It’s the start of a new year and a new decade, and if you’re anything like me, you will probably enjoy the fresh slate that a new year brings. While obviously, you don’t have to wait until the new year to make changes to your life, it’s also the perfect time of year to work out what it is you would like to achieve and change and how you plan to do so.
I thought I’d share a few things that I always take into account when setting goals, and how I’ve gone about this for this new year. I hope you might find some of these useful. Would you like to see a post about my goals for 2020? Let me know in the comments below or DM me on Instagram! I’d love to hear what your goals for the year are too!
VISUALISE
Where would you like to see yourself at the end of 2020? Do you want to have a new job? Be fitter? Eat less sugar? Read more? Travel? Have a happier mindset? Whatever it is, write down how you want to feel and what you want to be doing this time next year. Go into details about how you want to think, feel, and act. Be realistic, but also set goals that will challenge yourself too.
Think about why you want to make this your goal – is it to feel happier or more satisfied? Is it to do something new? Is it to take yourself out of your comfort zone? Write down why you are setting each goal, and what you want to get out of doing so.
THE 4 H’S
Breaking down goals into categories can make it easier to keep on top of them. When it comes to categorising my goals, I break them down into the 4 H’s – Health, Happiness, Home, and Habits. You don’t have to have a goal for each of these categories, and you can have as many in each category as you like.
Health – this is one many of us set out to conquer in the new year, and the goals in this category focus on your personal health. Whether you want to lose weight, become fitter, eat more healthy or cut back on sugar, this is where those goals lie. When setting goals in this category it is important to remember balance.
While it’s all well and good to set a goal to reduce your sugar intake, remember sugar isn’t the enemy and if you have a bit of a blow out here and there it’s not the end of the world! Fitness and diet are all about balance and everything in moderation is okay.
Happiness – goals around your personal happiness, mental health and well-being. This could include goals around changing your mindset or setting goals for things like meditation or journalling. Think of the things that would really make you happy, whether that’s spending more time with a partner or family, setting aside more “me time”, or taking time to reflect on things you are grateful for.
Home – this category focuses on goals around the home, eg minimising “stuff”, organising your home, renovations or moving. Our homes are such important spaces – we live our lives there! So it’s important that it feels like a peaceful, welcoming place. I’m not saying your have to go ahead and live a minimalist lifestyle, but setting goals such as decluttering and reducing, can be a huge help in also boosting your mood throughout the year.
Habits – this one is around habits that you would like to either encourage or break. For example you might want to start a healthier sleep habit and go to bed and get up at the same time each day, or maybe you would like to stop biting your nails. This can sometimes be the hardest goals to hit, as many habits are so ingrained in us that we really have to work hard to break or change them.
I also have one more category that I like to include which is Work. Since I am self-employed, this category is a bit like KPI’s you boss might set for you in your job, except I set them for myself. If you are self-employed, or want to become sel-employed, I encourage you to include goals in this category too.
BE SPECIFIC YET REALISTIC
An important part of goal setting is to be specific about the goal you want to achieve and what steps you are going to take in order to get there. It’s equally important though to remain flexible about your goal and your journey towards it, as there is usually more than one way to get there.
While we’d all love to be millionaires and live in a mansion with a huge yacht, it’s extremely unlikely that we will be able to change our lives that much in a year (apart from winning Lotto maybe). It’s important to set goals that are challenging but achievable. For example, saving a certain amount in a year that means that you perhaps have to cut back on the number or coffees you buy, but is still actually achievable on your current wage.
I also like to set a number of “easier” goals which are ones that I know I can achieve, along with ones that are definitely more challenging. This means that I am ticking things off my goals list, and it helps to give me the encouragement to keep going rather than struggling to achieve everything. While the saying “dream big” is important to remember, your mental health might not be so great if at the end of the year you’ve missed every goal you’ve set for yourself. Having goals at varying degrees of difficulty is a great way to avoid this.
BREAK IT DOWN
A great way to make your goals more manageable is to break them down into bit size chunks that you can tackle. For example, if your goal is to become plant-based by the end of the year, start by researching vegetarian recipes. Then start by making one or two recipes a week, then slowly adding more and more in. Perhaps drop eating beef first, then chicken, fish etc until you are happy and comfortable eating a plant based diet. Rather than just going all in at the start (which often leads to relapses later), start by breaking down your goal and implementing it in small portions.
CHANGE YOUR MINDSET
Start to think and feel like you have already hit your goals. Think positively about the goals you have set and imagine yourself hitting them. This is what is called manifesting your goals, and it can be a powerful tool to help you get to where you want to go. If you are so inclined, create mood boards around your goals (for example if a goal is to travel, create a mood board with pictures from the place you wish to travel to). If a mood board isn’t your thing, you could try using a journal instead.
REWARD YOURSELF
Rewarding yourself for hitting goals or mini goals is a great way to keep up the momentum and can encourage you to stay on track and work even harder. It doesn’t have to be a huge reward, just even something small like having an extra long shower after hitting your workout goals for the week can be something to look forward to! Just make sure that your reward doesn’t undo all the good work you’ve been doing! For example, rewarding yourself with a block of chocolate after limiting sugar for a month isn’t a good idea! Instead look for rewards that are in line with your goals.
What things do you take into account when you are goal setting? I’d love to know your 2020 goals, let me know in the comments below!