If you feel as if you’re failing as a stay-at-home mom, it’s probably because you haven’t set any realistic goals for yourself. Setting goals is key to thriving as a stay-at-home mom. Making sure those goals are realistic and achievable is important to making those goals happen and becoming a successful stay-at-home mom.
Having something to reach for is always going to help motivate you. And this goes for any person in any season of life.
I can speak from experience that when I don’t have any goals set, I don’t have very productive days. The goals I do set for myself are mostly small, reachable goals that I can accomplish relatively easily. They challenge me (some more than others), but they also just help me stay on track.
In this post, we will talk about what a SMART goal is for a stay-at-home mom, and how to go about creating and achieving them.
What are Stay-at-Home Mom Goals
Being a stay-at-home mom is a rewarding but challenging role. As you navigate through the daily tasks of managing a household and caring for your children, it’s crucial to recognize the value of setting goals. Stay-at-home-mom goals can encompass various aspects of life, including personal development, family well-being, spiritual growth, and self-care.
The stay-at-home mom goals that you set for yourself don’t need to be house-related or homemaker-related, although they could be.
It’s a good idea to set daily and/or weekly goals for managing things within the home. But, it is just as important to set personal goals that are just for your own personal growth and well-being.
I’m willing to bet that you already have some sort of daily or weekly goals set for keeping the house clean (even if they aren’t working perfectly), or a weekly meal plan goal (even if it’s not perfect). But do you have any goals set simply for you?
Setting goals can be challenging because there are so many different aspects of our lives that we want to grow in. So it’s difficult to know where to start. Trying to choose which categories of our lives to create goals for can be overwhelming.
This is why keeping goals simple and reachable is crucial. If you create 10 different goals that are complicated to accomplish, I guarantee you will quit almost immediately.
In the end, I would say that a good stay-at-home mom goal is any goal within any life category that would make you feel accomplished, productive, and successful if achieved.
Why Setting Personal Goals as a Mother is Important
Motherhood is a beautiful and fulfilling journey, but it’s easy for mothers to become fully immersed in their roles as caregivers, often putting their own needs and aspirations on the back burner.
While nurturing and supporting our families, we may unintentionally neglect our personal growth and individuality. This is why setting personal goals, or “just for you goals”, is so important. Goal setting for moms can be a way to help us remember to take care of our own needs and desires.
Personal goals would be any goal that is just for you. It’s not necessarily homemaker, mommy, or caretaker-related. It’s something personal that you as an individual would like to accomplish.
And while these types of personal goals may spill over into goals that impact and improve the home and family, the center focus of a personal goal is you.
Below are 6 reasons that setting personal goals as a mother is so important. Let’s take a look:
(1) Personal Growth: Setting and pursuing goals allows stay-at-home moms to continue their personal development journey. It helps in maintaining a sense of identity beyond the role of a caregiver.
(2) Fulfillment Beyond Motherhood: Accomplishing personal goals can bring a sense of fulfillment and purpose, contributing to overall happiness and well-being. While being a mother is rewarding and we wouldn’t change it for the world, setting personal goals offers an extra source of fulfillment.
(3) Positive Role Modeling: Mothers are powerful role models for their children. But as SAHMs, it often feels as if the only thing your kids see you do is to cook and clean. By actively pursuing personal goals, whether it’s a career aspiration, a creative endeavor, or a commitment to lifelong learning, stay-at-home moms can inspire their children to dream big and work hard to achieve their own goals.
(4) Preserving Individual Identity: Motherhood is just one, although amazing, part of a woman’s identity. Setting personal goals allows mothers to maintain and pour into their individuality. By pursuing personal interests and passions, they not only maintain a strong sense of self but also demonstrate to their children the importance of embracing one’s uniqueness.
(5) Outlet for Stress: Being a stay-at-home mom comes with its unique share of challenges. Having personal goals provides a healthy outlet for stress, allowing SAHMs to take a break, and put their mind and energy toward constructive and fulfilling projects, which in turn can be just the fuel needed to take on the next parenting task.
(6) Enhancing Self-Care Practices: Prioritizing personal goals is a form of self-care. It encourages mothers to dedicate time to activities that bring them joy and satisfaction. This not only benefits mothers but also positively impacts their relationships with family members.
Setting mommy goals is a powerful tool that has so many benefits and positive outcomes for not only mommy but the entire family. It’s a way to embrace personal aspirations alongside the joys and responsibilities of motherhood.
A mother who invests in her well-being is better equipped to provide love and support to her children and partner.
