“New Years Resolution: Read half a book” – said no one ever.
How many times have you found your old, crumpled up, New Years Resolution List and felt an abominable guilt for not having lost 30 pounds, gone to the gym three times a day, finished the entire Harry Potter saga, and learned Mandarin?
Countless.
It might yet not be 2014, but it is a new start of an academic year and with it come new goals and ambitions… maybe this semester I will launch my own app and get an A in all my classes…. STOP RIGHT THERE! Breathe. Erase. Think again.
What if I told you that this year you will be able to look back at your list feeling a sense of accomplishment? Here are a couple of tips for goal setting:
1. Be realistic:
The first step is focusing on setting realistic goals. You will not lose your freshman 15 in a month – give yourself a year. You probably won’t read a book every month – set a goal to read at least two until the end of the year. Don’t set yourself up for failure simply because you’re feeling the tabula rasa of the new semester.
2. Set a range and small targets:
For each goal set two targets: a doable one and a reach. For instance, set a goal to post at least once a month on your dormant blog and one to post every week. In other words, you establish a range of 1-4 posts a month. This way, the first (once a month) is relatively easy to accomplish, yet the second (every week) provides you motivation.
3. Be specific:
Don’t make vague statements like “will learn a new language”, “will get better grades”, “will be more patient towards others”. Instead, try being as specific as you can. The more specific you are, the higher the chance of accomplishing your goal and the less room for loop holes for the end of the year when you pretend you accomplished your goal – at the end of the day, you know you didn’t.
4. Keep an agenda
Make your agenda your best friend. Go old style – pen and paper is the best way. This will allow you to organize yourself and keep track of how far you’ve come.
5. Zen your way to success!
This might sound simple, but it is probably the hardest part of it all: keep sane. Don’t punish yourself for falling off-track or having a setback. Breathe, understand why you fell through, forgive yourself, and battle on. At the end of the day, you’re doing this for you and only you. So don’t despair when all fails!