We all know the saying “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” — Napoleon Hill. We also know that when you break that goal down into steps it becomes a plan. Then when you take action, you can make those dreams come true. You can think it’s a load of goat shit but it really is true. We had a dream of owning a homestead, we added a deadline, made a plan, and when we followed through. Our dream became reality. If your goal is similar to ours, or if you already have a homestead and you are trying to figure out your next steps, this is how to set homestead goals.
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First Step For How To Set Homestead Goals
The first thing you need to do is dream. If you’re anything like me, that’s absolutely not a problem. I am a daydreamer at heart. But thankfully, I’m also a planner so getting down to the nitty gritty is also easy. But if you struggle with dream, I’ve got an exercise for you.
Daydreaming Exercise
Go out into nature. It can be a park, your yard, whatever. Take your shoes off and put your feet on the ground. This is called grounding. Take a couple of big, deep breaths. Close your eyes (as long as it’s safe!) and allow your mind to wander. Don’t think of all the responsibilities you have, allow yourself to dream.
Flush out that dream in your meditative state. Do you see animals? A huge garden? A greenhouse? What is the finished product of your goal?
Write it down
Our dream is to make the homestead as self sustaining and self funding as possible. We want to be able to pay off our mortgage in 15 years. We want our animals to not only provide food for us, but also an income. Lastly, we want the land to produce enough food and firewood that we decrease our dependency on outside sources by 75% in 5 years.
That’s a large order, right? But it’s really not when you add a deadline like 15 years for the mortgage or 5 years for independence. It is overwhelming when you stop and consider how much work, money, and time it’s going to take. But again, bite size steps or actions can really make a difference.
Setting Your Homestead Goals
These are the big goals inside our dream
- Pay off mortgage in 15 years
- Self sustaining and self funding
- Animals provide food and income
- Land produces enough food, and water and firewood to decrease dependency by 75% in 5 years.
Be sure to list out those big goals from your daydreaming. These high point/ big goals are your starting point.
By having clear and measurable goals you can then start brainstorming on what you can do to hit those goals. But the goals listed above are long term goals. And while maintaining a big picture is always a good thing, small steps are what we are after.
My list of 2022 homestead goals are:
- Garden/ orchard
- Goat breeding program/ goat dairy
- Poultry
- Remodel master bedroom/bathroom/ hall
- Water Collection system
These small goals will help us reduce dependency, and start making a dent in our budget to allow us to put more money towards the mortgage or back into the farm.
Brainstorming or Brain Dumping
I like to list out all the possible things we can do to hit these goals. No matter how big or small, ridiculous, or crazy, I want to know what I can do to make sure we can get achieve our dreams. Get creative here.
- Pick up extra shifts at work
- Sell ducklings
- Sell goat butter
- Buy/plant fruit trees
- Pay extra on mortgage
- Stud out buck
- Sell Goat Pages
- Sell cut flowers
- Sell eggs
- Sell goat kids
- Buy/ plant nut trees
- Sell goat milk
- Set up roach colony for dragons
- Farmers Market
- Stop spending so much money at Lowes
- Sell chicks
- Sell goat cheese
- Plant extra in the gardens
- Bigger salad bar for dragons
- Sell the actual kids
- Sell bearded dragons
- Goat Ultrasound
Before we get too far into this, I have a great course on the basics of goat care. I call it Goat Crash Course: Goat 101. In this course, I explain things like types of shelter, types of feeds and hays, basic assessments and so much more! Check it out!
Setting The Goals With A Deadline
Setting a deadline puts your brain in motion. Your brain is going to start thinking of ways to hit those goals. And each time you mark off one of those goals, your brain releases a small hit of dopamine and serotonin which are the happy chemicals that will keep you going when you are struggling through that extra shift.
Some examples of goals with a deadline is:
- I will install our kitchen garden by March of 2023.
- The greenhouse will be finished by January 2024.
- We will get and be proficient with an ultrasound machine by 2025.
Keeping goals simple will make them easier to achieve. If you have never run a marathon, it may not be the most attainable to say you are going to run a marathon in three months. Could you do it? Sure, but the chances are that you are not going to be successful without a lot of hard work.
Just because this says for a homestead, doesn’t mean it’s only for a homestead. This same theory can be used for absolutely anything.
Understanding Homestead Flexibility
There is a fine line between homestead flexibility and abandoning your goals because they are too hard or you lose interest.
At the end of the day, you have to remember that all of your goals may be amazing, achievable, S.M.A.R.T, etc. But if you don’t have the flexibility to understand that life is going to pop up and change things? Your homestead could come to a grinding halt. So make sure you are allowing for plenty of time to achieve your goals. I wrote an entire post about homestead flexibility that you can find here.
The flip side is that you have to make sure that you are staying the course. You don’t want to get distracted and end up spending more time and money on projects that aren’t worth your time and money. So make sure that while you’re dreaming, you are also keeping in mind what your definition of success is.
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