For 2020, I encourage you to find one thing that you want to “Get a Little Bit Better” at.  ANYTHING!  Just pick it and do it.  You can take the tiniest baby step to get better but take it.  Let your first step be claiming a goal right now! 

Last year at this time I decided to try starting a blog.  It was giant to me.  A huge and terrifying undertaking.  But I did it one step at a time and have never regretted it!  Did it all go perfect?  No.  But did I get a little bit better?  YES!

After you claim your goal, think about your mindset.  This year my word is ACTION (you can see my process for coming up for my word of the year below).  What does this mean?  It means this year I plan on collecting a bunch of fails. 

I need this mindset to keep me moving forward instead of giving up.  I need to fail, learn from it, and do the next right thing (thank you, Anna, for this phrase from Frozen 2).  We teach students the word FAIL means First Attempt In Learning. My goal is to take some action I have been scared of and collect some major FAILs this year.  

What do you want to Get a Little Bit Better at?  Are you willing to collect some FAILs?  

Happy New Year!  

Below is how I decided to set goals for this year.  If this method doesn’t work for you then you can search Pinterest and you will find plenty of amazing suggestions.

1.  Reflection in “buckets” – taking the time to reflect on different areas in my life helped me realize what I want to improve and what I could celebrate.  The “buckets” I chose were health, finances, family, home, work, personal, and blog/coaching.
2. Big Dreams/Hope in buckets – Here I put what I want or hope for in each bucket.  I let myself dream big.
3. Set the goal – I took the Big Dream/Hope and created a goal  
4. Find your word – I took the first few words or phrases that came to mind from my goals for each bucket and jotted them down quickly.  I used this list to come up with my word for the year.  ACTION.
5. Decide on a display – there are many ways to display your goals. Some ways to display your goals are:
   1. Manifesto
   2. Vision board
   3. Bracelet
   4. List
6. Gather what you need
   1. Journal
   2. Books or list of books within your theme (Click here to see my list of what I need for 2020.)
7. Get to work!  Set yourself up for success and plan how you will get started and stay accountable.  

This is an exciting time of year!  DREAM BIG!