Who wants to start the year by giving things up in the resolution frenzy? – Not me! I want to ADD value to my life. I’m feeling a mixture of directionlessness and motivation this January so I wanted to tie down the ideas floating around in my head and hold myself accountable! I’ve actually applied myself and created some real and achievable goals for this year – this has dragged me out of my dark January rut, and I’m genuinely feeling excited for the months ahead. If you want to join in the buzz, keep reading! I’ve created an easy guide for making and sticking to those resolutions.
Set aside an hour on a weekend, grab a coffee and a notepad or diary (real or digital!) and get going 🙂
1. Create categories for your goals
These don’t have to be anything specific but it will start to make yourself slowly start to organise your goals. Good examples of categories include: Career, Financial, Lifestyle, Relationships, Health etc. Obviously if any of these don’t apply, then drop them and feel free to create personalised ones that work for you! These large headings can also be listed in priority order. Any more than 4 can be counter-productive as the list will start to feel endless and intimidating. Once you’ve made your groups that work for you, then head to the next step.
2. Into these categories, write down your goals that fall within them.
For example, under my Financial list, I’ve put: ‘Increase my savings rate to at least £700 per month’. Some lists may be lengthier than others but that’s ok. They key here is being specific! Tap into the SMART goal formula when making these goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.
This will switch the goal from being distant to reachable and to put you in the best possible position to actually achieving it. Instead of writing a vague: ‘get fitter’, try changing it to ‘start running 5k twice a week’; or ‘read more’ to ‘read for 10 minutes every night before bed’. Timescales and specific details are key to getting started and formulating a plan.
3. Write the first step you need to take to get going.
This could mean – setting up a direct debit from my bank account to my savings on pay day (as per my financial goal), or putting a reminder on your phone on the days you plan to run. This is to get the ball rolling and push you to start making action now.
This small first step towards the larger goal is easy but without it nothing will change. If you think of all these first steps for yourself now, you make it harder for yourself to procrastinate away from the bigger goal and it means you don’t have to sit down and think about it when you get around to it – this list is ready and waiting and telling you what to do. The rest will snowball!
4. And finally – schedule a self check-in!
Crucially – hold yourself accountable! This can be once a week or every 3 months and set these up at the beginning of the year. Easily done on your phone reminders or written in a calendar, you can use these sessions to adjust the goals depending on your progress or maybe circumstance changes and also to give your self a well deserved pat on the back for any progress you’ve made. You might be a lot closer to your goal than you thought you’d be when you wrote it!
Another way to hold yourself accountable is to tell other people what your goals are – although you might find it cringey, there’s sometimes no better motivation than trying not to embarrass yourself in front of friends. If you don’t put the effort in, they will know about it as well! Better still, try and rope them into the resolution – having a buddy for goals can make it more fun as well as great for helping each other keep on track.
So here you have it. My top tips will hopefully help, and once you’re well on your way, the habits you form at the start will help maintain you when you’re losing motivation. After 2 years of pandemic pandemonium, I think 2022 has got to be one for thinking big and making the most of!
ThisVetCan 