March Forth and Do Something

March Forth and Do Something Dr. Mel Tavares

Although March Fourth is the official day to finally march ‘forth’ and take action on a home project you’ve been procrastinating on, the premise is good for any day of the year. Whatever the date is that you are reading this blog, today is the day to march forth.

As the CEO of your home, what project do you want to tackle in the next season? I’ve been thinking a lot about the projects I want to complete over the next six months. At the time of this writing, I am just two weeks away from the official start of spring. My mind is overrun with ideas I’ve seen and saved on Pinterest.

There is no possible way to accomplish all that I have in my mind. Rooms to paint, floors to refinish, and cabinets to polish. Seedlings to start, gardens to till, rows to plant. That leads me to thinking about painting the old carriage house, which would look amazing painted red with a beautiful American flag on the side of it. My mind quickly scurries to flags and remembering I need a new one for the front porch. Right! The front porch! Furniture to scrub, new cushions to purchase…oh! I’ve been meaning to do a DIY pallet project for the porch. You get the gist, right?

Did I mention yet that I am in fulltime ministry between my work at my church and my author/speaker/coaching ministry? Did I forget to tell you that I have seven adult children and their households that include a total of ten grandchildren? Did I neglect to mention that in addition to some of the kids, both my husband and I have siblings that live out of state, which requires travel? How then, do I think I will have time to do all of these projects? The answer is, I can’t. I need to narrow the scope to achievable goals.

I speak/write/coach frequently around the topic of setting achievable goals. My preferred method of goal-setting is to use the ever-popular acronym ‘SMART’ goals. At the risk of sounding redundant to those familiar with SMART goals, I will walk you through the process again.

S-Specific M-Measurable A- Achievable R-Realistic T-Time

You may have lots of project areas you want to work on, just like I do. The first thing to do is to list them in priority order, and then take a realistic look at the time and cost of the project and determine if the project is achievable. If I take a quick glance at my project list, it becomes very obvious that the entire list is neither realistic nor achievable over the next few months. I then need to begin to think “Which of these are priorities and are achievable?”

For me, I would like to repaint the bedroom vacated by my son when he got married, so the room can double as both a guest room and a writing/zoom studio. It is pretty high on the priority list so walk with me while I journey down the path of setting a goal for completing the room.

S-Specific. I will paint the bedroom. M-Measurable. I will paint the walls and trim. A-Achievable. I can afford the paint, am capable of painting, and have the tools needed. R-Realistic. Is it realistic? Yes. I need to block out an evening of prep and day to paint. T-Time. When will I have it done by? I have looked at my calendar and can do it on April 22nd.

The final step in writing my goal is to put it all-together into a single sentence. I will paint the bedroom walls and trim on Saturday, April 22nd. There! Now I have a goal.

Writing the goal is not enough. I also know there are steps to be taken before April 22nd. Because I will need the day to paint, I will need to do preparation ahead of time. These steps create the action plan.

1. I need to decide what color to paint the room and trim. 2. I need to gather all of the tools/supplies to ensure I have everything I need to do the project. 3. I need to make a trip to the local home and garden store to purchase the 2 gallons of paint and any necessary supplies. I will do this on April 21st. 4. I need to move all furniture and smaller items from the bedroom into the other spare room. I will do this on Friday, April 21st. 5. I know myself. I will not make food for myself in the middle of this project. I will plan to pick up convenience foods will I am out getting paint on April 21st. 6. I know myself. It’s going to be warm in April and I will want a Dunk’n Ice Coffee to sip on while I paint. I will ask my hubby to pick one up for me on painting day, before he leaves our neighborhood to attend a morning meeting. Remember I know myself and won’t make breakfast for myself, or worse yet-I will get distracted from painting, because I am hungry and need to make food. I will have him grab me a blueberry muffin to go with my ice coffee. Now, I will be ready to paint! 7. I know myself. I will want to celebrate the fact I have completed this project. I will make reservations for dinner at my favorite Thai restaurant for Saturday, April 22nd as a reward for my hard work.

There! Do you see how I created a plan while I typed? It is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and can be done in the timeframe I have chosen. I have detailed action steps of what I need to do sometime the week prior to my chosen 2 day project for the room transformation. I will march forth and complete the project that has been lingering undone for over a year.

What about you? Have I given you enough details that you can write out a goal and action plan for a project you’d like to get done in your home? I am confident you can write a SMART goal and then march forth and complete it! Have a wonderful time and don’t forget to reward yourself for accomplishing it!