Can you believe we’ve already stepped into a new year? It’s time to start thinking about setting your goals! With these goal setting tips, you’ll be ready to achieve your goals in no time at all!
It’s as though we tiptoe through the holiday season, trying to savor each moment before it passes, prolonging magical moments and soaking up the time we have together, and then —though we knew it was coming — the new year startles us awake from our holiday slumber.
I like to take the first couple of weeks in January to refresh and reset. To declutter and organize — both my life and my thoughts — and truly think about the year ahead. To think about the goals, both in my business and my family life, that I want to see happen in the year.
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Follow these 4 simple goal setting tips to get started!
You have the best of intentions, but those New Year’s resolutions never seem to last more than a couple of weeks, do they? What does it take to actually set goals and achieve them? Four key steps can help you get started this year on the right foot—and stay that way. Read on to learn how to set goals for a successful new year.
Set Yourself Up For Success With These Goal Setting Tips
You need to set goals that are both SMART and realistic. This means your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. The key is to set yourself up for success by establishing ambitious but reasonable expectations. Once you’ve laid out some concrete goals, plan how you’re going to achieve them in as much detail as possible. Then simply get started — and the tips below REALLY help to make that happen!
Read more of our goal-setting tips HERE: Six Tips to Successfully Make + Reach Your Goals
4 Goal Setting Tips for a Successful New Year
1. Create a Vision Board
Turn up that motivational playlist, pour a glass of something cozy, and start dreaming, friend! There is so much power in getting your goals in front of you — and keeping them somewhere you see daily — all year long.
A vision board isn’t something you create once and then forget about it. Rather, it’s an ever-evolving tool that you can use year after year to help set, and REACH your goals.
I like to create a vision board for my business and one for my personal/family life, or at least differentiate them in separate spaces on my board.
Gather up images to represent different areas of your life, inspiring quotes, aspirational clippings, goal photos, poster board or canvas, and art supplies, and get to creating! When you keep the VISION in front of you, it will help remind you, daily, of what is most important—and where you need to devote time and energy next.
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2. Write your Goals Down: Journaling Helps
The idea of journaling can sound intimidating: no one wants to spend their free time jotting down their thoughts and feelings. The good news is that journaling doesn’t have to take up much time at all. Instead, it’s best to think of it as something you do throughout your day in five-minute increments.
You can set an alarm on your phone or computer and commit to writing about your experience every time it goes off.
Setting goals for a new year is more than just thinking of ideas and writing them down — there are hurdles to face, mountains to climb and so many feelings along the way. Journaling is such a great way to deconstruct all of those feelings and open us up to success.
3. Call in Support: Have a Meeting
One of my favorite quotes about goal setting is by Benjamin Franklin — “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!’ So friends, don’t fail to plan OR plan to fail; plan to succeed, and you will.
Having that mindset is crucial if you want to set goals, as success should be your ultimate objective. There are times when you’ll need help achieving your goals, so I recommend calling in support!
Do you have business goals? Call in a team meeting! The same goes for your relationship or family. My husband and I love to dream together — we have a date night to set goals for our family for the year ahead, and then we don’t stop there… We continue to plan and dream and to cheer each other on along the way!
4. Set Up Check in Points
Set up times over the course of the year to check-in and see where you are. Some goals may change, some focuses made need a little shift and extra energy, but you won’t realize it unless you set a time to check-in. Take those bigger goals and break them down into smaller goals that you’d like to reach in different intervals, like every month.
We’ve got the ULTIMATE planner to help you set your goals for each month, plan your check-in dates and more! An Organized Life Planning Worksheets is the perfect download to get you set up for a successful year!
Let’s say you want to lose 30 pounds over the next year. Make sure you check in with yourself at intervals, to see how you’re doing and make sure things are on track. Don’t wait until December 1 to check in on your goals for the year – that may be too late!
A couple of bonus goal setting tips:
Break Down Big Goals Into More Manageable Ones
Make sure that you break down any big goals into smaller ones. This will help to make sure that your larger goals are more manageable.
By breaking them down you can see what is involved in achieving each of your large goals, making it easier to set realistic steps towards success. In addition, by having smaller goals, you will feel accomplished as you meet each goal on your way to success, and REALLY helps to show progress as you check in like we talked about in tip 4!
Use A Timer To Help Avoid Distractions And Give Yourself A Deadline
The goal of setting goals is to accomplish them, but how can you do that if you’re constantly distracted by people or activities that take away from your time and commitment? To avoid distractions, set a timer for 20 minutes and promise yourself that during those twenty minutes you won’t do anything but work on your goals.
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