Excited for a fresh start?
How to create meaningful change with your goals this year.
January is a great time for goal setting, changing up some habits and creating new things. There's a sense of a clean slate, a fresh new diary and the opportunity for this year to be 'the best year ever!' (Is it just me that find's that phrase cringe inducing?!)
Growth and personal development are two of my big passions, so I'm all for jumping on that energy and using it to kickstart your progress.. But throwing everything out for a dramatic change doesn’t really work!
New Years resolutions don’t have the best reputation these days… make them on the 1st and drop by the 31st… (if not before! )
It’s easy to come up with a list of habits we are going to stop or new ones we are going to create and believe that because we’ve started a new year that we’ll suddenly be able to get to the gym 5 times a week, despite not going at all for the past 6 months… Only for reality to kick in a few days later when the positive energy and motivation has started to wane, it starts with skipping one workout and before you know it that new gym membership is just another direct debit without any return…. Aside from a heavy dose of shame and guilt for not sticking with your resolution.
However, if you understand how to set goals effectively, know why you are setting the specific goals that you are, and have a realistic plan for how you are going to achieve them, then January can be a great time to make changes.
So if you feel like you’d like to set some ambitious goals and make some changes this year here are some of my top tips:
Be SMART - We’ve probably all heard of ‘smart’ goals - the acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Timed. It may be well known but it’s a good place to start when considering your goals.
Consider why a goal is important to you - how will it impact your life when you achieve it? - Make sure it’s a goal that’s for you and not to fit in with expectations, keep someone else happy or prove something, because that’s a sure way to end up feeling frustrated, even if you achieve the goal. If you want to make meaningful, lasting changes in your life your goals need to be aligned with your values and long term vision.
When planning how to achieve your goal, look at your current lifestyle & commitments, consider how much time and energy you can really give to this goal? When will you do the work towards it? Will you have to give something else up? - this comes into the ‘realistic’ part of smart goals, but often we forget to consider how our new goals will impact our existing life.
Less is more. It’s natural to get excited and have more than one goal, so go ahead and pick more than one to work towards in a year, but maybe not all in January! Make a list for the year and then pick one or two to start with, once you’re making progress on that you can introduce another goal. This is especially important with habit based goals, because it takes energy and consistency to change habits, so give yourself around 12 weeks to consistently commit to one before adding in a new focus.
If you’re ready to get serious about goal setting download my in-depth goal setting workbook here: https://funnels.evergreen-coaching.co.uk/goals-workbook-
And if you’re determined to hit those goals this year, you can improve your chances by getting some accountability & support to shift any beliefs that might get in your way.
Book a time for a virtual chat to see how I can help you here: https://www.evergreen-coaching.co.uk/virtual-cuppa