It’s time to actually achieve those New Year’s resolutions!
For most people, with every new year comes a list of vague New Year’s Resolutions. The most common ones I hear about are wanting to be healthy, to learn a new skill, to prioritize self-care, or to spend more time with family and friends. While those are all great things, most of the time people lose sight of those goals, and they end up becoming a resolution for the following year. It’s time to break this cycle and actually achieve your goals.
The first mistake most people make with New Year’s goals is the very goal itself. Claiming that you want to be “healthier” in 2021 is setting you up for failure. Your goals need to be attainable, so something as vague as being healthy leaves a lot of gray areas. Instead, try something like, “My goal is to do pilates three times a week.” The more specific the better! Coming up with specifics for your intended goal will make it easier to wrap your head around it, which means you will be more likely to accomplish that goal.
Your next step should be to write your explicit goals out. Saying your goals out loud will get you absolutely nowhere. It’s important to have written proof of your goal to keep you accountable. So write them out on paper or in your notes on your phone to ensure that you stay liable. I am a HUGE journal and notebook person because I like to visually see everything I write out on paper. My all-time favorites are from Papier because you can customize them to say whatever you want, and they have numerous different styles! I have been using their planners and journals for years now, and they make my life so much easier. I love their monthly layout, and their planners also have a section for each month where you can write out your specific monthly goals.
While writing your goals out is great, you can’t stop there. You need some way to measure your intended goal. Whether that’s using a habit tracker or counting your number of visits to a workout class on their app, you need some way to measure your efforts. I personally track my habits in my Papier planner, checking a box weekly when I complete part of my goal. I also like to fill out their monthly goal section for each month. It makes it so easy to keep track of all my progress. Finding a way to measure your goal will keep you on track because it will show you all the amazing progress you’re making!
Lastly, you need to check-in. You could tell a friend or family member about that goal and have them check-in to see how it’s going every once in a while or like I do, you can set a reminder on your phone or write one in your planner a few months in advance to see how that goal is coming along. It can be something like, “are you still prioritizing your self-care by reading a book every month?” These check-ins will help you stay on track and feel great about your progress.
No one ever said goals are attained easily. I mean that’s why they are goals; you have to work for them. Let 2021 be the year that you achieve your New Year’s Resolutions, and just take it one day at a time!
What do you think?