In a society that strives for individuality, let’s kick of the year with one of the most cliche posts, shall we? My New Year’s resolutions plus a few goal setting tips I find work well.
A lot of people hated 2016, and a lot of other people had great successes and milestones happen. I’d put myself into neither of those categories. I wanted the year to be full of intrigue and adventure, but I’d say 2016 was a little stagnant for me. I don’t have a lot to show for it; I didn’t do much. And to be frank, I’m a little disappointed in myself for it. So 2017, hopefully, will be a redemption for me.
Goal setting can be hard to start and hard to keep up with, but these are a few things that keep me on track and help me form goals for a new year:
Show TLC to all parts of your life. I like to break my NY goals into 4 categories: personal, wellness, finance, and career. It keeps me balanced and assures me I don’t leave out a major aspect of my life whilst trying to improve another.
Be SMART. This one isn’t new, and you’ve heard it before. Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time managed goals are generally the most successful. Last year, I wrote “get fit” on my list of resolutions, but what does that even mean? I mean, technically I worked out more than I did in 2015, but that still wasn’t nearly enough. So this year, one of my fitness goals is to get through this video in it’s entirety (I know it’s sad that I can’t, but it is what it is.)
Look at your goals every day. In other words, make them visible. I plan on posting my goals in two places: in my portfolio notebook, where I keep most of my current projects, lists, and documents in, as well as posted in my work station. I’ll forget what I wanted to achieve if I don’t see it frequently, and it will remind me to follow a Pilates video on my laptop instead of watching Netflix. That’s the hope anyway.
As for my goals for 2017:
Personal
- Read at least 2 books per month. I really want to try to read one fiction, one non-fiction a month, but I want to read more. It distracts me, it teaches me, and overall improves my mind and mood. For January, I think I’ve chosen “Into the Forest” and a book I found at Goodwill on Egyption religion (I’m an odd bird, it looked really intriguing).
- Learn a new skill. Will it be language? Photography? Crystal healing? I’m not sure yet, but I want to pick up something that I learn from, can use in real life, and that I enjoy.
- Take and print more photos. I love flipping through photo albums and hearing stories about memories my family has of a moment I wasn’t a part of as well as remembering my own memories. And I simply didn’t do enough of that in 2016.
Wellness
- Unplug more often. I’m plugged in a lot. Period. I watch TV shows or Youtube videos while I get ready in the morning. I usually have the TV on for background noise. I spend a lot of time working or online shopping on my laptop. And I’m generally within arm’s reach of my cellphone. I pride myself in being able to walk away and enjoy myself outside of social media, but I can do it more often, especially when I’m with my family or friends. And I want to be able to unplug a little earlier in the evening to make my sleep schedule a little more constant.
- Get into a routine. I don’t want to become a boring robot. By routine, I mean finding time in my day to eat normal meals, workout, tidy the house, watch a TV show, etc. but on a type of schedule. I currently work in retail which is rubbish for maintaining a routine due to the nature of the work days’ inconsistency, but I want to try a lot harder.
- Get through this video in one go. This one is simple. I want to be more active and healthy, as do most people at the turn of the year. I want to use 2017 to find an activity I enjoy doing and then do it often.
I haven’t included my career and finance goals simply because those are a little more specific to me, and I just don’t think they’d be useful nor do I feel comfortable doing that right now. But I hope these tips helped you to form your own goals for the new year, and if they have, I’d love to hear about them. Happy new year, kids.
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