As the year comes to a close, we should take time to pause and reflect on the past and begin setting New Year’s Goals. Many times, a New Year’s Resolution fades away before January ends. So, how does one set attainable New Year’s goals and keep striving to achieve them?
Setting New Year’s Goals for 2021
- Think Big – Start Small
- Make Them Visible
- Get Personal
- Reality vs. Fantasy
- Be Positive
New Year’s Goals: Think Big – Start Small
Very few people are ambitious over accomplishing menial tasks. Hence you should be thinking big when setting your goals to maintain your ambition, but you must also have somewhere to start. It’s much easier to start small. When teaching my children how to work through a problem or a difficult situation, I have often used the illustration of eating a steak. “How does one eat a steak? By taking one bite at a time and taking time in chewing each piece.” This may seem obvious, but many times we take a situation and we think we can eat the entire steak with one mouthful (figuratively speaking). Considering this theory when setting your goals, set small and attainable milestones in place that will ultimately help you reach your goal.
Many women set weight loss goals for themselves as New Year’s Resolutions. Many set their weight loss goal with a (very) high number which is not necessarily a bad thing, but just having a number is not enough. Consider breaking down your goal into more measurable goals such as setting more goals of smaller attainable weight loss numbers.
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Example:
Weekly Goals: Lose 1-2 pounds per week
Monthly Goals: Lose 5 pounds each month
Total Goal: Lose total of 30 pounds in 6 months and maintain for the remainder of the year.
New Year’s Goals: Make Them Visible
Thinking about your New Year’s Resolutions, talking about them, and proclaiming them is not enough. Why? Because life happens and we forget about them. We all get busy and all move onto the next thing. Whether you are the journaling kind, the sticky note on the refrigerator kind, or you set reminders on your phone kind of person, make your goals visible! WRITE your goals down and put them where you will see them and remember them. If you need to put them in multiple places, do it! I cannot stress this step enough because being reminded of what your goal is and why you set it in the first place is a necessity to achieve them and reap the reward. Another great way to keep your goals visible is to tell them to a trusted friend or confidant who will remind you of your goals and who can hold you accountable to achieving them.
New Year’s Goals: Get Personal
Making a goal or resolution to simply achieve it is not enough. We should have reasons behind the goal we desire. For example, losing weight is more than just fitting into a skinny pair of jeans (or at least it should be). Losing weight to be healthy, be stronger, live longer, be confident, etc. will motivate you for much longer than one pair of replaceable jeans. Another example of a resolution that people make is to give up something (like alcohol, smoking, sugar, etc.). Doing away with a habit or consumption of something just to give it up is not going to motivate you long term hence why many of us fail. Think about your goal and the why behind it because it will continue to motivate you and encourage you. And, remember, make your goal and reason behind the goal visible!
New Year’s Goals: Reality vs. Fantasy
As a woman over 50, I am never going to be a young, perky, or vibrant 20 year old again. Desiring to lose 30 pounds in 2 weeks is not safe, healthy, and thus it is not realistic. Building a business empire in one month is never going to happen because “Rome was not built in a day”. Fantasizing about these things won’t make them a reality. We have to set realistic goals so that we can be true to our expectations. Goals should drive us to achieve but they should not be so unrealistic that we become despondent before we even start. Think big – yes, but if you can’t map out the small steps to achieve it, it probably is more a fantasy than a reality.
New Year’s Goals: Be Positive!
Realistic goals are achievable with time, hard work, continued dedication, and motivation. You might go off the beaten path, take a few wrong turns, take a break, etc. but never give up! We all make mistakes and have setbacks. Remember when I said write down your goals? Take a look at your goals and the why behind what you set out to do. Be reminded of them. If you were true to yourself when writing them down, then be true to yourself and instead of giving up… carryon!
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