How To Stay On Track With Your Goals
We always have the best of intentions. It’s a new year, new us. Except, do we always follow through with this?
The new year is almost synonymous with setting resolutions. New goals for ourself we want to achieve. When the new year begins, it’s almost infectious to think about all of the new possibilities. All of the great things we can accomplish during these next 12 months.
So in the last week of December, we are setting these goals. “Lose weight.” “Exercise more.” “Eat better.” “Pick up a new hobby.” And, we go in strong to the new year with them. New gym memberships. Meal prep containers. Trips to the store to find our new hobby and buy the supplies we need.
But just as quick as we start them, these goals we set for ourselves quickly fade. Life gets in the way. Work commitments, social obligations, and just the daily life grind cause us to lose our focus. And then we become frustrated with ourselves at another failed attempt to improve our lives.
You can break this cycle! It takes dedication, but, with a little hard work, you can make sure you stay on track with the goals you set. Here’s a few.
Set One Big Goal, And Lots Of Smaller Steps To Get There
We set goals for ourself, such as lose weight. Which is fantastic, but how daunting is this? What steps can you even take to lose weight? Well, we know what steps, but how do we keep on track with our overall goal?
Setting one big goal then smaller steps to achieve it. So if your goal is to lose weight, what can you do each week and month to get there? This will help you stay on track towards that bigger goal but in more manageable steps.
Write Your Plans Down
It may seem cliche, but writing down what you want to accomplish can go a long way. It will serve as an actual reminder of what you want to accomplish. This would be a great way to write your big goal down and then underneath, the smaller steps it takes to get there.
Either on your phone or in an actual journal would be great. You can even take it one step further and write your “why” down of why you want to accomplish that goal.
Find An Accountability Partner
It doesn’t matter who this is or what your goal is. Having another person to hold you accountable for your intentions is a positively great way to stay on track with goals. Tell someone else your goals and ask them to do check-ins with you every once in awhile. You can even provide them with the same support.
When we know that someone else is going to be checking in on us, it usually leads to us being a bit more proactive with our goals.
Set Realistic Goals
It’s always great to achieve and be the best we can. But, we also need to stay realistic about what we can accomplish. Setting high, loftier goals can actually increase the chances of not meeting them. Which just leads to feeling more frustrated when we don’t end up achieving them.
More than likely, you will know what your schedule looks like at the start of the new year. Or at least have a general idea. So if you are setting a goal that would require a big time commitment, when you don’t have time, this may not be the most realistic goal for yourself at the time. Instead of starting off with a large goal, how about you start with something smaller? Steps that will be manageable for you now, so that when you are more flexible with time, you’ll be able to accomplish them!
Setting resolutions and goals is one of the best way to ensure forward movement and growth. But, it does require work and some planning ahead. If you need support with staying on the path of your goals, reach out to us today.