Tuesday, December 19, 2017

5 Tips to Achieve Your Goals in the New Year

Why do most people fail to keep their New Years resolutions? While the attempt to adopt resolutions shows positive intent, a better alternative is setting new goals for the future. It is best to work towards your goals gradually rather than expecting an immediate change.

-Keep your future in mind
What would you have in your ideal life? Think of where you would like to be in ten, five or even two years from now. Next, ask yourself if your goals will bring you closer to that picture. If you can keep that image in mind, it will make it easier to stick to your goals.

-Think about what you'd like to add to your life, rather than take away
For example, instead of making "Eating less unhealthy foods" your goal, think of it as "Eating more healthy foods". Replacing unhealthy food with healthy foods still achieves your goal. It's easier to focus on your goal if you have a more positive outlook.

-Think in terms of big changes rather than specific behaviors
For example, "Develop Stress Coping Mechanisms" would be better than "Do yoga every morning".  Deciding on a broad goal will give you room to experiment.

-Goal Setting
You can set three levels of intensity:
Easy: the "I need to form a habit" goal
Medium: "I need to put forth more effort" goal
Challenging: the extreme, "I will be thrilled" goal

Taking baby steps makes reaching your goal much easier. For example, regarding fitness, the easy goal would be walking three times a week. The medium goal may be walking three times a week, cutting out all sugar, and doing weight training. The challenging goal could be doing the previous two goals as well as adding the goal of only eating raw foods two times a week. 

-Have fun and dream!
Imagine there are no limits. What would you want to do? Set your goals with both your heart and mind. Don't just "think" about what you want to do. Think about how you "feel", too. Does it feel good or bad? Let your emotions guide you.

How will you go about achieving your goals in this new year?