HOW TO SET GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR

I mentioned here that I was a goal setter for each new year. I have been making my list and wanted to share my process in case anyone needed help determining a list of goals.

Categories

First, I make a list of categories or areas of my life where I’d like to set and attain goals. For example:

Business

Finances

Personal Life

Health

Work

Hobby

Marriage

Faith/Spiritual Life

Multiple Goals

In each of these categories I set multiple goals. I like to set goals that are easily attainable and goals that are a little harder to reach and take a little more work.

This doesn’t mean that I’ll reach all of these goals by year’s end, but I’ll have a list of things I’d like to achieve and can reference the list throughout the year. For example: Two goals I would set for the area of marriage would be to say thank you more often and then to take a trip somewhere we’ve never been. That second goal goes into the finances category as well, but it would be a goal I would have for our marriage because we don’t travel often or take many trips.

Also, if you have a goal in mind for an especially tough area, like health, start with a very attainable goal. If you want to work out but don’t do it that often presently, then make your first goal to do a workout once or twice a week. It doesn’t have to be a crazy hard workout like P90X either. You can just take a walk twice a week. Hey, we all have to start somewhere, right?

Write It Down

Get a notebook or journal you can reference or use easily and often. I always write down my goals for each year. Sometimes I’m discouraged when I go back to see the goals I didn’t achieve. But there are those times I’m pleased with the fact that I did meet my goal.

I am a journaler and have been for years now, so writing is not a new concept for me. I write almost every morning in a prayer journal, and one of my goals this year is to write in a gratitude journal before I go to bed every night. I find that writing things down helps me out and means something to me. I can easily go back and reference the things I’ve written down to see how I’m doing with my goals.

I do recommend starting with a fresh notebook or journal. Write these goals in the front so that you know exactly where the goals are written.

Make A Vision Board

I’ll admit I’ve never done one of these before, but I plan to. My mother-in-law was cleaning out an old closet and found a bulletin board that she didn’t need. I told her I’d love to have it, and she kindly gave it to me. I’ve been wanting to make a vision board out of it for the new year. I’ll share it when I’ve got it all set up.

And I think that you should put it where you can regularly see it and be reminded of what you’ve set out to do. Mine will go in front of my makeshift vanity so I can see it every morning while I’m getting ready.

Don’t Be Afraid To Fail

Let’s be real…chances are, we aren’t going to achieve every goal we set for ourselves. At least not on the first try. And maybe one of your goals is a long-term one that will take several years to achieve. Financial and business  goals are often that way. But we know there will be goals that we set that we just won’t make happen. I’ve been there plenty of times. And every year I set those same goals anyway. But this year really give it a chance. For example: I am a Beautycounter consultant. I’ve not put forth much effort this holiday season because I work a full-time job, and it’s super hard to hustle on the side when your full-time job requires so much of you. I’d really like to put forth effort to achieve the goal of making a little extra cash during 2018. I’d like to learn more about the company and figure out how I can spread the mission of safer beauty to the people of Greenville. That’s a tough goal, but it’s something that can be attained throughout the year. However, I’m also realistic in knowing that I may not be successful right off the bat. I might fail, but I can always reevaluate and try again. Don’t be afraid to fail! Just get back up, dust off your pants, and try another way.

How do you set goals? Do you write them down like I do?

Happy New Year!

Elizabeth