Some people call it a resolution. I call it making plans, setting goals, dreaming big dreams. No matter how you describe it, the new year is the perfect time to do it–reset, rethink, revise, and reflect. Not sure how to start? Here’s my approach.
Buy a Planner–It doesn’t have to be fancy. I love my Legend planner and have used it for the past few years. Find one that speaks to you. My favorite spot to planner shop, besides Amazon, is Barnes and Noble. That place is heaven on earth, if you’re looking for planners or notebooks! If you’re a digital first person, that’s cool. There are a ton of apps out there or you can even just use a Google spreadsheet or calendar. You just want something in which you can record your plans, goals, habits, etc. Whatever is going to work for you.
I also suggest that if you are going with paper, find a special pen or pens to use. I am a huge fan of color. I use a different color each day for my to do list at work. Color can be very helpful in terms of tracking, too. I’ll give an example of that a little later in this post.
Make a List–Write down everything that comes to mind as you think about what you want to do differently in the new year. I find that it helps to categorize your lists. For example, I usually think about my goals across 7 categories–career, finance, hobbies, relationships, spiritual, health and fitness, and my business. I start by listing everything single thing I can think of. Get it all down. Dream big!
Once you have your list, prioritize it. Start by breaking the items up by most important to least important. If you have a lot of things under a certain category, consider prioritizing one or maybe two at the most. Too many goals and you might not be able to realistically accomplish them. You want to end up with a general list that looks something like this example:
Career – find a new job
Finance – establish a plan to save more money
Hobbies – read at least 50 books
Relationships – cultivate at least two new/existing friendships
Spiritual – pray daily
Health/Fitness – gain more flexibility
Business – find at least 5 new clients
Your list doesn’t need to be detailed at this point. You might even have general ideas that don’t fit neatly into a category. For instance, you might want to adopt a pet, take a vacation, or get more sleep. You need not have everything in a category. Now comes the hard part–breaking them down in a way that helps you accomplish them!
Make the Plan–I usually start with the end goal and then think of the steps needed to get there. I’ll give you a simple, but real example of something I’m doing in 2024. I would like to read 60 books. I know that I will likely read more in the summer months, but I still will set a monthly reading goal for myself of 5 books per month. For me, this means about one per week plus the one I read with my son before he goes to bed each night. Some months, I may not reach my goal, but other months I may read more. So, 5 is a good average.
It’s not enough to just say I’m going to do it. I need to establish habits and make space to make this happen. So, I plan to read for at least 30 minutes each night, as well as while I’m waiting for the kids to come out of practice or appointments or whatever they are doing. I spend a lot of time in the car! I also purchased a subscription to Audible so I can listen to books while driving, as well.
To help keep me engaged with this goal and to track my progress, I created a cross-stitch bookmark of a bookshelf. I will color in each book as I finish, using a different color for each genre, just to keep it interesting!
As you can see, I have room to read 100 books! So, I suppose that’s my stretch goal! Who knows?
Your plan needs to have an end goal, as well as the steps to get there. It also needs the how. It’s not enough to say you will read every day. Be specific. For how long? When? What will you do to help yourself reach that daily goal? It’s important to know that you don’t need a lofty 60-book goal like me. I’m a voracious reader and 60 is my high end most years. You might just want to read more and that’s cool, too! Maybe you haven’t been reading and you want to start. Tell yourself you will read one page a day. That can be your whole goal. Not even a book or an article. Just a page. No goal is too small and no plan is too large. It’s yours. Make it work for you!
Track Progress–You won’t be motivated all year long. You will find yourself in a slump. Stuff happens. Tracking your progress helps not only keep you going but also keeps you honest. It’s a reminder of what’s important to you. You are essentially making yourself a promise in a way. Remember that commitment. You can track in your planner or journal, in your calendar, or something fancy like my bookmark. Find something that works. For the rest of my goals, I have a weekly review of how I did and a chance to make a new commitment for the next week. I usually do this on Friday afternoons since it’s hard for me to focus on anything else by then! It also helps me look ahead to the new week.
This is a long post but I tried to lay out my method for goal-setting. Hopefully some of these tips resonate with you. And, depending on your goals, you might find some useful tips in this blog. I have posts about goal-setting, habits, how to stick to it, meal-planning, and more. Do a quick search and you just might find what you need!
If you are looking for personalized support, send me a message. I am happy to help coach you along as you think about your own life and where you want to go in 2024. Happy dreaming and planning!