Make New Year’s Goals
In This Issue: Don’t Make Resolutions — Make Goals
–Ramiro Rodriguez
“If you’re serious about wanting to change, this is my advice to you: Don’t make a resolution — make a goal.”
At the end of any normal year, you would probably spend New Year’s Eve celebrating the year you’ve just had, just as much as you might celebrate the start of the next year. But after a year like 2020, all anyone can talk about for 2021 is getting a fresh start — and what better way to signify a fresh start than by making some New Year’s resolutions?
Making resolutions is a bit of harmless fun for the holiday, but the truth is that they rarely lead to any lasting change. In fact, 80% of resolutions fail before February even starts! However, if you don’t want to be a part of that 80% and if you’re serious about wanting to change, this is my advice to you: Don’t make a resolution — make a goal. When your resolution becomes a goal, you’ll be much more likely to follow through and see success. Here are five steps you should take to make a New Year’s goal instead of a New Year’s resolution.
A lot of times, resolutions are made flippantly at parties or with groups of friends because it’s just what you do that evening. With goals, however, there’s a sense of commitment. There’s an urgency and a drive to accomplish something, not just because the goal is good, but because you really want the end results.
A lot of people will make some sort of hip, trendy resolution because all their friends are doing it, or they might make a resolution because their parents or their spouse want them to do it. But how long can those sources of motivation last? What’s really at stake? When you really commit to change, it will be because you know the effort will be worth the reward, whether that reward is more time with the kids, more years in your life, or more money in the bank.
Write down your goals, but not on a computer or phone. Write them down on paper and then put it somewhere where you’ll see it every day. For me, the best place to write goals is my calendar. I look at my calendar every day, and I can’t just swipe it aside with the click of a mouse. You might find that writing your goal on a sticky note that you put on the fridge or on your bathroom mirror is most helpful. Wherever that best place is for you, having it written down will ensure that your goal exists somewhere outside your head.
When you first start working toward your goal, you might not know how long it will take to accomplish it or what steps are necessary. That’s okay; just start somewhere, doing something. Have faith that accomplishing your goal is possible. Start setting aside time to work on it and don’t let anything infringe on that time that you set aside.
Set reasonable, measurable, smaller goals that you can work to achieve as you work toward your overarching goal for the year. If it’s your goal to make more money by educating yourself about your field, and the best way for you to do that is to read more books on a particular topic, then set aside four hours a week to read. And remember, don’t let anything, barring a visit to the emergency room, take you away from that time.
This year, I wish you luck in accomplishing all the goals that you make for yourself. But, if you follow these steps, know that you won’t need any luck to accomplish your goals at all. Happy New Year!
GA Injury Advocates
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