4 Ways To Meet Your New Year’s Goals
The new year is right around the corner and I’m sure you’ve already started brainstorming your New Year’s goals. Before you jump into planning out 2021, here are four ways to set yourself up for success and meet your New Year’s goals.
4 Ways to meet your New Year’s Goals
- Reduce your distractions
- Set up a routine
- Hold yourself accountable
- Practice self-compassion
Reduce Distractions
One of my biggest distractions was social media. It was such a big distraction that it deserves it’s own blog post. People in their mid-twenties spend roughly 3 hours a day on social media. Most people sleep about 8 hours a day and work another 8 hours, leaving 8 hours of actual “free time” to use. Using 3 out of those 8 free hours is quite a considerable chunk of time. It’s not about the actual time you are losing, but what you could have been doing with your time.
That’s time you could have spent being present with family. Doing something you love. Working on learning a language, learning a new instrument, spending quality time with yourself or friends, working on a podcast or blog. Heck, that’s time you could have been using to start a side hustle. Your time is valuable. Where and how are you investing your time? I dare you to start tracking the time spent on your distractions. I use the screen time feature on my phone to track my time spent on social media and apply time limits. Sorry, not sorry Instagram.
Now the time I spend on social media is intentional. I still engage with my friends. Yet I’ve reduced the mindless scrolling. I don’t feel guilty about the time I spend on social media because I’m mindful of it. I’ve reduced my screen time from 97 minutes a day to 30 minutes a day.
Set Up a Routine
If I had to guess, I bet you brush your teeth 3 times a day. Why? First, basic hygiene. Second, and more important, it’s social conditioning that was added into our routine since childhood. It took us years to solidify this habit into a routine. Now it’s second nature. This is the key to setting up your schedule. Actions become habits and then they transform into routine.
Everyone has different goals and priorities. I’m not able to provide the “perfect regime” for you. Only you know you that well. I can share the template I use to establish my new routines (download daily routine template here). I made a list of things I want to make second nature, like running before I have my cup of coffee in the morning.
I’m a decent athlete but I was missing consistency. Now that I’ve identified it and set up my new routine, I’m in control. I haven’t missed any of my runs, strength trainings, jiu jitsu drills or rolling out sessions. Download my daily routine template here.
Hold Yourself Accountable
This is where most people derail from their new year goals. Many times, we set up goals without a system to hold us accountable when we begin to fall off. I created a weekly accountability sheet to track my progress in hitting my daily routine (download here). This helps with holding myself accountable. I also reach out to friends about my goals. We have been exchanging our goals with each other and get on the phone bi-weekly to track our progress. There’s nothing like, “Dang, what am I going to tell Michelle when she sees I went over my eating out budget”. You act different when you know people are watching.
Download Accountability Template
Practice Self-Compassion
We aren’t programmed robots, we are going to have days when we don’t feel like checking some things off our list. On those days, it’s important to recognize that one or two bad days won’t ruin your progress. You’re doing great mija! You had an off day or off week, and that’s OK. Give yourself grace and allow yourself to move on. Having compassion for yourself is key.
New Year, Best You
Personally, I hate the “New Year, New You” motto. I like “New Year, Best You”. It fits better because we should strive to be our best selves. Our best selves need nurturing to grow and harness lessons. Our “best-self” also looks different every year. We aren’t “new”, we’re evolving. There’s a difference.
Remember, there will be days when you don’t feel like checking off things from your list. And that’s ok. On those days, remember to have self-compassion. Hope this helps with planning your New Year’s goals.
Happy New Year!
