The First Thing I Do Each New Year to Set Goals
Right now the internet is abuzz with talk of how to set goals and goal setting, plus advice for sticking with your New Year's Resolutions so I know what you're expecting when you click on a blog post article about setting goals. If you’re looking for a sugar-coated version of how to work your butt off to meet a million different New Year’s resolutions that you’ve set for yourself then you’re in the wrong place.
My approach to new year goal setting is a bit outside of the norm. I don’t kick off January 1st of a new year by diving headfirst into tackling whatever meaningless goals I’ve set for myself. I recently read a statistic that said some 80% of New Year’s Resolutions are abandoned by the second week of February. Personally, back when I tried to set goals the more traditional way, I definitely fell into this camp of people. I’m sure most of us can admit to setting some pretty lofty goals at the beginning of a new year and then quickly abandoning them. That’s why I wanted to kick off 2022 with a few blog posts that will walk you through my process for setting goals and hopefully inspire you to work through setting some yourself.
Here are a few things I always do first before setting specific goals for a new year:
I take time to reflect on the previous year.
This should be obvious but it’s an important step in the goal-setting process that I feel is often overlooked this time of year. How do you know what you achieved if you don’t reflect? How can you assess how your life has changed over the last year if you don’t take the time to reflect on how you have grown and changed? A lot of people just simply carry over goals that didn’t get achieved from one year to the next but how what if those goals no longer align with your plan for your life?
After reflecting, I choose an intention or word of the year.
Over the past four years, I have found that beginning the process of goal setting for a new year by choosing a guiding word or intention for the year allows me to more effectively set, measure, and achieve aligning goals throughout the year. Most if not all of my goals each year will reflect what I’ve chosen as my word or intention for the year.
Exercise:
Set a timer for 5 minutes and write down every word or phrase that comes to mind.
Once the 5 minutes are up, group together similar words, feelings, and phrases.
Choose the word or phrase that stands out to you the most (this should be a word that will challenge you but not make you miserable).
Spend some time thinking about that word and how using it as a guiding intention for 2022 can improve your life.
Want to share how your exercise went? Leave it in the comments or connect with me on social media!
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