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Setting Goals For The New Year: Stay The Course

Author Todd Saylor

Published on: November 16, 2022

Introduction

Although the new year is a time for hope and renewal, it can also be a stressful time. We make resolutions but can find ourselves struggling to fulfill them. Or worse, we may stray from our original goals altogether. But what if instead of making concrete resolutions that feel like they’re out of reach, you set more abstract goals to help keep yourself on track? In this blog post, I’ll go over how to set better goals for yourself in 2023 and beyond!

Keep it simple and choose one main goal

When setting goals, it’s easy to get carried away and put too many things on the list. While this may seem like a good idea in theory, when you’re trying to accomplish multiple things at once, it can be overwhelming and cause you to lose sight of what is most important. When making your list of goals for 2023, keep it simple by choosing only one major goal that is realistic for you and then breaking that goal down into smaller tasks with deadlines. Don’t try to do everything perfectly; instead, focus on taking small steps forward each day so that eventually your end result becomes a reality.

Get a calendar

For the next 30 days, make a commitment to your new year’s resolutions. You can do it!

Get a calendar. A calendar is a great tool for organizing tasks and seeing the big picture. Make sure you have one where you can keep track of all your tasks and appointments—and don’t forget to check it daily! It’ll help keep you on track with your goals and remind you when they’re due so that nothing gets forgotten along the way.

If you prefer digital calendars over paper ones, there are many options out there depending on what works best for your lifestyle: Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook Calendar (formerly known as Windows Live Calendar), Apple iCalendar (which comes pre-installed on Macs), and many more.

If you’re not sure which calendar to use, try out a few of your options and see which one is most convenient for you.

You can also use a planner, which some people prefer over digital calendars. Either way, make sure you have something that helps you keep track of your tasks and appointments so that nothing gets forgotten along the way!

Make a list of things you want to accomplish. Make sure the list is realistic and attainable; otherwise, it’ll just become another item on your never-ending to do list. You can also make an “ideas” folder in Evernote where you can store ideas for future projects or tasks that need further research before starting them.

Make sure you can visualize your goal.

Visualize your goal.

Your brain is an amazing tool for learning and achieving, but it needs to be trained to learn new skills. Visualization is a great way to train your mind and help you achieve your goals.

The first step in visualization is to imagine yourself achieving your goals as if they’ve already happened; this creates a mental state of confidence and self-belief that will lead you to actually achieve those goals in reality! For example, if one of your goals is losing weight or getting fit, visualize yourself reaching that goal with ease and feeling great about yourself when it’s achieved (and knowing how good this feels). You can also use affirmations such as “I am confident” or “I look great” while visualizing this outcome as well.

Visualization isn’t just beneficial when it comes to achieving new things; it also helps us get through difficult times by bringing positive thoughts into our minds at times when we need them most – like when we’re going through tough experiences! If there are any challenges ahead for you during the New Year – whether personal or professional – then take some time out each day before bedtime just thinking about these challenges in a positive light; put yourself back on track towards success by doing this regularly throughout December so that come January 1st everything seems easier because less has been done wrong thus far!

Be specific.

Before you start, it’s important to define the problem. For example: “I want to lose weight” is too vague and doesn’t tell your brain how to respond. Instead, try “I want to lose 10 pounds by June 1st.”

This is an important step because your subconscious mind will help you achieve your goals if they are specific enough. So rather than saying “I want to be more organized,” say “I will have my desk clear every night before bedtime by July 31st.” We’ve all heard that we should set goals before starting a project or program (usually after New Year’s Day) but did you know that setting an effective goal can make all the difference in reaching success?

Be realistic.

There’s a reason why the saying “be realistic” is so popular. It’s because it works! If you are going to set goals for yourself, then they need to be achievable. If you want to get your Master’s degree by next year, great! But if that means working full-time as well and taking classes at night school, then be prepared for some hard work and long hours.

Being specific about what you want will help those around you support your efforts in achieving your goal. If the goal is too vague or abstract (e.g., “I want a better job”), then it can be difficult for others to understand where exactly you’re heading with this goal of yours—and why should they care. The same applies if the goal isn’t measurable (e.g., “I am going to lose weight”). How much weight? What’s an appropriate timeline? And what specifically would success look like when we reach our target outcome?

Finally: time-bound goals have been shown time after time throughout history as being one of the most effective ways of creating results by giving people a specific deadline in mind when setting them up initially — which makes sense: if there isn’t any urgency associated with completing something within certain parameters before moving onto something else entirely different related only loosely through association but ultimately unrelated otherwise…then why bother doing anything at all really?”

