The new year has this collective energy where everyone is fired up to make a change and go after the goals that they want. Especially decluttering goals. I can't tell you how many times I've had someone message me at the first of the year saying that they want to declutter their home over the next 12 months. And while that's a fantastic goal to have.
It's a little too broad. So in today's episode, we're going to be planning and mapping out some annual goals for your home that are realistic and truly light you up.
Hey there, I'm Nicole from The Maximizing Mama, and I am obsessed with creating a home that gives me more peace of mind, more time to myself and more time with my kids. I teach you the tried and true secrets to clearing your clutter, getting organized, and managing your household in a realistic and sustainable way.
This show is where we talk about things like motherhood, decluttering, organizing, creating routines, mindset, energy, and everything in between. Our homes are the foundation for the rest of our lives, and it's so important to have a calm, relaxing household so you can have the time, the peace of mind, and the freedom to truly enjoy motherhood.
So sit back and get ready to take charge of your home.
Hey there and welcome back. I am so happy to be back here behind the mic, kicking off a brand new year with you. I hope you had an incredible holiday season and a fantastic new year full of warmth, joy and love. I personally take a handful of weeks off every December and at the 1st of January to really dive deep into reflecting on the previous year and getting super clear on what I want and need to do over the coming year to make sure that I'm hitting my goals, that I'm growing as a person and really feeling fulfilled.
And that's kind of what I want to be talking about today, the process that I follow every year to set annual goals that really fire me up. So we're going to be focusing on setting annual goals for your home, but keep in mind that you can use this process for any goals in your life, like wellness goals, financial goals, et cetera.
Our homes are an important pillar of our lives just as our health, our finances, our career, and our families. You always want to have household goals, even long after you have ditched your clutter. So before I go off on a tangent, let's go ahead and dive right in.
Now the first of the year has this collective energy where it's easy to get fired up to dive head first into making a change. It's easy to want to start working out every day, to declutter every day, and to start saving $50 a week. I mean everywhere you look on social media, everyone is talking about their annual goals and what they want to accomplish over the next year. After all, for our entire lives, we have heard this narrative about setting new year's resolutions and hustling to make them happen.
It's almost as if that new year new you energy is a holiday in and of itself. But to that, I want to encourage you to not think of the new year as a new beginning. January 1st is just another day on a calendar that was made up in the 15 hundreds. So it's not a new beginning. It's an intermission, a gateway from one year to the next. We're not changing who you are. We're just looking ahead and planning what you want to accomplish in the coming year.
Now, as I said, just a second ago, it's super easy to get fired up to dive head first into what you want to change about yourself. But that's exactly what leads to burnout and that's exactly why the motivation fizzles out as the weeks pass.
Unfortunately, by the time March rolls around, over 50% of people have fallen off track from their new year's resolutions. And only 9% of people report feeling fulfilled by their resolutions at the end of the year, 9%. It's a shame. And it's because of this drive to go all in, in January. So we're going to nix all of that and instead take it slow throughout January to determine what you really want to accomplish this year. Who you want to be? What kind of home you want to cultivate? And what you need to make it all happen.
Now I was planning on hosting a three-day challenge this month in January. But instead I opted to wait until February, so we can really capitalize on that new year energy long after January is over. So with that said, let's spend some time today planning your 2023 decluttering goals. If you're like most people, you probably have a goal to declutter your home, your entire home in 2023. And while that's a fantastic goal to have and totally doable, it's a little too broad.
Even I, someone who is obsessed with decluttering, feel a little overwhelmed, thinking about de cluttering, my entire house. And I'll tell you what, it's definitely not very motivating. I mean, think about the act of de cluttering, your entire house over the next 12 months. It kind of seems impossible. Doesn't it?
Well, that's why you're not motivated. Because while the thought of clearing all of your clutter and creating a more peaceful home may light you up in general, your brain can't make the connection for how it's going to make that goal happen. And that's why you feel so unmotivated. So instead, we're going to start by getting really clear on your longterm vision for your home, what you want your hood look like five years from now in 2028. We're going to be doing this through the power of visualization, which is super powerful. Because we operate on autopilot 95% of the time through our subconscious minds. Almost every single thing that you do throughout the day, your subconscious is narrating behind the scenes based on what you have already done before now, almost like a puppeteer. But here's the cool thing. Your brain cannot distinguish the difference between what you're seeing right in front of you right now and what you visualize. So if you visualize your perfect, organized home and you returned to that vision every day, your subconscious will start to actively work to make that visualization a reality.
Now I have recorded a visualization exercise that you can follow along with, it's about six minutes long, and it will walk you through getting really clear on what your dream household looks like five years from now. You can find the link for it in the show notes. I recommend checking it out and listening to it before you set your annual goals.
So first in this episode, we'll go over some action steps for you to take to set your goals. And then whenever you finish listening to this episode, go listen to the visualization, to the visualization. And then follow the action steps to set goals for your home, that light a fire underneath you and truly motivate you. Okay.
