Setting Goals with Your Spouse

How to Set Achievable Goals in Your Marriage

Setting goals in your marriage is necessary, and difficult. If you and your spouse both have your own individual goals, or if you like to dream but have trouble putting in the action, you might feel like actually meeting your goals is impossible. In this episode, we’re discussing the importance of creating shared goals and supporting each other’s goals, and identifying how you can break your long-term goals down into small, achievable steps.

It’s important to do goal-setting with your spouse and not on your own for a few reasons:

• Your spouse can know you better and be more understanding of your actions when they know what your end goal is. It’s ok that you both have different goals, and it’s important to be supportive of each other’s goals.
• You also need to set common goals together. This is a way you can be a team and work together with excitement for a shared future.

Think long-term and short-term when setting goals together:

• Think about the different types of goals. Financial, physical, spiritual, relational, emotional, and more.
• Start with more long-term goals, like lifetime goals, 10 year goals, 5 year goals. Once you get to your 5 year goals, break it down smaller though, to begin creating action steps.
• Use the acronym SMART when goal-setting. It means Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. Keep your goals in line with SMART.

Taking small steps together with your goals:

• You and your spouse can pick the most important goals you want to pursue together.
• Based on your long-term goals together, what needs to happen in 5 years that either meets those goals or keeps you on the path toward those goals?
• What needs to happen in 3 years that keeps you on track toward the 5 year goals?
• What do you need to do in 1 year that puts you on track for the 3 year and 5 year goals?
• Now, you and your spouse go even smaller in your steps. What do you need to do in 6 months to keep you on track for reaching your goals?
• Break down your 6 month goals into 3 month goals. Think about what you want the progress of your goal to be in 3 months.
• Once you have your 3 month goals together, break it down into 1 month goals.
• Break that 1 month goal down into week-long goals. What do you and your spouse need to do in one week to begin reaching those goals? What is the very first step that has to happen for you and your spouse to make a step toward your goal?

Remember, you and your spouse are a team. As we close out a year and begin a new one, think of how the two of you can work together and support each other’s hopes, dreams, and goals for the future.