Off To A Good Start ~ Tips For Setting and Achieving Meaningful Goals for the New Year
Dec 30, 2021 01:28PM ● By Aleksandra Starling
With the holidays
just behind us, we look forward to a new year with hopes that it will bring
much-needed changes into our lives, the lives of our loved ones, or the world
around us. New Year’s gives us an opportunity to set new goals, spark big
changes or make tiny adjustments that will make our lives better.
Identify
the most impactful changes.
What matters most to
you? What’s the first change, big or small, that would have the greatest impact
on your life? What’s the second change that would make your life better and put
a grin on your face? I encourage you to write down the answers.
Defining your goals
based on your values, without external influences, is an important step. Be
honest with yourself. Improving your life will also positively impact people
around you. As you think about what really matters to you, let your intuition
lead the way. It always knows what’s best for you.
Understand
your “why.”
While you define the
changes that will make your life better, think about why they matter
too. Understanding your individual “why” will be critical for days when you
need to remind yourself why you’re changing in the first place. What helps me
is connecting my small goals or changes to other people or bigger goals. One of
my goals for this year is to get up 30 minutes earlier, so I’ll have longer
days to create more of what I love to benefit children.
Perhaps you want to
spend an extra 30 minutes with your children or partner, following your
personal project, or cooking healthy meals. Write down how that change will
make your life better and affect other people in a positive way.
Break
down your goals into small steps.
Identify the steps you
need to take to achieve your goals. To spend more time with your children or
partner or taking care of yourself, for example, you might need to shift your
work schedule or get help with some chores. If you want to cook more healthy
meals, perhaps you’ll need to go grocery shopping more often to buy fresh
produce, or utilize an ingredient-and-recipe plan. Write down the steps needed
to achieve your goal, and keep them handy.
Execute
your goals.
How do you execute
your goals successfully?
Write
down clear goals and plans to achieve them. It can take just a few minutes to write them down, but doing so greatly
increases your chances of achieving them, writes Mark Murphy, CEO of Leadership
IQ and the author of Hiring For Attitude.
Take
a couple of minutes a day to read your goals. This will not only keep your eyes consistently on
target but will also remind you to act on your goals. Plus, you will develop a
positive habit over time.
Add
your plans to your calendar. Once
they’re on your daily calendar, the actions toward your goals will be hard to
miss.
Visualize
yourself having already achieved your goal. Close your eyes and imagine every detail: see it, feel it, taste it,
hear it and smell it. Do that when you wake up or as you fall asleep.
It’s not just the new
year that gives us the opportunity to change our lives for the better. Every
day we wake up is a gift allowing us to start again.
Aleksandra Starling
Aleksandra Starling is a children’s author based in New Jersey. She is also the founder of Inspired Universe, a company devoted to children’s health. For more information, visit InspiredUniverse.com.
