Well, 2020 has been quite a year, and while it’s never good to wish your life away, it’s kind of nice seeing 2020 move into the rearview mirror; so as part of my goodbye to the year, I thought I would do a recap on my new year’s resolutions article from last year.
New Year’s Resolutions or Goals for the New Year?
In a way, New Year’s resolutions and goals for the new year are the same thing, but at the same time, they’re different because goal setting involves several steps that increase the likelihood of follow-through.
Examples of New Year’s Resolutions
To shine some light on the difference, I thought I would drop a few common New Year’s Resolutions here before going deeper into the goal setting for the new year aspect.
- Lose weight
- Be more organized
- Keep the house cleaner
These are all things that would benefit your lifestyle if you achieve them, if they’re issues for you, however, when stated as resolutions, they’re more like wishes – and wishes kind of float away in the wind like dandelion seeds when they aren’t backed by anything.
It can be more effective to think of your new year’s resolutions as long-term goals, and then back them up with goal-setting sessions that list the short-term goals you need to achieve in order to make the long term goals work.
Goal Setting Ideas for Weight Loss
It’s easy to know how much weight you want to lose, and it’s common sense to know the way to do it is to eat less and exercise more – however – it isn’t that easy. If it were that easy, everyone who wants to be thin would aleady be thin.
To use goal setting strategies to help you succeed in this type of resolution or long-term goal, think of specific things you can realistically do each day to get to where you want to be.
Set Smaller Realistic Goals
For example, exercise: You know you need to exercise, and say you’ve picked running or weight lifting as your chosen physical activity. If you jump right in and work out intensely for an hour or two at a time, you’re likely to quit the first day, or at least within the first week.
So, instead of choosing to work out intensely, consider what types of exercise you can realistically – and safely – do – such as walking for ten or twenty minutes a day with a goal of increasing the number of steps you take each week.
Commit Your Goals to Writing
Put these smaller goals in writing – add the details to your calendar or planner. I’ve often heard people say to tell your friends or family, so others can hold you to it. For me that doesn’t work, though writing them down does seem to help. I’ve found that the people who SAY they want to help are often the people who really don’t want to see success.
Set a Date to Revisit Goals
Make a date with yourself a few weeks out to revisit your goals and measure your success. If that date comes, and you aren’t where you wanted to be, refresh your goals, and move the dates out to achieve them. Then, start over or pick up from where you are.
Life is an ongoing process, so if you haven’t achieved the goals you set during your new year’s goal setting session, don’t be hard on yourself. Adjust, pat yourself on the back for anything you have achieved, and move forward.
In closing, I want to thank everyone who has visited intrinsic Vicissitude in 2020. It’s meant a lot to me to see all the visitors stopping by for a little boost of positivity. Please stop back often in 2021, and feel free to visit the Intrinsic Vicissitude Facebook page to join in the conversation and positivity.
– Laure
