“New Year, New Me” is a popular saying for everyone as soon as midnight hit on January 1st. So many resolutions get decided and then abandoned a month later, but making resolutions and goals shouldn’t be impossible. With proper strategies and steps, resolutions and goals are doable. Follow my tips for making your goals happen in the New Year.
- Focus on something realistic.
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Usually when it comes to New Years goals, we tend to go over the top, and we don’t always consider whether our goals are realistic or achievable. For example, saying “I’m going to loose 60 pounds” or “I’m getting straight A’s in all my classes” are amazing in theory, but difficult to achieve without proper planning. Life gets busy and perhaps your New Year’s goals may not be as easy to achieve with a heavy workload and school. Setting realistic limits not only makes it easier to achieve your goals, but also motivates you. It can help you avoid giving up on your New Years goals when things get crazy or hectic, or when you see you may not be where you want in your goal.
- Break it down
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Break things down. If dropping a certain number off the scale, or achieving your dream grade in a class is the goal, break down how you are going to be successful. You can’t just say you’re going to do something and have it magically happen, it’s all about the steps you need to take to achieve the goal. How much studying are you going to do in a week so you can prepare for that exam to get that A. How many times a week are you going to fit in gym time to achieve your weight loss goal. If you want to eat healthy, how are you going to avoid those late night cravings to McDonalds? Breaking things down will help you keep things on track.
- Focus more on the steps, rather than the end goal
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The steps you take matter, and they can affect how your end goal will play out. It’s about the steps you take that make your end goal achievable. The end goal is huge and it may be discouraging when you aren’t seeing progress in your resolution. By making steps to the end goal you will see progress, and small improvements toward your goals will motivate you even more to achieve them.
- Hold yourself accountable
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Friends may be a good way to motivate yourself and hold yourself accountable but they can’t be there to hold your hand 24/7. If you want to achieve goals that will Impact your life, then you need to be responsible for them. You need to hold yourself accountable and motivate yourself to get things done. That might mean writing daily reminders, having an alarm that goes off when it needs to, a daily book logging in progress, or other things to help keep you accountable.
- Don’t be vague
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People tend to make vague goals and usually that’s where people get thrown off. “I want to pass my classes” is a great goal to have, but there is so much room for interpretation. Ok, well what’s a pass for you? C? B? Bare minimum D? “ I want to be healthier” Does that mean going to gym once a week, once a month, cutting off fatty foods? People tend to make vague resolutions so that they don’t have to disappoint themselves if they can’t meet their end goal, but that’s also often how people fail to achieve their goals. Stick to a specific goal, that is realistic and is something that you can see results and feel positive about.