Are you ready for 2020? Ready to be a better you than you were in 2019?
“Each journey begins with the will to make the first step.”
Let’s be clear, and brutally honest: Setting the goals is the easy part. After all, there you are, sipping some wine, thinking about what didn’t work in 2019, what you could have done better, and make a mental note about what you would like to really accomplish in 2020.
We write it down; some of us even get fancy and vision-board it. Then something happens midyear, or for me two to three months in, and we just lose interest, or we just get busy, or we simple don’t care.
Why don’t we care?! What happens that makes us so unmotivated?!
For me, having long-term goals are great, but I need something I can see on a monthly, weekly, even daily basis. We live in a world of instant gratification and I don’t want to see my accomplishment a year later. I want it now!
Through shortening your goals into smaller milestones this can help you stay motivated throughout 2020. Besides, a lot can happen in a year, things change.
Month 1
Month 3
Self-Evaluation: That’s right! Have a heart-to-heart with yourself and see where you are doing great and where you could improve.
Month 6
Month 9
Performance Review: You are close to another year’s end and it’s time to give yourself honest feedback on how you’ve done so far this year. Afterwards, treat yourself to a trip, a spa day, etc.
Reward yourself for your dedication.
Month 12
Here are three steps to get you started on your goal-setting journey for 2020.
Goal Setting Tip 1: Set Daily Reminders
Being organized is a huge plus in setting and accomplishing your goals for 2020. Each month you have a new goal to accomplish. Okay, let’s break that down even further and decipher what you must do on a daily and weekly basis to reach that goal. If you have a goal to lose ten pounds this month, you know you should replace a junk food snack with a healthy one each day, drink more water, workout two to three days each week. Use your phone alert app and set reminders to do these things. The busier you are, the better, because you won’t miss the bad habits and your alerts will remind you of the good ones. I have a “drink water alert” for every hour, and I swear, I be so busy that every hour it goes off I feel like I just had a bottle, but this keeps you organized, motivated, and on track.
Goal Setting Tip 2: Turn a Negative into a Positive
“No!” The worst word someone can hear when trying to accomplish something. Hearing the word no can be a major setback for some people. For my honey, he can be off his vibes for a day or two. I always tell him “Be prepared for the word no.” Go into any situation thinking you have already heard the word no. Plan for it, that way you have two or three backup plans to do it another way. Never put all your eggs in one basket.
Goal Setting Tip 3: Set Simple Goals
Goals do not have to be so serious all the time. Put your goals into different categories: physical health, career, family, mental health, education, etc., but have fun with them. Your career goals will be spread out over the year, but you can do a weekly goal for your self-care.
Ask yourself the following periodically throughout the week:
- Am I okay?
- Am I happy? What made me happy this week?
- Who can I see this week that will make me smile?
- How can I do more things with this person or in general that will make me happy?
Laughter and happiness are two of the keys to a long, healthy life.
One thing I have learned is that you must decide what you want and what you want to accomplish in this life. Then create a plan that works for you to execute. At the end of the day, you only get one life, so go out there and live it to the fullest, within reason, of course 😊.
Happy Reading!
