Happy New Year! New year, new goals! While any moment can be a fresh start, what better time to focus on new goals or refocus on old goals than the new year?
It is not uncommon for people to set goals then end up abandoning them as time goes on. An estimated 50% of people fail at completing their goals throughout the year. While staying on top of your goals and achieving them is no walk in the park, this year can be the year that you finally achieve your goals.
Below are some tips to stay on top of your goals.
Focus on 1-3 goals
When it comes to goal setting, we often want to focus on too many areas in our life at once. Common goals include; working out more, spending more time with family, incorporating more self care, eating healthier, losing weight, and getting more sleep. While these are all great goals to focus on, choosing too many goals at once can lead to you getting overwhelmed and not giving each goal the time and attention it needs.
Focusing on 1-3 goals that are most important to you allows you to have the time and energy to devote to each of the goals and not fall short. Try writing all of your goals down then narrow them down to the most important ones. Pick 1-3 of those goals and go from there.
Break down your goals
Breaking down each goal or creating milestones is a helpful way to see your progress and stay motivated. Setting a big goal and not achieving it after a short time can get discouraging and often leads to the abandonment of that goal.
Breaking down a big goal into smaller goals allows you to focus on achieving small goals on the way to achieving the big goal. For example, if your goal is to lose 40 pounds over the next year, set smaller goals such as 10 pounds by March, then another 10 pounds by June etc.
Come up with a plan
A goal without a plan is just a wish. Many people create goals but never follow up with a plan to complete those goals. After you have your goals set and broken down, the next step is to come up with a plan because without a plan you and your goals have no direction or structure.
Your plan should include your goal, reasons why your goal is important, and the steps you are going to take to achieve it. Vision boards, graphs, or a simple pencil and paper are great ways to create a plan for your goals.
Track your progress
Achieving your goals takes time and sometimes it can start to feel like you are not making much progress. Tracking your progress will not only help to keep you motivated but it will also give you a chance to analyze and reevaluate your goals, and celebrate milestones.
Whether you’re tracking your progress on your phone, in a journal, or with pictures, make sure to regularly check your progress so that you know what to do to continue moving forward.
Staying on top of your goals may seem impossible as time goes on and life happens around us but it can be done. Focusing on a couple of goals at a time, breaking down your goals, coming up with a plan of action, and tracking your progress are all tips that can help you finally achieve the goals that you have set for yourself this year.