Break up your goal into manageable steps.

When you break your goal down into manageable chunks, you will feel more confident and less overwhelmed. A good way to do this is by creating a checklist that includes all the steps needed to achieve your overall objective. For example, if your goal is to lose 100 pounds in one year:

• Step 1: Lose 10 pounds in one month (easier)
• Step 2: Lose another 20 pounds in another three months (more difficult)
• Step 3: And so on until you reach 100 pounds lost!

Another way to break down your goal is by creating a timeline. For example, if your goal is to lose 100 pounds in one year: Month 1: Lose 10 pounds Month 2: Lose 20 pounds Month 3: Lose 20 more pounds Month 4: Reach 80 pounds lost

Month 5: Reach 60 pounds lost Month 6: Reach 40 pounds lost Month 7: Reach 20 pounds lost Month 8: Reach 100 pounds lost!

One of the best ways to break down your goal is by creating a checklist that includes all the steps needed to achieve it. For example, if your goal is to lose 100 pounds in one year: Step 1: Lose 10 pounds in one month (easier) Step 2: Lose another 20 pounds in another three months (more difficult) Step 3: And so on until you reach 100 pounds lost! Another way to break down your goal is by creating a timeline.

Use what you’ve learned in the past to help you achieve your new goal.

If the past is any indication, the road ahead will be long and hard. But you’ve already come so far! This time last year, you had only just begun to take steps toward achieving your goal. Even though things didn’t go exactly as planned—you didn’t lose as much weight as you wanted to or get promoted at work (yet)—you still made progress by setting a goal and sticking with it for at least part of the year. That’s something no one can ever take away from you!

Use what you’ve learned from past experiences when setting new goals for yourself this year:

• If your previous goal was too ambitious, scale back the next time around by making reasonable plans based on what worked well in the past rather than trying to reinvent the wheel each time. For example, if one approach got you halfway to where you want to be today but wasn’t sustainable without help from others, ask for that support before deciding whether or not it makes sense for what comes next down line (e.g., asking friends/family members who were supportive during previous attempts).
• On the other hand, if there were certain aspects of achieving success last year that worked extremely well overall but weren’t feasible without some sort of outside support structure backing them up financially then consider ways those same ideas could still be implemented successfully within budget constraints instead; one way might be finding another person(s) willing participate alongside us instead!”

Take a daily action that will help you progress toward your goal.

Let’s face it: New Year’s resolutions are hard. If you haven’t made any yet, or if they’re still in the works, here are some helpful tips to keep your goals from falling by the wayside.

• Make a plan. Take a few moments to think about what you want for yourself and how you can achieve that goal. Write down everything you can think of and be as specific as possible; this will help keep things organized and prevent confusion later on when you’re working toward your big picture. Once you have an idea of what steps are necessary to get from where we are now to where we want to be in six months’ time (or whatever time frame works for your goal), go ahead and make those steps happen!
• Start small. Don’t let fear hold back progress; instead, take action by taking one small step at a time until reaching success is inevitable—and then celebrate! For example: If your goal is to lose five pounds this year but every day seems like an impossibly large mountain without a clear path through its peaks (or valleys), try setting smaller goals along the way such as drinking 2 glasses of water every morning before eating breakfast or substituting 1 serving per day of soda with water while still enjoying other beverages such as coffee or tea during the day–those types of behaviors add up over time so don’t worry if they aren’t noticeable right away!

Small steps can lead to big accomplishments

The first step is to understand that small steps are more achievable than giant leaps. If you’re like me, and your life is full of goals that sound really great but seem completely out of reach, then I urge you to start making small changes towards them while also staying motivated by celebrating the little wins along the way.

Small steps can also help us learn from our mistakes as well as from others’ mistakes. If we’re learning from our own experiences, then any time we make a mistake with something new (e.g., trying a new recipe), it gives us an opportunity to adjust our approach so things work better next time around! By learning from other people’s mistakes (and their successes) we can save ourselves time and energy because someone else has already done all the hard work for us!

Conclusion

Remember, it’s important to keep your goals simple and realistic. When you do this, it will be easier for you to stay on track with your goals and work toward achieving them. If this has gotten you excited about setting new goals for yourself in 2023, then great! We hope that our tips have helped inspire some ideas of where to start. Happy upcoming New Year from all of us here at Wired Differently.