Setting Goals

It’s definitely THAT time of year.  When the gym rats complain because of the influx of people who will stay for a few weeks and then peter out.  When we say to ourselves… THIS year is going to be different.  I’m obsessed with setting goals.  I do it constantly.  So, I’ve learned a few tricks to help get your goals organized so you can get on the right track!  This week we will be talking about the best apps and devices that will help you achieve your goals!  Today we are focusing on the best way to set and track your goals!

What is surprising to me about general goal setting, is I haven’t found the PERFECT app for this.  I’ve looked in iOS, I’ve looked in Android, and there are many apps that have SOME of the features I want, and none that have all of the features I want.  Wish I had the time and resources to create my own.  Seriously.  Here’s what I would want in my dream app, if someone is feeling ambitious.

There are 4 different areas really that I think are important when goal setting and tracking.  First is to categorize exactly what you are planning.  Do you have an actual goal that has a specific end date, and can be tracked with the SMART system (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound)? Instead, are you trying to create a new habit in your life? Or, are you looking for a way to mange your daily tasks? Lastly, you may be just wanting to track your dreams or things on your bucket list.  Of course, my ideal app would give me a way to track all of the above, from the initial goal to setting daily tasks and tracking daily habits.  Instead we have to piece it together using several different apps.

Beautiful User Interface – This is pretty much a deal breaker for me.  I can live with some features lacking, but if it looks terrible, I’m not even going to try it out.  So, basically this is the first on the list, cause it’s the most important.  I’d love to set an image for each goal so I can view the entire thing like a vision board.  I really like iWish for this portion of my goal setting.  I also enjoy the Android app “My Goals“, but I wish my goals had some cloud syncing, and I wish BOTH of the apps had a widget.  I love me some widgets.

Help Me, Help You – When I’m getting inspired to start living a more organized life, I need a little bit of help deciding what I need to focus on.  What kinds of goals should I be setting?  My perfect app will help me figure out what is important to me, and what areas of my life I should be focusing on.  So, my perfect app will have some categories already built in for me to base my own goals off of.  Maybe even a wizard that will take me through some various questions that can guide me to setting my goals. I just had to really come up with these on my own.  Although both iWish and My Goals have some sample goals and categories to help get you thinking or get you started.  I just need a place to see all my long term, short term, and other kinds of goals all in one place.

Daily Checkins – Especially with goals that involve more of a habit, I like to be able to check in to see if I’m meeting the short term goal I’ve set for myself.  I also like reports of how I’m doing for the month/week/day on the things I hope to accomplish daily.  Obviously I’d love these daily checkins to be tied to an actual Goal, and then have the ability to check it off that I’ve done it for the day.  I currently use Habit Bull for my daily checkins.  I’ve tried SEVERAL other habit streak apps, and I keep coming back to this one.  Mainly cause I’m in love with the widget.  Makes it super easy for me to check in that I’ve exercised that day.

Tasks – Lastly, my dream app would have a GREAT daily task list system.  Tasks could be tied to goals, or sub goals or just something you enter that you have to do that day.  It would have to be super easy to add tasks (even when I’m inside another app, like FB messenger or gmail), and view tasks (obviously via a widget, cause widgets are freaking AMAZEBALLS). Plus I’d love to be able to take a sub goal item and add a task right from within there with a due date.  Tasks also need the ability to have no due date and to be sorted into folders, but still able to see all the tasks at once.  These would be different than habit items as well.  Currently my favorite app for this is called Tick Tick.   As a task list, there is seriously nothing better out there.  Believe me, I have tried them ALL.

So, these apps will do for now.  Both Tick Tick and HabitBull are really amazing at what they do, I only wish they would work together.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to figure out your goals for the new year.  I don’t like to call them New Year Resolutions, because those just have a stigma of never working out.  So, set some new goals for yourself, and the rest of the week, we’ll talk about how to use different apps and devices to KEEP your goals!

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive compensation if you make a purchase using the links.

Comments

comments