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Hello friends. I am so excited to be sharing with you today one of my favorite workshops in a super condensed version, Goals and Grace: Thriving as a Working Homeschool Mom.

Now before you click off here because you’re not a working homeschool mom, this is about goal setting and grace making, and most of these principles apply across the board to everybody, so I hope you’ll stick with us and enjoy.

I’m going to start with one of my favorite quotes from Sally Clarkson:

“I’ve learned that my influence on my children is limited only by the smallness of my dreams and my lack of commitment to the Lord and his purposes.”

That’s big, isn’t it? Isn’t that an incredible responsibility. Our children and our businesses have the potential to change the world for the better. We can bring glory to God’s kingdom through how we are raising our children and how we conduct our businesses and the people that we impact.

So how big can we dream? How strong is our commitment? And how do we make it all work together? We’re going to start with GOALS.

That great big G stands for get clear. How do you set good goals? How do you know that you are working towards something that you should be? Setting good goals requires clarity. What is your reason for homeschooling? You need to be crystal clear on this. What is your reason for having a business? What is your purpose? Why did God put you here?

Here’s a note: generally the first thing that comes into your mind is not your real reason. We have generic answers that we’re always ready to give when someone asks us these questions and those are always the top level thoughts, but if you really want to get down to your why, you’ve got to dig deep. What desire is making you really want this goal?

Everyone winds up somewhere. Use your goals to be the person that winds up somewhere on purpose.

O stands for own your life. Take responsibility for where you are, for where you have been, and for where you want to go. Own your big scary dreams and own the action steps to achieving them. Be willing to make that commitment. There are seven days in a week and someday isn’t one of them. Stop living on “someday isle” and get ready to make a huge impact by owning your life.

Moses in Psalm 90 says, “Teach me to number my days.” We are only given a finite number here. Our everyday habits are the choices that get us closer to or further from our goals. We have to remember this every day in homeschooling and in business.

[socialpug_tweet tweet=”The A stands for accept your limits. We all have limits. We don’t like to admit it but here’s the secret guys — super mom is a myth. GOALS & GRACE for working #homeschool moms. #wahm #hsbloggers” display_tweet=”The A stands for accept your limits. We all have limits. We don’t like to admit it but here’s the secret guys — super mom is a myth.”]

The A stands for accept your limits. We all have limits. We don’t like to admit it but here’s the secret guys —  super mom is a myth.

No one can do it all and do anything well. You have to learn to say no so you can say yes to what matters. You have to be willing to evaluate every opportunity that comes your way. We’re a little bit like a four-burner stove. At the holidays something’s always on the back-burner and that fifth dish just has to wait. You can juggle those four burners but beyond that, you’re gonna drop the pot and something is not gonna get served and it’s going to  feel like everything is falling apart.

Your limits are boundaries and they are there to protect you, to protect your physical, spiritual, and mental health and to protect that precious time that you have with your family, or that time you have to work on your business. Having limits and knowing our boundaries is a huge part of the battle.

L stands for let go. Perfection is a villain that holds us captive to our reflection. It’s about pride. Perfection is all about our own ego. It’s a fear of failure. Control is all about a lack of trust. When we continually insist on controlling everything, it’s basically saying, “God, I don’t trust you to take care of this. I’m gonna do it myself.” Be that in our homeschool or in our business, we have to let go.

Serving others and continuous improvement is the best way to combat perfectionism. Celebrate when you make those small steps forward instead of crushing yourself down because you didn’t make it all the way to your end goal as quickly as you wanted.

Exercising our trust muscles is the only way to beat the fear of not being in control. Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are God’s masterpiece, he has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” He’s got this all planned out. We just have to trust.

And finally the S. Stay the course. When it comes to homeschooling and business it’s really easy to get in your own way.

Don’t let your what-if monster win.

Don’t become emotionally attached to your outcomes. The day to day process that you put in place with clear goals will help you produce your desired results in your homeschool, in your business, in your life. Maybe not every single day you get those good results, but the law of averages is going to play out in your favor.

Keep going back to your why. When you get those clear goals, put them where you can see them. Every single day you need to see them. You cannot hide your compass and expect to stay your course. You need visible reminders of your why.

 

A quick review — the GOALS portion of our GOALS & GRACE is about getting clear, owning your life, accepting your limits, letting go, and staying the course. I can’t wait to see you back here in two weeks for the GRACE portion of GOALS & GRACE for homeschool moms.