Make The Most Of Your New Year Resolution
No matter which holidays you are celebrating this time of year, the one with the most impact may just be New Years. As social media has quickly grown, so has the pressure of being bombarded with everyone else's New Year Resolution.
While you may have already created your own resolution to start the new year off with a bang, do yourself a favor and review the resolutions you have set. When we create any type of goal, resolutions included, it’s important for these to be SMART goals. SMART is an acronym we use to help us make the best possible goal for where we are currently, and it stands for:
Specific
If we can make a goal specific, then we know exactly what we are aiming for. If the goal is too vague, it can leave us wondering if we ever actually achieved it.
Measurable
Similarly, we also need to be able to measure our progress so we aren’t left guessing how close we were to our goal. If we don’t make our goals measurable, it becomes an all-or-nothing experience which can easily lead us to feeling discouraged.
Attainable
Big audacious goals are great! But let’s make sure they are realistic for where we are and the resources we have at this time. Certainly feel free to stretch your limits and reach for the stars, but at the end of the day make sure you are realistically able to meet it.
Relevant
Making a goal relevant means that we want to consider our values, passions, mission, desired lifestyle and our long-term goals.
Time-Bound
As you create your resolutions, give yourself a time-limit. Not only does this contribute to the goal being measurable, but it also gives your brain a boost now that you have set a deadline. As the deadline approaches, your dopamine will kick in to help you reach it in time.
Okay, now that we have a framework for your resolutions, let’s do a little introspection to to make sure your resolutions are actually going to work FOR you, rather than them leaving you depleted and discouraged by the end of February.
How much energy do you have for something new? Consider where your energy is going right now. Do you want to allocate energy to a different endeavor or would you rather keep pushing in a current project?
What are your priorities? Are your current projects and hobbies aligned with what you value or is a change of pace necessary to feel like your truest self?
What would you like this time, next year to look like? What would be different and what will it take to make that happen?
If you are wanting to make changes, take an honest look at why this change feels necessary to you. Is comparison playing a role here at all?
I hope these tips and questions are helpful as you set yourself up for a dream-filled 2023. And you know what? Let’s keep each other accountable here. Drop your New Year Resolutions down in the comments and share one step you are taking this week to reach them.
Sending you all of the encouragement and good vibes,
Katie
