7 Reasons You Should Set Goals for Your Homestead

Setting goals is important for any aspect of life, and it’s a must-have skill for successful homesteading. A homestead is a dynamic place with ever-changing environments and ongoing challenges.

Knowing when to plant a garden and harvest food, build an outbuilding, install fencing, dry herbs, or the many other tasks of homesteading can get overwhelming fast.

Here are 7 Reasons Why You Should Set Goals for Your Homestead

Table of Contents

• Clarify Your Purpose
• Plan and Organize with Ease
• Focus and Prioritize
• Measure Your Progress
• Track What You Learn
• Build Self-reliance and Sustainability
• Grow as an Individual
• Conclusion
• FAQs

Clarify Your Purpose

Setting goals will help you clarify the purpose of each task on your homestead. You’ll be able to define what you wish to achieve and how to live your values through your actions.

You can clarify your purpose by doing research and learning about homesteading. Visit other homesteads, and seek inspiration from established homesteaders. Define what your lifestyle preferences are and set realistic expectations when planning your goals.

Know your Why. What are your values? What truly matters to you will create your greatest success.

Plan and Organize with Ease

Juggling the many tasks of homesteading such as growing food, raising livestock, preserving food, and building infrastructure requires some sort of organization. By setting goals then breaking them down from large to small manageable tasks, you create a structure for success. Getting things done will be much easer and less stressful for everyone involved.

If you need a great goal planner, consider this one! My Homestead Goal Planner is a design based on my personal experience creating goals and making plans for my homestead. it’s everything I need to plan and track my homesteading goals. It comes with two pages of “how to use” instructions too!

Focus and Prioritize

A companion to planning and organizing – focusing and prioritizing your goals breaks down the steps even further. Try working from annual goals, to monthly, then weekly. Maybe even daily if needed. Or take large tasks you’ve planned and prioritize each step in order.

Learn more about goal setting in my article: How to Set Goals for Your Homestead.

Measure Your Progress

Many homesteading goals are long-term projects that take a large investment of time and resources. Measuring your progress can encourage you when the task seems never-ending. It also helps you track your time and resources which can be a great reference for future goals.

Over the years, I’ve looked back at my records of the goals we’ve set, and it’s inspiring to see how much we’ve accomplished. We also use our goal lists to evaluate costs of future projects.

Track What You Learn

Homesteading is a journey of growth and learning. Achieving goals gives you new knowledge, creates new skills, and improves existing skills. Keep track of how you’ve accomplished your goals. You never know when that information will help others or trigger a memory to help you with new goals years down the road.

Build Self-reliance and Sustainability

Many people decide to homestead because they wish to live more sustainably and with greater self-reliance. You increase your self-reliance by learning how to set good goals and achieve them.

By setting goals, you define how you will live sustainably, often in areas such as food production, energy efficiency, and conservation. Working towards your sustainability goals will make a positive impact on your homestead, your community, and your environment.

Grow as an Individual

There’s nothing like the satisfaction of a job well-done. When you check that final box, or cross of that final line on your to-do list, it just puts a smile on your face.

Achieving your goals, no matter how small, should be celebrated. Whether it’s a high-five from your partner, sitting around the campfire reminiscing about how you accomplished that goal, or cutting into that pie made with fruit from your orchard (one of my goals!), there’s a sense of fulfillment that brings joy to our journey.

We all grow as we learn. We develop new skills, take on new challenges, and strengthen relationships. Our goals we set for ourselves (then achieve) are the roadmaps of our homesteading journeys.

Conclusion

 So, which of these reasons strikes a chord with you?

Goal setting isn’t the most glamorous of homesteading skills, but it is one of the most important. Every homestead has different goals, so choose well according to your values. Set yourself on a structured, but resilient path as you pursue your homesteading dreams. And once you achieve your goals, celebrate! The joy is in the journey.

Happy Homesteading!

FAQ

How do I start setting goals for my homestead?

I’m glad you asked! We have many resources on the website to answer that. Start with looking at your current situation and how you want to modify it and incorporate homesteading activities. If you haven’t yet, define why you want to homestead. Next assess your skills to determine how long it will take to accomplish your goals. If you’re looking at finances, consider frugal living skills to help you save money for upcoming projects.

Can I use S.M.A.R.T. Goals for my homestead?

Yes! The S.M.A.R.T. method is extremely popular for many reasons. It can easily be adapted to homesteading. Download my FREE planning worksheet I created for people who prefer the S.M.A.R.T. method.

Need a Goal Planner?

My Homestead Goal Planner has everything you need to plan your homesteading goals. From vision board to annual, monthly, and weekly planning pages, action plans, and a bucket list, you can put all of your goals in one place for easy reference.

It’s available to purchase in my Etsy shop HomesteadByDesign.