Stay-at-Home Mom Lack of Motivation
While being a stay-at-home mom is immensely rewarding, it’s not uncommon to experience moments of lack of motivation. The repetitive nature of daily tasks, combined with the constant demand for attention and care, can leave moms feeling overwhelmed and uninspired.
This is another reason why setting goals as a stay-at-home mom is so important. Having a goal to reach, something to look forward to accomplishing is a great motivation booster.
It’s easy to feel a lack of motivation as a stay-at-home mom when you’re just waking up every day doing the same mundane tasks with no end in sight, nothing to look forward to, and no aspirations to keep you excited to keep pushing through the hard stuff.
When I don’t have any goals set for my life, whether that be small daily goals or larger life goals, it’s difficult to see past the pile of dishes, the overflowing laundry, the potty training, or all the toys. And not only is it difficult to see through, it makes it harder to get up and do the work. Because without goals or a vision for what you would like to see accomplished, the challenges of the day seem neverending.
So you can often feel like what’s the point? It’s all just going to get messy again. I’m just going to be doing this again tomorrow.
You need homemaker goals that will help you accomplish things at home with your house and family. And you need personal goals, that will help you keep a sense of yourself which in turn will reboot you so that you’re ready to tackle the mundane.
How to Set SMART Goals for Moms
To overcome the challenges of setting and achieving goals, it’s essential for stay-at-home moms goals to follow the SMART criteria. If you’ve ever worked in a corporate job, you’ve likely heard of SMART goals. When I worked in an office, we were always tasked with creating SMART goals for ourselves.
The acronym stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Creating SMART goals can be just as helpful to stay-at-home moms. Let’s dive into why.
- Specific: Making your goal specific is vital. Clearly defining your goals, instead of a vague goal like “exercise more,” will make a huge difference in whether or not you actually do it. Instead of “exercise more”, try something like “go for a 30-minute walk every morning.”
- Measurable: Set goals that are quantifiable. For example, if your goal is to read more, specify the number of books you aim to read each month.
- Achievable: Ensure that your goals are realistic and attainable within your current circumstances as a stay-at-home mom. Setting overly ambitious goals may lead to frustration.
- Relevant: Align your goals with your values and priorities. Choose goals that contribute to your overall well-being and happiness. Don’t try to copy another stay-at-home mom’s goals. What goals would be relevant and fitting for you and/or your family’s needs.
- Time-Bound: Set deadlines for your goals. Having a timeframe creates a sense of urgency and helps in tracking progress. When I don’t set some sort of deadline for myself, I end up pushing it off. I adopt an “I’ll get to it” mindset. Setting a deadline, even a flexible one, will help you prioritize the goal.
Example Goals for Stay-at-Home Moms
Whatever goals you decide to set have to be realistic. Yes, they should be challenging to push you and help you grow. But if you create a goal that is too far out of reach, you will be setting yourself up for failure right from the start.
Remember to make your goals SMART, and to set goals that cater to the unique challenges and responsibilities of being a stay-at-home mom in YOUR home.
Let’s look at some example stay-at-home mom goals within a few different categories that you might find important in your life:
(1) Self-Care Goal: “I will write in my journal every day for 15 minutes. I can accomplish this when my daughter is taking her nap. This is important to me because it helps to relax and unwind from the day. (Relevant). I will start doing this on Friday.”
(2) Quality Time with Children: “I will plan a daily activity that me and my children can sit down and do together. I will do this every day after breakfast. I can accomplish this by setting a timer so that we all know when mommy needs to get back to cleaning. This matters to me because I want to be more present for my children. I will start doing this tomorrow after breakfast.”
(3) Learn a New Skill: “I want to learn to make healthier meals for my family. I plan to learn one new healthy meal to cook each week. I can accomplish this by subscribing to a healthy eating YouTube channel. This is important to me because I want my children to live long healthy lives. I will try this every week in January.”
These are just a few examples of some SMART stay-at-home mom goals you can create. But you have to decide what aspects of your life need to be prioritized in this season of your life. You certainly cannot prioritize everything.
Start by looking at what areas of your life are bothering you most, or which aspects of your life seem to need the most attention. And start setting goals in those areas.
Category examples: Spiritual, family, homemaking, health, fitness, education, fun and relaxation, friendships, intimacy, etc. These are some areas of your life that might need your attention or that you just want to pour more into.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, setting goals as a stay-at-home mom is not only beneficial for personal growth but also contributes to the overall well-being of the family.
By adopting a goal-oriented mindset, stay-at-home moms can find fulfillment in both their roles as caregivers and individuals. I highly encourage you to start setting goals as a stay-at-home mom. It will boost your productivity, and improve your quality of life as a mom and as an individual.