As we get ready to leave this morning for our annual Christmas road trip, I wanted to share some thoughts I had for your 2019 goals.
First, how about taking a moment to reflect on 2018. I don’t know about you, but I feel that this year flew by! Another year of learning, another year of wisdom.
Think about three things that happened to you, or three things that you did, that you are really grateful for. It could be something small, or a large project. If you do nothing else, if you stop reading here, please comment on this post with your three things. I would love to celebrate your gratitude with you, because gratitude is a great place to start!!
Ok, now on to 2019. I received my new planner in the mail yesterday. It’s so clean, shiny, and new, with crisp, blank pages. The way I think about my new planner is how I imagine we all think about the new year. Shiny and new…clean slate. Then the New Year’s goals follow. Here are four suggestions for not just setting, but also achieving those goals!
1. S.M.A.R.T.
I’m sure many of us have heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals. Here’s the short explanation: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, & Time-bound. We need a “What?”, “How much?”, “When?”, “Where?“, & “Why?”.
Without being able to measure and track your goal, you will never know when you have accomplished it. This is a big reason why many people set goals and feel they never achieve them. Achieve what? You don’t even know exactly what you were working toward.
2. Realistic
Be honest with yourself. For instance, if you currently lead a completely sedentary life, running a mile a day is probably a bit much for you in the beginning (not to mention you could injure yourself). Walking 10 minutes a day might be a better start. Sound too easy? Perfect, then you are confident you will reach this goal, making it a great initial goal.
We are further motivated by successes. Setting attainable, sometimes smaller goals, and achieving them, will keep you more motivated than if you fail to hit a big goal in the time alloted. And speaking of time, don’t set a short-term goal with an extended time frame…that would be a long-term goal. Set a daily goal, or a weekly goal. Celebrate those successes. Maybe keep, and achieve that same goal several times before moving on. This is how you create habits.
3. Relevant
Look at your goal and ask yourself why this goal is important to you. Is this something that is going to help you grow in a way that you feel is important? Is this something that is not only important to you, but also urgent? If it doesn’t feel urgent to you, you will likely not be motivated to complete the action plan to achieve that goal. This is what happens with many goals that we feel are important, yet not urgent.
4. Abundance instead of restriction
I am already hearing about “No alcohol January” and …..well, that’s all I’ve heard so far. But it will come soon…”No more chocolate, no more sweets, no more French fries”…etc. So here is one thing that can backfire with this strategy. “No more ____ in January” may lead to “Free for all February”, where you often undo all the good you did in January, and then some.
I have another strategy in mind for 2019. Instead of restricting yourself of anything, focus on ADDING a healthy behavior. For example, eat one serving of vegetables with breakfast every day, or one nutritious vegetarian dinner a week, or walk 5,000 steps a day. Need ideas? Please comment below, or shoot me an email!
Wherever you are in life right now, say with me, “no regrets”. YOU ARE EXACTLY WHERE YOU SHOULD BE. There is no “shoulda, coulda, woulda”. You’ve done the best you could with the resources you’ve had, and here you are. Embrace it, enjoy it, take it in. Be proud of what you have accomplished so far. Now, imagine how awesome your future is going to be. You have all this knowledge you gained about yourself and the world over this past year, adding to all your knowledge of years before.
Now go forth, make history!
-M