Ready to hit refresh on last month’s fails? Well, in today’s post, I’ll show you how to start a brand new month so that you can make progress towards your goals and feel fulfilled.
These tips will help you stay focused & consistent and I’m so excited to share them with you!
Only YOU are in charge of what goes onto your calendar so, you need to be picky.
We wanna put your time and energy on important things because we know you can’t get them back. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. You get 24 hours a day and that’s it. Are you willing to put each hour into good use?
Think about it, do you wanna look back at your life and think, ‘What did I do with all my time?’ I definitely don’t!
I’d rather confidently look back and say, ‘I did everything that I possibly could to achieve my goals and l lived a happy, productive life.’
We only get one life so let’s choose to make the best out of it.
I’ve got 6 action steps to take to help you start a brand new month. READY TO SEE THEM?
Here they are:
- Visually plan out your month
- Set 3 big goals
- Plan every week
- Create a monthly budget
- Collect last month’s receipts
- Deep clean 2 spaces
Let’s start with Step #1: Visually plan out your month
Using an empty calendar, fill it up with any events, appointments and monthly bills.
Without doing this and visually writing out my month, I would most likely get halfway through the month and forget that I had my chiropractic appointment, or an automatic electricity bill payment that consequently, left my account in overdraft.
This doesn’t sound like a big deal but, here are 3 reasons why it is:
- You’ll feel like you lost control
- Your mind will be scattered
- You’ll lose motivation to continue staying on track
Let’s move on to the next MOST important step.
Step 2: Set three big goals
Before you start this step, you HAVE to check yourself. Did you make any goals last month? If you did and you achieved them, good for you, if you didn’t, THIS will be the month to do so.
Set 3 goals, not small easy ones, but BIG ones that can be divided into small, bite sized weekly and daily to-dos.
Why specifically 3?
If you set more than 3 big goals, you won’t give yourself the time or opportunity to do them. I want you to just focus in on 3 every month because these will be hard enough as is.
These goals are the things you’ve been dreaming about doing but haven’t found the time. Sound familiar?
I’ll give you some examples of big goals that can divided into smaller goals:
- Save up $2000 by the end of the month
- Write 4 Blog posts
On the 1st of every month, you will have a checkpoint. Look at the 3 big goals that you’ve set for yourself last month and check off if you’ve achieved them.
This will help you reflect on personal and/or business goals and hold you accountable in making sure that you’re still keeping them a priority.
Do your goals need to be adjusted? That’s totally fine! Just change your approach so that they can be achievable for this new month.
This easies us right into Step 3: Plan every week
There is a sense of calmness and fulfillment in knowing that things this week will run smooth due to a little bit of preparation. I usually like to plan the week ahead every Sunday, it gives me a clear headspace.
Let’s put these words into action. So, in addition to the 3 monthly goals you made in step 2, you should have 3 weekly goals too! These will usually be a subsection of your 3 big goals.
For example:
- Save $400 this week
- Write and edit one blog post
In addition to your bite sized goals, write your to-do lists and check them off as you go. You can also include birthdays, appointments, etc.
PS….A VERY helpful hint: make a note of the things you need to prepare for these events!
Here’s a fair warning: DO NOT write down 20 things to-do when planning your week. You most likely will get burnt out so, skip out on writing the weekly routines that you do every week on repeat. Instead, write down something you need to do this week that you didn’t do last week.
The main point I want you to take away in this step is, you’ll feel more at ease when you create a visual of what’s coming up and what is expected of yourself.
Step 4: Create a Monthly Budget
I won’t dwell on this too much since my whole brand is about budgeting, uh HELLO, the Budget Doctor! But, I STRONGLY advise you to read this post about how to create a monthly budget. It will break down all the steps necessary and includes some freebie worksheets to help you stay organized!
*Click here to join my FREE budget TRAINING* LIMITED SPOTS⠀
Step 5: Collect Last Month’s Receipts
During the month, you should have a ‘holding place’ where you put all your receipts/expenses. This way you can immediately hide all of the annoying clutter until you have to organize it.
On the 1st of every month, take the pile of last month’s receipts and organize/file it. I use this organizer to categorize my receipts/bills by month.
Both you and your accountant will thank you for this later.
Step 6: Deep clean 2 spaces
Something about a new month makes me want to refresh the area I live in. My physical environment has such a deep effect on my mental environment.
You are more productive when your home is neat and clean. Best believe I schedule these in my weekly planner!
I like to do this step on Sundays because on Mondays, I get right into work and I need my environment to be spotless so that I can focus on my priorities of the day.
I will admit that doing all of these steps every month sound overwhelming BUT, you’re saving yourself soooo much time and energy throughout the month.
By doing these 6 steps every single month, you will:
- Stay focused on your goals
- Regain control of your life
- See the bigger picture
- Feel fulfilled
Next, snag your perfect cleaning schedule freebie here!
*Click here to join my FREE budget TRAINING* LIMITED SPOTS⠀
You’ll learn:⠀⠀
✅ My signature step-by-step method on how to build your budget that’s helped over 3,000 women build their budget (with specific examples!)⠀
✅ The biggest mistake hard-time working women make with their paychecks & why you still don’t have a working budget (even if you’re starting at zero!)
✅ Why every budget you’ve tried doesn’t work & how my strategies will