Happy New Year!

2018 will be a great year for us because we said so! New Year, New You right? NO! New Year, Better You. The one problem I have with New Year’s Resolutions is that most people don’t stick with them. They lose sight or get bored with their goals.  Sometimes we think that the only time we can improve or make changes in our lives is at the beginning of a new year. You can take charge of your life and become your best self whenever you feel the time is right, not just because the year is over. Some of my goals are to make more healthy choices about food, speak positively about and love myself, put more effort into relationships with others that are important to me, and dive deeper into what I feel that my purpose is. I do love that the new year allows us to be reflective and introspective to what is and is not working in our lives.

So how you can set and stick to your goals?

Set realistic goals.

Saying you want to lose 50 pounds in one month or that you want to make a million dollars in one year without so much as a business plan is not realistic. Set yourself up for success! It is more manageable to say you want to wake up 30 minutes earlier to be more prepared for your day, than to say you are going to wake up two hours earlier to exercise, cook your breakfast, and solve world hunger before work.

Write your goals down.

Get yourself a journal. Not a piece of paper, not a note in your phone. A real deal journal with fresh pages. Write down what you want to accomplish. Don’t rush this process. Allow yourself time to think about where you are and where it is that you want to go. Something about writing your goals down makes them more tangible and real. When you go back to over the course of this year, refer to your goals often and write down your reflections of how they are going and what you are doing to get there. Reflect on what is working for you and what is not and write that down too. That way you can literally see your progress.

Set mini goals.

Now that you have your goals set, what are the steps you are going to take to get there? What smaller pieces of the main goals can you tackle in order to achieve them? You can set mini goals as daily, weekly, or monthly progress checks. If you want to run a 5k by the fall, a mini goal can be to run a mile without stopping by the end of March . When you reach that goal then you can increase it to 2 miles by the end of May and so on. If you want to think more positively about yourself, a daily mini goal can be to say three positive affirmations every morning.

Progress and positivity are the focus, not perfection.

Setting goals is about improving your already awesome self. It’s about becoming an even better you. Don’t set goals in the mindset of disappointment and distress. Such as, “I hate my body so I need to lose weight”. Reframe your thought process. “I love myself so I want to be healthy”. Goals are not a one way ticket to being perfect. Focus on the journey just as much as where it is you want to be. Focus on being kind to yourself throughout the process. Ground your aspirations in positivity. A goal can be “I will eat healthy” instead of “I will not eat junk food” . Telling yourself what your not supposed to do will feel more like a chore than a goal.

Don’t give up.

No matter how many times you fall short, you can always keep trying. No one says once you get off track you have to stop striving towards the things that you want. Brush it off, take into consideration what happened, learn from it, and keep pressing forward. You got this! I believe in you! Words for myself and for you.

What are some of your goals for this year?

Until next time,
Lacadia