Realistic Goal-setting for the New Year

There’s something about the beginning of a year that makes you want to turn over a new leaf and go for goals that you have always wanted to reach. A new year feels like a blank slate that can be filled as you wish.

However, after a couple of months you slide back into our old ways, your goals seem too difficult to reach for or you just lose momentum.

What can you do to make sure that you pursue only realistic goal-setting?

Separate Your Goals Into Categories

First up, it’s important not to feel overwhelmed at the planning stage. Also, you would not want to miss out an important area of your life. A good strategy would be to list out the categories. Divide them into professional, health, financial, relationships and so on. Under each heading list out things you would like to achieve.

Take Top 3

In some areas your list might be very long. In others, it may be to the point. Keep 3 top goals from each area that you must focus on, in the near future. To take an example, your health goals may include running a marathon but you are overweight. A marathon may be a long-term goal because you first need to get into shape and then work on your strength and stamina needed for running a marathon. For health, you could choose goals such as losing a certain amount of weight, eating healthy and incorporating enough physical activity in your routine.

Keep Your Goals Measurable

Your goals can be lofty but they must be well-defined. In your personal goals, you may say you would want to be the most popular person in the club. This goal can include anything. So you need to make it clear and precise. Organising club activities or attending more events are measurable goals that would take you towards your ultimate wish to be very popular.

Take Stock

Keep time periods when you would take stock of your progress. There are often times when you need to change course or when things are just not working out due to circumstances or lack of resources. Rather than letting go of your goal entirely, you could change your strategy. Doing this every quarter or even monthly is a good practice.

Celebrate Your Wins

Finally, winning is about accolades but don’t wait till you get to the finish point. Celebrate little wins that act as a pat on your back and propel you forward. After all, realistic goal-setting is also about keeping yourself inspired.

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