January is officially here meaning New Years resolutions are in full swing! I don’t know about you guys but this year, January 1 really snuck up on me haha I wasn’t quite ready. Usually I go into the new year guns a-blazin, ready to tackle my goals. This year…I’m intentionally taking the first week or two of January to get clear with my goals + vision for the new year.
I think new year’s resolutions are either super cheesy and cliche for some people, or overwhelming for others. I’m not a huge believer in ‘new year resolutions’ BUT I AM a big believer in having vision + goals as we head into a new year. Accomplishing your goals doesn’t just happen. It takes intention and planning. So today I wanted to share 5 simple tips to help you set your goals for the new year!
tip #1: set aside time
Once you’re back to work and routines have started up again, it’s really easy to just get sucked into your daily to-do list. I personally went into the new year already feeling behind haha so blocking off time to sit down, be quiet, and set goals for the new year is honestly the last thing I want to do…but I know it will be worth it.
I’ve tried to set aside 20-30 minutes, almost every day of the week to plan out my goals + vision for the new year. I literally set a timer on my phone and for those 20mins, I don’t do anything else other than work on my goals. [I have this goal planning workbook that I’m working through. I LOVE it but it’s not 100% necessary to create goals for the new year. Just a helpful tool].
This is easiest for me to do when the house is quiet. So maybe set aside 20mins in the morning before the rest of your fam is awake.
tip #2: before you look ahead, look back
Before I set goals for the new year, I intentionally look back in the previous year and ask myself “what went well? what didn’t go well?”. I create two columns and literally brain dump everything that comes to mind. A few things for me last year that went well: going to bed earlier, cutting out alcohol for a big chunk of the year, incorporating more yoga into my routine, sleeping with my phone in another room. A few things that didn’t go well: too much screen time / mindless scrolling, not having boundaries in place with work (start / stop times).
Once you have a clear picture of things that worked well for you and what didn’t, you can start to envision this next year – what you want more of and what you want less of.
tip #3: know + write out your why
I think it’s really easy to make goals like “workout more”. But in my experience, those types of general, broad goals tend to get forgotten about really quickly. If you know working out more is a goal of yours…write it down, and then write out WHY. What is the big picture goal? (ie: “I want to workout more in 2022 to have more energy, to sleep better, to decrease stress, to feel my best). Get very specific with the WHY behind your goal because this really makes the motivation way more real and personal to you.
tip #4: think big picture
This tip is similar to tip #3 but something that has set me with my goal-setting this year is to imagine my life 5, 10, 30 years from now. Think big picture. What do you want your life to look like? 20 years from now, what things will have mattered vs what things WON’T have mattered? When I thought of my life that way I realized…quality time with my family, watching my kids grow up, being present with people, creating a business that inspires + encourages women in their daily lives….all of those things will matter. You know what won’t matter? internet trolls, how many followers I have, what size my jeans are…
Zoom out and do an aerial view of your life – what kind of person do you want to be known as? What do you want your life to look like? And then THIS YEAR, how can you take steps towards that?
tip #5: keep your goals accessible + visible
When I’m working on setting goals for the new year…I’m a HUGE fan of writing everything down in an old school notebook. Journal. Brain dump. Get it all out there. BUT…I’ve had two many ‘new year’s resolutions’ lists get lost in a notebook I can’t find haha. So I personally like to write my goals in a notebook but ALSO keep them somewhere to where I can easily see them / add to them daily. I personally just create a note in my phone (in the notes app) but you could also create a Word document and save it to your desktop. I loved being able to look back on my 2021 goals this year and see how much I accomplished + where I could grow in the new year (because I saved my 2021 notes in my phone!)
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Are you a believer in setting goals in the new year?! What are some tips that have helped you get clear with your vision for the new year?
xo Lauren