So let's get right into the action steps. The very first one, once you have your vision, I want you to list all the differences between your vision five years from now and where you are right now. This is so powerful because if, for example, you visualize that in 2028, your living room has no toys, but your current living room looks like a toy store, that could be a pretty good goal that you want to work towards; having no toys in your living room whatsoever. So again, once you have your vision for step one, start listing out all the differences between what your house looks like in your vision and what it currently looks like. All those differences are a really great starting point for your goals.
Then I want you to list your personal desires for your home and what you actually want to accomplish this year. So maybe you want to completely organize all of your household paperwork to make your life easier, or you want to redo your living room. Whatever your personal desires are, list them for step number two.
Then for step number three, finally, I want you to take into account your answers from steps one and two, and start listing out some goals that you want to realistically achieve in 2023. So again, going with a couple of, of examples, let's say that for step number one, the differences between your vision and where your home currently is right now, let's say that you wrote down that there's no toys in your living room, that your closet has no excess clothes, it's only has the clothes that you currently wear. And that your kitchen counters are completely free of excess stuff. Let's use those as your examples. Well then for step two, your examples could be that you want to organize all of your household paperwork and re decorate your living room.
So if you take all of those examples into account, and you take a couple of minutes to really consider what you realistically can get to over the next 12 months. Maybe you would realize that, uh, you don't, you probably may not have time to redecorate your living room if you're going to de clutter all of the toys, de clutter your closet, and de clutter, your kitchen counters.
And on top of, you know, raising your family, having a career, spending time with friends and family and all of the above. So as you can see kind of where I'm going with this riff here is maybe for step three, you list out your goals, which are to declutter your, your, all the living room toys, de clutter your master closet, and de clutter your household paperwork. And those are some good decluttering goals that you can really start with for 2023.
So once you've got those three steps down. I want you to take it one step deeper by brainstorming some projects that you need to accomplish to reach those goals. So your projects are going to be mini goals or milestones that you need to reach in order to accomplish your goals. For example, if one of your goals for this year, one of your decluttering goals is that you want to declutter your garage in 2023, what you need to do to determine your projects is to start listing out all the things that you need to do, all the things that are required in order to make that happen, in order to declutter your garage. Maybe this could be decluttering your Christmas decor, all of your tools, all the baby gear, all of your, the miscellaneous boxes that are in there that you don't even, God knows, who knows what's in those boxes. So those could be some mini projects. Decluttering your Christmas decor, decluttering the tools, decluttering the baby gear, and decluttering the miscellaneous boxes. Well, these projects, they work very well as quarterly goals. And this is the secret to decluttering motivation. Because, as I said, having a goal to declutter your entire house is far too overwhelming. Even a goal to declutter your garage is a little bit de-motivating when you don't know where to start or what you need to work towards.
But when you have specific projects or milestones that you can accomplish each quarter, it's a lot more motivating when you know that you just need to focus on decluttering all of your Christmas decorations. You can tackle that through one quarter in a year.
So let's recap. You'll definitely want to check out the show notes to access the visualization. Like I said, it's about six minutes long. It won't take you very much time at all to go through it.
Then I want you to follow the action steps of listing the differences between your longterm vision and where you are now. Second, you can determine your personal desires and what you personally want to accomplish in your home this year. Then you can set your annual goals based on those two answers. And really brainstorm some projects that you need to achieve your annual decluttering goals.
Now, if you want to learn how to better map out your projects in a way that gives you a game plan to follow for the entire year, I have a workshop that will walk you through the entire process. When you sign up for it, you get access to the goal planning workshop, a workbook, and a digital goal planning template. And the goal planning template is super powerful because it also gives you a place to keep track of your progress throughout the year. So you can really, truly achieve your best home yet in 2023. You can also find the link forward in the show notes, along with the visualization exercise.
So go set some annual goals for your home death, fire you up. And then send me a DM on Instagram so I can celebrate your goals with you.
Now in the next episode, we're taking this another step deeper by creating your decluttering plan. Today, we came up with some goals that you want to accomplish in your home. But there are likely some areas in your home that you need to declutter, even if you don't really want to, right? Well, your decluttering plan will give you a list as to what those areas are, as well as what de cluttering method you're going to use and how you will get the clutter out of your house. So be on the lookout next Thursday, for that new episode, and make sure to subscribe to the Take Charge of Your Home Show, because we have a lot of really juicy things coming over the next two months to help you start unloading your clutter.
Like a new free decluttering guide, a three-day challenge to give you more breathing room in your home, a brand new decluttering program, some guests podcast hosts and more. And trust me when I say you're not going to want to miss any of it. I'm really excited for this coming quarter and everything that you will be accomplishing in your home. So go subscribe on your favorite podcast app and I'll chat with you soon.
Thank you for listening to another episode of the Take Charge of Your Home Show. Go ahead and take a few moments to celebrate yourself for being here, doing this work, and really learning how to create a calm, relaxing home. Don't forget to check out the show notes and feel free to leave a rating and a review so I can know what you want to hear more about. Because you and your journey are what make this show a reality. I'll see you next time.
