It may be controversial but I find many people's New Year's resolutions often lack meaning and purpose, and that's why they lose momentum, motivation and ultimately give up on them.
So I've banished resolutions and instead focus on setting powerful goals, and also why I've developed a simple three-step system to goal-setting success to help others to make 2022 magic...
January is often seen as the perfect time to realign, reorganise and reflect on where you're at in life. It gives many a natural opportunity to make a fresh start, and while this may seem like the perfect time to make some resolutions for the year ahead, the reality can be quite different.
‘Quitters Day’, the second Friday in January each year, is considered to be the day when most of those resolutions have fallen by the wayside and as a result, by Blue Monday, the third Monday in January, we are all full of guilt.
But why?
Well, of course, everyone has different reasons as to why their New Year's resolutions didn’t go as planned, however, there is usually one really big reason at the root of it all: The resolutions have no meaning.
I prefer to scrap resolutions and create powerful goals instead. But how does creating goals give us a better chance of success? We focus on where we want to be, we give them meaning, we make them SMART and we break them down into achievable, bitesize pieces.
Getting started with goal-setting can feel daunting, but it doesn’t have to. I’ve created a very simple three-step plan of action to help you set powerful, meaningful goals, stick to them and make 2022 magic.
Get crystal clear on where you are and where you want to be
The wheel of life is fantastic for this exercise. By assigning each area of your life a rating between 0-10, you will have a visual representation of the areas that you might want to focus on. You can then decide where you want those ratings to be, and start exploring what’s needed to close the gap. It’s those steps that then become your goals.
Give your goals meaning
For this step, it is vital to focus on your ‘why’. Why are you committed to achieving this goal and what is the purpose behind it? Start visualising, what will achieving each goal mean to you, what will it feel like when you achieve it, and what will the result be? Remembering all the reasons behind the goal will help you to stay motivated, your why is one of your most powerful tools.
Make your goals SMART and break them down
Once you have decided on your goals and are crystal clear on the reasons and purpose behind them, then you need to make them SMART - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.
Specific - Give yourself a really clear objective, goals need to be crystal clear.
Measurable - How will you know if you have achieved your goal, how can you measure this?
Achievable - Is this something that you are truly capable of? Goals should stretch you but not be completely impossible or you’ll lose motivation
Relevant - Does your goal fit into your wider plans and does it meet your purpose? Will it help you get to where you want to be, revisiting your wheel of life is helpful here.
Time-bound - What deadline will you set and when will you have check-ins to keep yourself accountable and on track with your goals?
You can do this for each individual goal, which will lead you on to the next step, breaking them down.
Now you have made your goals SMART and understand your intention and purpose behind them, this is where the magic happens. Take each goal from the endpoint, and reverse engineer the steps you need to take to make it happen. Essentially, break it down into easily digestible bite-size chunks to make the bigger goal less daunting.
You can then make each stage of the process SMART should you wish, so one big goal might be split into several smaller goals. This will help you have total clarity on what you need to do when and remove any decision fatigue, which can be a massive productivity and motivation killer.
Eliminate decisions and confusion, lean into your why and the bigger picture of what will happen when you achieve your goals and what that will mean and you’ll be all set to turn your goals into reality.
Remember, consistency is key, put in the work, commit to your goals and it will pay off. You might not see results immediately, but don’t let that deter you from continuing to focus your time and energy on achieving what you have set out to do.
You can be, do and have anything you dream of with the right mindset, strategy and aligned action to get you there. Good luck with your goal setting and goal getting, it's time to make 2022 magic! ✨
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