Quite the Little Goal Digger and a {Giveaway!}

I do it for many reasons, but mostly because setting and achieving goals gives me self-confidence which is the key to success (in my opinion). When you feel and know that you can do anything, nothing can stop you from accomplishing anything you set out to.

MindTools gives a great little breakdown on how to set goals:

1. State each goal as a positive statement - Express your goals positively – "Eat clean at least 90% of the time" is a much better goal than "Don't eat cheat meals"
2. Be precise: Set precise goals, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement. If you do this, you'll know exactly when you have achieved the goal, and can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it.
3. Set priorities - When you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by having too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones.
4. Write goals down - This crystallizes them and gives them more force.
5. Keep operational goals small - Keep the low-level goals that you're working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward.
6. Set performance goals, not outcome goals - You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible. It can totally suck to fail to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control. 
7. Set realistic goals - It's important to set goals that you can achieve. All sorts of people (for example, employers, media, or society) can set unrealistic goals for you. They will often do this in ignorance of your own desires and ambitions. 

If you follow me on instagram you may have seen that I'm a big fan of May Designs. They have the most adorable and functional books that you can design to suit your purpose and style.

I use this one for workouts. 

And just got this one specifically for goals (now that I see these together, I'm beginning to see my obviously obsession with navy. Perhaps there's a support group I should seek out)

I also have one I use for meal planning and it's recently come to my attention (*ah hem, thank you husband*) that I apparently need one for budgeting so, that's on the way as well. As it turns out, money does not grow on tress #whoknew. If you follow one of my favorite people (person's?) on Instagram, she's got a stockpile of adorable ones as well, so make sure to check those out!

{In all seriousness, being 'financially fit' is my biggest struggle and something I plan on sharing more about with you guys. It sucks and it's boring, but I feel like if I tell you guys I'm going to do something, I have to do it.}

Ok, so on to the fun!

May Designs is giving one lucky Hello Stripes reader her very own May Book of her choice! Stylish and sweet, what's not to love?! 

Head over to May Designs, check it out and then tell me what YOUR favorite pattern is AND one goal that you're committing to right now.

(If you already like or follow, just leave a note in the comments :))

Full Disclosure - My Favorite Pattern and Goals

Favorite Pattern: Ikat Dots Navy 

Performance Goal: Get 200# backsquat by December 1, 2013

Financial Goal: SAVE $1500 by December 1, 2013 (someone please keep me away from Target)

Home Goal: Create a functional play area for the boys by September 1, 2013

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**Here's the deets:

Winner will be chosen and then contacted by May Designs with a gift certificate code good for one book of the winner's choice + the cost of shipping (valued at $26). 

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