I don’t know about you, but the beginning of a new year always makes me feel a bit introspective. As the old year ends and the new one begins, I like to think about the goals I achieved in the past year (as well as the ones I didn’t), and look ahead to the goals I’m setting for the new year. It’s a great time to make a change in your life and habits, to start something new, or to set a new goal. But reaching those goals is not always easy. Lots of people make New Year’s resolutions, but not so many people actually achieve them. I’ve failed plenty, and maybe you have too. Why? Because deciding on a goal is only the first step. The real work comes after. There are some tricks you can apply to give yourself a much better chance of achieving the things you want. Here are my favourite four tips for setting better goals this new year.
Make The Goal Smaller
This isn’t me saying ‘dream smaller’ or ‘your goals are unrealistically large’. What I mean is, writing a book is a huge goal. So is running a marathon, losing 10kg or making a new habit of getting up an hour earlier. These are big, intimidating goals. They’re your ultimate goal, and they’re scary. Set those goals. But then, inside of that big goal, set yourself smaller goals. Make a goal to write 100 words a day. You’re still working towards the big goal of writing a book, but it’s smaller, more achievable. Set a goal of going for a short jog every day. You’re still working towards that marathon, or losing that weight, but it’s a much smaller goal, something you can see yourself achieving every day. Smaller goals build up to bigger goals. Break your ultimate goal into bite-sized pieces that are easier to achieve.
Make A Plan
A goal without a plan is just a dream, so the saying goes. You’ve set your smaller goal, but without a plan it’s still going to be a struggle. You want to work out more often, building towards an ultimate goal of lifting more, or losing weight. That’s wonderful! What time of day are you going to go? What routine or exercise type will you do? Are you going to go with a friend, or are you flying solo? What’s your back-up plan? Having a plan in place makes it easier to build your goal into your life, and makes it easier to motivate yourself to go when you don’t feel like it. If you know what you’re going to do at the gym, and when you’re going, you’re more likely to head out there at the right time. Putting a plan into place so you know exactly what you’re going to be doing makes it so much easier to achieve those smaller, day to day goals that are so important.
Make It Fun
What is the point of making these goals if you’re not going to enjoy working towards them? Working towards goals you don’t enjoy is likely to end in failure. But it’s easy to end up with a goal you hate doing the work for, and that’s sad. Goals should be fun! If you’re making a goal to lose weight, make it fun for yourself. Choose an exercise type you like to do. Do you prefer swimming? Running? Taking an exercise class with a friend? Do you have to eat healthier? fined recipes that are delicious and that you feel lucky to be able to eat. If all you’re eating is carrots, you’re going to be tempted to give up quickly. No one likes to put themselves through pain every day. It’s so much easier to do the work when the work is enjoyable.
Realise You Only Fail If You Quit
Don’t give up on your goal, even if you think you’ve failed. Sure, it doesn’t feel good, and in the moment it feels like there’s no way you can carry on now, because if you can’t keep to your plan all the time, what’s the point of even trying? Well I’m here to tell you, everyone fails. Everyone takes a day or two off when they didn’t mean to. everyone skips a day at the gym, decides to watch Netflix instead of writing, or eats too much when they didn’t mean to. That doesn’t mean that you can’t get back up and carry right on. The only time you fail a goal is if you give up on the goal entirely. Having to rewrite a plan that doesn’t work isn’t failing. It’s making the plan work for you better. Resizing the goal isn’t failing. It’s tailoring it to suit what you can, or want to do. Taking a couple of days to be lazy isn’t failing. It’s just a blip in your overall progress. You only fail if you throw in the towel on a goal you really want to achieve. Failing isn’t failing unless you let it be.
These are just some of my favourite tips for setting goals that are actually achievable. I hope you find some of them helpful as we all head into this new year. But I’d love to hear from you! What is the best tip you’ve ever given, or received on goal setting? Set any good goals for this upcoming year? What dreams are you chasing at the moment? Let’s chat!
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