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To-do, list, paper, pen, journal
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Life

Goal Setting Tips You May Not Have Heard of

Mya Bezaire
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UWindsor chapter.

You know that time of year where you write out a list of goals you want to accomplish for the upcoming year, but normally give up on them a month in? 2020 has come to an end, and as we enter 2021, it’s officially New Year’s resolution season. Whether it’s trying to be healthier, achieving a career goal, or bettering your self-care, statistics show that less than 25% of people actually remain committed to their resolutions. This lack of commitment is more likely due to poor planning and ambitious ideas. You have likely heard the classic tips of splitting your goals into tasks, being specific, etc., but if you want some more original tips, keep reading this article!

 

Split Your Yearly Goals into Quarters

Chances are, you may have one (or a few) very broad goals that will take a year to achieve. Having too many goals or very ambitious ones can sometimes make you feel exhausted with how much you want to complete, which is why splitting up your resolutions can allow your resolutions to be easier to complete. Influencer & Entrepreneur Hanna Ashton suggests splitting your year into four quarters: January-March, April-June, July-September, and October-December. Within these quarters, you can create smaller and more achievable goals that can be completed within each quarter in order to help you move onto your next chunk of goals. For example, if your goal was to lose 20 pounds, you may split this to losing 5 pounds per quarter, which doesn’t sound as challenging when you picture it in your mind. Splitting your goals into quarters also gives you a smaller timeframe to complete a certain goal, which can help you to remain focused throughout each quarter.

 

Limit Your Goals

When it comes to writing out your resolutions, sometimes individuals think of a large number of goals that they want to achieve all at once, which can be overwhelming and causes you to lose track of what you desire. Thus, limiting and prioritizing certain goals that you set can be important to your success. Limiting your goals can be done in two ways. The first way is to  limit yourself to three goals maximum for the entire year and divide those goals into small quarterly goals that you can achieve. The second, alternative way is to  identify which goals are your larger ones and which goals won’t take that long to complete and select a quarter to complete them in so that you don’t have to focus on multiple goals all at once. 

 

Identify Required Habits

In most resolution making cases, goals you want to achieve normally require you to create new habits or reverse bad habits in order to complete your objective. For example, if you have a goal to be more eco-friendly in 2021, you may have habits of taking long showers, using plastic products, and purchasing fast-fashion. By Identifying the habits that don’t help you achieve your resolution, this can help you figure out why you are having a hard time completing a certain goal, and how to change your habits in order to achieve it. So, going back to our eco-friendly goal, creating new habits such as purchasing package free products, taking 10-minute showers, and getting clothes from vintage clothing outlets, can help you get onto the right path to achieve your New Year’s Resolution.

 

Track Your Progress

This tip may be a little more obvious, but it is important. By tracking your progress, you can figure out where you are on the path to success and see if you need to change your plan in order to get to your achievement. This can be done by going through your list of to-do’s required to complete that goal, creating a habit tracker in your planner, or looking back at your plan to see what you need to do better at. Tracking your progress can help you “stay on track” to achieve your goals, and help you see where you need to improve. 

 

Hold Yourself Accountable

Holding yourself accountable for your goals can be the hardest part of goal setting because you only see things from one perspective. One of the best ways to be more accountable of your goals is to have someone help you out. If you and a friend both want to get fit in 2021, consider being fitness partners and attending work out classes together to help hold each other accountable. Or, if you don’t have anyone who wants to achieve the goals you do, ask a friend (or even family!) to help keep you on track by checking in with you every once in a while to make sure you are still on track. Using a journal to help you keep track of your goals and reading it back can also help you see where your accountability lies. There are also many apps that relate to many resolutions you want to complete that can include trackers as well as notifications to remind you to complete your goals and help you keep track of them. Keeping yourself accountable can allow you to see yourself from another perspective and show you where you’re at on your path and what you need to do to do better.

 

After the craziness of 2020, the only way that we can all go is upward. I believe that 2021 is going to be the year where we are all going to thrive, regardless of the circumstances outside of our control. Good luck on your goals! You got this!

 

Mya Bezaire is the Co-Campus Correspondent at the Her Campus UWindsor Chapter. She is responsible for overseeing all administrative aspects of the chapter, from member onboarding to article scheduling. Prior to this, Mya was the social media director (2021-2022), and she currently still helps with posting on social media. She also is a writer who’s content typically focuses around career development, entertainment, and self-care. Beyond Her Campus, Mya is a freelance digital marketer for her own business titled Market with Mya. As a freelancer Mya has worked with small-to-medium business clients based in Canada & the US to help elevate their digital presence through content creation, social media management, and design. Currently, Mya is a Senior at the University of Windsor in Communication, Media, and Film, with a minor in Information Technology. Mya is also the president of the Communication Student Association, where she oversees all marketing & events efforts to create a vibrant space for Communication Students on campus. In her free time, Mya loves immersing herself in TV and Film. She’s a reality TV junkie but also loves a good romcom or thriller-drama. She also loves prioritizing her wellness, and you can often find her journalling, listening to her fave podcasts & YouTubers, or going on a hot girl walk.