New Years mean good food, picnics, get togethers or parties for many people in our country. But there is another thing that keeps on recurring at the beginning of every year and that is New Years resolutions. At the end of every year, many of us set intentions to be a different version of ourselves and yet when the new year rolls around we slowly and steadily let go of those resolutions. I mean, we have all heard about how it is not uncommon for majority of us to give up on them. Frankly, even researchers have noticed the trend of unfulfilled New-Years' Resolutions and it has been noted that around 8% of people meet the goals they set by the end of a year- this means that over 90% of us let go of them (sometimes even by mid-January people stop working towards their goals).
I am in no way saying that everybody should set goals every New Year because for most people it can be more demotivating than not to feel like they are failing constantly. But it can also help many others to stay on track, and achieve things with a "New Year New Me" mindset. So, here are a few ways we can approach this New Year and not be left with a sad feeling at the end of this year.
1. Take Baby Steps: Set smaller goals for short periods such as 3 weeks or up to 2 months (depending on your goals). We may find smaller goals easier to achieve which can be motivating rather than feeling lost about meeting one large goal. An example of this is- Let's say you want to learn a new language in 2025, you can set a 2 - 3 weeks where you start with learning the grammar or then move on to the next step like forming sentences fluently (or a similar goal you want to achieve). Being specific about each of these goals can be really great.
2. Follow Up with yourself about where you are: Following up means that we check whether we have achieved our smaller goals, what made us successfully achieve them, and what made us struggle so that we don't repeat the same later. Setting a reminder on our calendars are a way for us to do timely follow-ups.
3. Using popular Goal Setting Frameworks: The SMART Goal framework is probably one of the most popular frameworks for goal setting and it is pretty simple too. With this technique, we have to make our goals Specific (S), we have to be able to Measure (M) or evaluate that we have achieved the goal, we have to make it Achievable (A) a.k.a. we need to be realistic about our goals, our goals need to be Relevant (R) to what we want - what would be different if we achieved the goal and we have to make the goal Time-Bound (T) by either setting them for short period like a month or 6 months. I have shared a link to a SMART Goals template at the end of this article.
4. Remind Yourself about your "Why's" and "What for's": Have you ever done something where you thought to yourself, "Why am I doing this?" or "Who am I doing this for?"? The reasons many of us struggle with meeting our goals is that we may not be clear why we are doing what we are doing, we may be achieving our goals to make other people happy or fit into societal expectations. Sometimes we change our minds as to what makes these goals important for us. Whatever may be your reason doing something, being very clear is the best way to approach your goals. So, always feel free to take a moment to note down your "why's" and "what for's" before beginning anything.
Because otherwise there is a high chance that you would find the above-mentioned pointers difficult or boring and not do them at all.
5. Convert your Goals to Approach-Oriented Goals: Many of us set goals to change parts of us that we may not like. Some of us may want to consume less sugar, some of us may want to lose weight and some of us may want to become better at playing an instrument. Approach-oriented goals are set in a way where we focus on what proactive actions we have to take rather than what we need to avoid. Can you spot the avoidance-oriented goal(s) among the three examples I shared? Examples of approach-oriented goals may look like this- "I want to sleep 7-8 hours at night because then I feel well rested the next day. I plan to eat my meals on time, and go to bed by 10:30 pm so that I can sleep properly". Research says that approach-oriented goals can be more successful long-term since they focus on the actions you can take, the positive feedback you can receive after and think more about the new changes that comes with them.
6. Don't Give Up: Very often we are very strict with ourselves to the point that one hiccup, one roadblock can make us stop all the work we may have done for ourselves. But our progress is rarely, if ever, linear. We all have ups and downs in our journey towards growth. This year anytime the feeling comes up that "I am not doing enough", "I am a failure" or "There's no point in doing this anymore", try to take a step back and rephrase these thoughts as "What changes/actions can I take that would help me feel different about myself?", "What do I need to do to go one more step towards my success" or "What is the reason this goal is important for me so that I can keep trying?". We can always change our plans, change our approach towards these goals- our hurdles don't need to define us.
7. Find a Support Network: Finding like-minded people who want to achieve the same goals can be great because something like a buddy system can help us hold each other accountable, motivate each other when we feel demotivated, support each other if things get tough and be there for each other's successes. Our support network can include family, friends, or coworkers. We can join classes or go to places (like gyms) is possible and meet other people who are on the same boat.
At the end of the day, any New Year's Resolution we set has to be for our wellbeing so maybe combining the steps mentioned in this article might change some things this year.
References and Links:
SMART Goals- What is it? - https://www.lssu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/SMART-Goals-Worksheet-1.pdf
Tags: #Newyear #HappyNewYear #NewYearResolutions #Milyin #MilyinCreations #Creations #writing #newcreation #psychology #selfcare #newyearresolutions
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