Setting Goals That Stick
It’s one thing to get excited about your New Year's resolutions, but it’s another thing to actually take action on them. It’s much easier to make resolutions than to keep them, & by the end of March, many of us have abandoned our resolve & settled back into old habits. Without the right tools & steps to ensure success, your goals could be completely overwhelming and almost impossible.
It’s not that we’re not capable of following through on our intentions, the problem lies in the process of actually making these goals actionable & achievable. We are creatures of habit & because of that, change can be challenging. But thankfully there are research backed ways to create & stick to goals & new years resolutions successfully, sustainably & realistically!
1. Start, Small & Specific:
It’s easy to get overly ambitious when motivations are high but juggling too many goals at once can get overwhelming, confusing & messy. Zero in on one or two goals rather than 5 at a time. Analyze the level of commitment it will require to follow through on these one or two goals & consider if you’ll be able to match it.
Not only do we have to start small but we also have to be specific! Without some definable parameters, your best intentions can get lost in the shuffle. The more detailed you can be, the easier it is to stay focused on what you have to do to succeed.
2. Plan Ahead & Discover Your WHY:
If everyday you’re having to find a way to follow through on your goals, you’re more than likely going to decide based on if you’re feeling like it or not, which doesn’t always look like follow through & taking action. Instead of relying on pure desire & will power everyday, plan ahead - sit down & brainstorm the steps you need to take daily to tackle that goal.
Next, reflect on your WHY. Uncovering your WHY is exposing what truly matters most in your life & aligning that with your goals makes the decision to take action smoother & seamless. So when things get tough & you hit some roadblocks (which you will), you won’t completely give up because there’s a much bigger, underlying purpose & you actually have a plan.
3. Change Your Environment:
Our minds are easily swayed by external factors & simply put, we are products of our environment. The second we wake up in the morning, we are bombarded with options & decisions to make - some are tough, some require patience and some we try to resist. And sometimes we even fall prey to certain decisions we don’t want to make because our environment is weighing in.
Our environment can trigger certain thoughts, desires, actions we take (or don’t take) & decisions we make. So even if you have the best intentions with your goals, it can be challenging if your environment dictates otherwise. Due to the limited amount of willpower we possess to make decisions, our brains get easily overwhelmed & tired which is why most of our daily lives are made up of the same habits. So, the solution is to design your surroundings to make it easier to make better choices. Create an environment that only has desirable choices available, ones that align with your goals and constrict you into making the decision that best serves the life you are aiming to create.
4. Recruit Social Support:
Make your goals & intentions public to your people - share them with your partner, your best friend, your sister, your family, etc…& be specific when you tell them so they know exactly what kind of journey you are on & what you will be doing. Recruit the people that will be your cheerleaders, who will check in on you, who you can celebrate small wins with, who can remind you of your WHY & support you when you’re needing some extra love on a hard day.
You will be more likely to adhere to & achieve your goals if you make them public to your support systems. By doing this, you are elevating the level of accountability.
5. Shift Your Mindset:
There are 3 crucial mindset shifts to adopt as you tackle your goals in the New Year. The first one is to celebrate your small wins instead of solely focusing on the end results. If your focus is just on the endgame, it’s easy to feel discouraged during the process of progress. Celebrating your small wins along the way is crucial for long term adherence!
Second, have patience with yourself & the process. Your unhealthy or undesired habits that you may be trying to change most likely took years to develop, so how could you expect to change them in just a matter of days or weeks? Long term & sustainable change takes time.
Lastly, become familiar with progress over perfection. Know that having lapses is common & happens to everyone, but it’s not about the lapse, it’s about the way you rebound back & respond. When you experience a roadblock, acknowledge what went wrong, be curious, make changes necessary, let it go, move on & get right back on your horse guilt free, because we are chasing progress, not perfection.
Written by: Giulia Cammarano
