Every year there is a surplus of unreasonable fitness plans and outrageous financial goals that seem to surround us. After countless years of failed goals, society has begun to shame those who use the start of a new year as an arbitrary start date to their betterment plans. While I totally understand the frustration associated with watching failed goals, I think that it’s essential that we support the idea of goal-setting, even if that leads to failure eventually. The first day of the New Year is the perfect time to reassess goals! Any day is the perfect day to reassess goals, actually! So, here are a few tips I use to goal set.
Write them down
I’m not talking about writing them down in that notebook you got for Christmas that you will never look at again. I’m telling you to write these goals down on a goal board, the front page of your agenda, or in the Notes app in your iPhone. Goal boards, for example, are very helpful for countless people. This is comprised of a poster board with pictures visualizing your goals, along with concrete explanations of them. Once it is made, it is placed somewhere that you see every single day. Of the countless self-help books I’ve read that were written by millionaires (they have to be doing something right, right?), they seem to all note that visualization of your success is key to making it reality. One tip I have for the goal boards is to leave space for you to keep track of your goals. For example, one of my goals is to read 10 books in 2019. In my goal board, maybe I would leave space underneath my cut-out picture of ten books that would allow me to write in an “X” every time I completed a book. That way if by July I have only read three books, I will notice that I need to adjust in order to reach my goal by the end of the year. Make it easy on yourself to hold yourself accountable and reward yourself for your successes!!
Stop talking, start doing
Believe it or not, telling your goals to others isn’t always healthy. I’ve heard numerous times that you should get an accountability partner or talk about your goals with others but I think there is an empowering component to staying silent. Make this goal about you. Tell yourself that you will not let yourself down and stop worrying about disappointing others with your failures. This is about learning to forgive yourself and helping yourself grow. Most goals will face setbacks, also known as temporary failures, and dragging others along on your rollercoaster may make it seem more volatile than it would be otherwise. Plus, you’ll quickly realize that if you dug in, you could have done it on your own this whole time. Isn’t that inspiring? I know you can do this. I also want to point out that using others to help you in your journey is OK! My intent is to reaffirm you that you do not have to involve others in your personal journey if it does not help you.
Get an agenda
I will write about the wonders agendas do until I am blue in the face. Agendas should be your best friend. Break down your goals into tangible daily goals. You would be surprised what you would do in order to cross off a task at the end of the day. Most successful people swear by agendas to keep them on track in their personal and professional life. There is no shame in writing “Gym” in your agenda for the day to remind yourself to go. It will force you to think throughout the day about when you will be able to fit in the time to work out. Additionally, if there’s a “Notes” portion of your agenda in the weekly or monthly section, I strongly recommend putting intermittent goals there. Bite-sized goals mitigate the feeling of hopelessness I can feel when I look at challenging goals.
Make Your Bed by William H. McRaven
If you haven’t read this book, you probably should just use the link below to buy it right this second. You will never remember the couple of bucks it cost, but you will keep the lessons forever. Life is full of tiny decisions that create who you are, like making your bed every morning. Do you ever think to yourself “I never meet my goals anyway,” “I always quit like a week in,” “I’ve never finished a fitness plan, so what’s different now?”? Well, here’s the trick. Stop breaking promises to yourself. Hold your promises to yourself in the same way you would to a friend or a family member. About a year ago, I did a cleanse for a month where I told myself that I would not break one single promise to myself. It was so hard. I realized how many times a day I would let myself down. Whether it was getting another serving of food or working out or not getting enough sleep or putting off those thank-you notes I was meaning to write, this problem permeated throughout my entire life! Once you realize that you need to love and cherish yourself, including your own promises, your mindset will change drastically. This realization gave me tremendous freedom and reminded me to love myself in the way that I love my friends and family.
Here’s the link to purchase Make Your Bed!!!
Clean your house
Yep. I mean that literally. Start from the inside, out. Scrub your toilet, steam-clean the carpet, fold that laundry, donate those clothes you never wear, and move around your furniture to the configuration you always wanted. Taking care of where you live is essential. Think about the energy you waste getting upset every time you walk into your closet and see that pile of clothes or that stain on the carpet or the mold on the back porch. Stop putting off something that will relieve a tremendous amount of stress once it’s done. While this stressor may not cause a full blown break down, it causes daily wear and tear that you don’t even account for. Daily stressors, such as a dirty house, can compound. Once you deep clean, think of ways to maintain the general level of cleanliness. Make a note in your new agenda the one Saturday a month that you will do those heavy duty cleaning tasks (tubs, steam-cleaning, etc.) but the rest should just be cleaning up behind yourself. For example, when laundry is done in the dryer, fold it (yes, you do have time). When you take your socks off, throw them in the hamper (no, you’re not in that big of a rush). Once you make it a habit, you don’t even think about it and your house is notably cleaner. Just take my word on this one.
Recap:
- Write your goals down
- Don’t tell people your goals unless they will genuinely help you achieve them
- Buy that agenda before I flip my lid
- Stop breaking small promises to yourself
- Deep clean your house (I promise this helps)
I know you can meet your goals. I just hope that you believe in yourself as much as I believe in you.
XOXO,
Kay
