The new year is always filled with dreams, goals, and hopes! As we enter it we begin to reflect on the past year, all of its accomplishments, and all of its failures. Many times I am amazed to find that I did not accomplish what I desired in some areas, while in other areas I seemed to grow. I certainly do not have all the answers! However, after some deep analyzation of what goals were actually achieved, I made a list that may help you make your goals for the new year become a reality.
1. Make sure your goals are actually achievable.
This is so important! How often have we made the goals so unreachable, only to find ourselves discouraged when we do not reach them? I am in no way suggesting that we should not challenge ourselves. Only make sure they are attainable. You may find that over time you need to adjust your goals to work for your schedule and that is okay!
Setting goals that are unreasonable for yourself will lead to disappointment and eventually burnout as you try to achieve but constantly fail. Take into consideration your workload as a whole and ask yourself “Will this goal push me to achieve more or encourage me to do less?” The more we feel like we are failing, the less motivated we become to grow in that area.
Are you wanting to spend more time in your devotional life this year? Instead of setting a goal to read fifteen chapters a day and pray for an hour, try starting with two chapters and fifteen minutes in prayer. As you are able, do more.
2. Choose goals that work for YOU.
In the age of social media, we are probably seeing others share their new year goals. Sometimes this sparks ideas in our own minds of what we should (or think we should) be doing ourselves. I am not saying this is always bad, sometimes we find great ideas we never would have come up with on our own. However, we often set expectations for our lives that are not reasonable for the season we are in.
Our responsibilities, personalities, seasons of life, etc. should all determine what our new year goals are. Just because it works for someone else does not mean it works for you. Just because someone on social media, a friend, or a family member sets a goal does not mean you have to. Give yourself grace in what you expect of yourself this year.
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3. Set short-term goals to help you reach ultimate goals.
Setting short-term goals to reach bigger goal helps to prioritize your efforts for maximum effectiveness. When you break down your yearly aspirations into monthly, weekly, and daily goals the successfulness of these goals increases. If your goal is to save $5,000 this year, come up with a plan weekly that will help you achieve the goal. If you are wanting to wake up earlier this year, begin by waling up earlier and easier every few days. Big goals are achieved by the every day mundane tasks of life.
4. Be Accountable.
I remember one year as a teenager I had a specific weight loss goal. Because I knew I hate exercising, I decided to ask a friend if she would help me be accountable to the goal I had set for myself that year to exercise. I would text her daily to let her know that I had done my work out. She was not obligated to respond if she was busy. On days that I did not text she would ask if I had exercised. This was enough to keep me motivated to work towards my goal and I had great success!
Maybe you are a more benefits based person and the disappointment of just communicating accountability is not enough. You could try asking a friend to hold twenty dollars for the week and you may only get it back at the end of the week if you have been successful at reaching the goal. Come up with a way that works for you in the area of accountability. You may have to get creative but it will be well worth it!
5. Write them down and review them often.
I often get to the end of the year and as I begin to reflect I realize there were several goals I set for myself that I simply just forgot! Maybe that just means they were not very important but it is still disheartening to think of what I could have accomplished. Whether you simply make a list or you are a vision board kind of person, definitely write down your goals for the year.
It is also important to write them down in a place where they can easily be reviewed. A few good ideas might be to keep a list on your phone, your computer, the refrigerator, in your Bible, or in the front of your yearly planner. Personally, I like to keep a list in multiple places to review throughout the year. I also try to evaluate them every month.
6. Just do them!
Maybe you have some very reasonable yet challenging goals for the year. I know I do!
The biggest part of reaching our goals is to just decide to do them. It’s deciding on the hard days to just get it done. It’s making up your mind on the days following sleepless nights with a sick child to just do it. Whatever the goal is, just do it.
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7. Plan for failure.
This may sound like a complete oxymoron considering what I just wrote but you need to plan for failure. Because life does happen and unexpected things do come up, you will likely miss the mark on some days. Do not let failure define your year because of a hard season of life! Get back at it as soon as you are able. Do not try to catch up for lost time, just begin again and give it the best you have.
8. Consider your goals prayerfully.
If anything we do is going to be done well we will have to do it prayerfully. First begin by asking the Lord what goals He would have you commit to this year, then pray daily for His help in fulfilling them. Also realize that some of your goals are completely out of your control. The desires of your heart are in His hands. Commit to Him about the hopes and dreams you have!
Psalm 37:5 Commit they way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
