I’m sure most people have already decided on what they would like their new year goals to be. Or have totally decided against making goals. New year goals never seem to last more than a few weeks due to the crazy goals we set ourselves. Personally, i don’t set myself goals at the start of each year as they never last, and i forget about them. This generally happens when they are spare of the minute goals, ones you set on new years day because you think you need to come up with something. This isn’t the case at all however. If you don’t have any specific goals, don’t feel you have to make any. Making goals you really don’t care about will only make you feel more unmotivated, and you’re very likely to fail.
However, if you have decided to aim for something reachable this year then here are a few of my top tips to help you stick to them.
Invest In Yourself
Investing in yourself isn’t a goal as such, however, it could be the best thing you ever do for yourself in the long run. Think of it as you would when upgrading your old TV, or smartphone. It’s unlikely you haven’t upgraded either of these at some stage in your life. You buy an improved version of them to get better technology, faster service, a sleeker design. So, think of yourself in this way as well.
Investing in yourself, whether through taking classes, hiring a personal trainer, or even hiring a life coach is like giving yourself an upgrade. If you want to become better in the gym and learn more, you’d hire a personal trainer. If you want to know more about a certain topic, you’d take a class. Just like if you wanted help with your feelings and emotions, you’d hire a life coach. Since the pandemic, i think we all need a bit of extra help when it comes to our mental health. Someone like a life coach can do this, working through issues you might not even know where there.
Make Your Goals Achievable
It can be so easy to think up weird and wonderful goals for yourself to try to achieve in the following year. However, if these goals are way out of reach, there’s no point in setting yourself up for failure. Yes, think high and push yourself but keep in mind what you’re capable of. Where you are in your life and if these goals can actually be achieved in 1 year. If they are way out of reach, you’ll get disheartened when you don’t see progress which is when you’re likely to give up all together.
Think About What You Want To Achieve
When many people think of goals they’d like to achieve it’s mainly focused around work, fitness or working on yourself. They aren’t often about spending more time with family/friends. Maybe you have a bucket list of things/places you would like to go. Remember, the more fun things you add in to your list, the more likely you are to succeed.
However, there are also things you might like to achieve for your health that you haven’t thought about. Making sure you’re as healthy as possible, both inside and out is just as important as being able to run a 10K, or that promotion at work.
For example, if you don’t sleep all that well most nights, perhaps working on bettering that could be more beneficial to you. Perhaps one of your goals could be to aim to get a full 7/8 hours sleep each night. You could try reading before bed instead of watching TV. Or perhaps you could change your bedding to see if that helps.
Opting for a light-weight duvet to see if that helps. This linen duvet cover from Cuddledown is woven from 100% pure French & Belgian flax linen, making it super soft and comfortable to sleep in. Even better, this linen duvet gets softer and more comfortable every time you wash it.
Make Lists
It’s easy to make up lots of goals to try to achieve throughout the year. But actually keeping on top of them can be hard. Make a list of everything you want to focus on. This could be in the form of a tick list, a more in-depth list of research for each goal, you could also create a large planner to stick on your wall and mark it in various colours for each goal.
This one is my favourite and the way I usually keep on top of things, especially if I have a few things on the go. The colours stand out so I can quickly and clearly see where I have got to with each one and adjust accordingly.
Don’t Make Hundreds Of Goals
Yes, it’s good to make goals but there isn’t any point in creating more hassle for yourself by having 10-20 different goals. All of which you have to reach by the end of 2022. I find this just puts too much pressure on yourself and it becomes more like work than a fun exercise to better yourself. Maybe pick a maximum of 5 goals to focus on. Perhaps one in each area of your life – family/friends, work, yourself, fun and misc. By doing this, you make it easier to focus on each one. Giving more of your time and energy to each goal and therefore more likely to achieve it.
However, the best way to keep new year goals is actually not to make them at all. I know this sounds weird but stay with me… People who make them are 99% less likely to keep them than the people who make life achievements, there and then. Not those who think they need to create a goal for themselves, then wait until new year to start them. These goals are generally not realistic and are made because they think they have to make them, purely because it’s the new year.
If you want to make yourself a goal, that’s great, just don’t wait until new year to start it. As the advert (i cant remember which one) says – why wait! If you want to aim for something, get on and start it, just make it one you can stick to and something that’s attainable – don’t make it something like… “I want to be able to do 50 press ups in 1 months time” (when you haven’t done a single press up your entire life), or “I want to lose 5 stone in 6 months” this just won’t be possible and therefore you won’t stick to it. Aim smaller and you’ll get there!
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