As the new year approaches setting new year’s resolutions is the common cliche thing to do. I hate to even call them my new year’s resolutions any more because of past failures. There have just been too many times that I’ve started something only to begin faltering in February, and then by the time March hits, I’ve forgotten altogether the resolution that was begun only three months earlier.
Something has changed, though, in how I approach the New Year thinking on “Resolutions”. The issue is in the connotation of the word. Resolutions is defined as “a firm decision to do or not to do something,” which often causes you to neglect the celebration of progress. Instead, it usually results in an all-or-nothing mindset, which, from experience, doesn’t get you far in achieving your long-term dreams and aspirations. Resolutions aren’t all bad, however. I mean, I love fresh starts, and what better time to have one is in the new year. So instead of getting rid of the idea altogether, let’s reframe it. Let’s think about New Year’s Goals, instead.
Goals are defined as “the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.” A goal sets you on a trajectory for success, even if you fall short. But I have found that goal-setting can be more difficult than setting resolutions. It takes intentionality and thought to choose meaningful goals for the new year that are good uses of your precious time and energy. So through the years, I have come up with some guidelines to help make the most out of your New Year’s Goals.
Questions to ask yourself as you make your resolutions (or write your goals):
Does your goal fit with your personal mission statement?
A personal mission statement is simply stating what drives you forward. Every goal you set should line up with who you are and where you want to go. When you die, what do you want on your epitaph? My personal mission statement is “I want to love God, love others, be the healthiest me I can be today, and help others to do the same.” This statement should be short enough for you to remember it.
Does your goal fit with your other priorities and/or goals?
What are your other priorities? If your priority is family and your family resents the time that you spend on said goal, then you may want to rethink your goal.
Do you have a support system in place to help you reach your goal?
Do you have friends or family members who may want to join you in accomplishing the same goal? Do you need to hire a personal trainer or nutritionist? Is this a goal that you should discuss with your family to make sure they are behind you and discuss what that support actually looks like?
Are you allowing yourself a reasonable amount of time to complete your goal?
This is where you need to know yourself. Sometimes a goal can be so long that you lose interest. But, sometimes I’ve made the mistake of not allowing myself enough time to accomplish my goal. If you have a goal that will take you a year to accomplish, break it down. How much time/effort do you need to put into it each month, each week, and then each day? Does your support person understand that and how can they be an encouragement to you?
Have you thought about the action steps you plan to take to accomplish your goals?
How will you break down your goal into smaller goals? What will you accomplish each week? When will you work on your goal?
Is it worth the effort put in EVEN if you fall short of your goal?
Sometimes you don’t have control over the completion or success of your goal. Is it still worth trying for it if you don’t have a 100% chance of knowing that you’ll succeed? What benefits are there in working toward the goal even if you don’t succeed?
How will you celebrate when you accomplish the goal?
What will you do when you accomplish the goal? Sometimes it helps to have a celebration reward dangling out there in front of you as you are striving toward that goal. It is one more tool in your bag to help you stay motivated.
I’d like to give you some of my life examples of big goals I’ve accomplished in the past few years with just a few short anecdotes on how/why I chose THAT goal. These are some of my biggest goals I’ve accomplished in the past few years. They have all worked only because they pass the 7 question test above.
- Reading through the Bible in one year. This was actually harder than I thought it would be. How I accomplished this was to transform my driving time to & from work to listening time. I listen to the Bible along with a devotion that helps me think about the day’s reading and apply it. Each day I hear Psalms or Proverbs, New Testament and Old Testament. I like this goal because it fits beautifully with my personal mission statement and who I want to be. I want to start and end my day with God and His thoughts and hear from Him how to love others. He helps me keep things in perspective. (Link: Read through the Bible in One Year ) I have completed this plan in 2017 and 2018. I decided my second time to read through in a different version.
- Become a personal trainer. This goal seemed daunting to me, yet some strong desire in me wanted to help others in their fitness journey. This is the one I had to keep asking myself if the time spent studying and learning the information would be worth it EVEN if I didn’t pass the test? Would it be time wasted? I also had to break down my study time to fit around my other priorities and responsibilities. I devoted at least 2 hours a week for about 9 months. Then it came down to about 2 hours a day for 6 weeks before taking the test! I’m so thankful that I took the risk, devoted the time, and invested the money because now I have my dream job! I come home from work each day with a full heart.
- Cook through the Run Fast Eat Slow Cookbook. If you read my last blog entry, you’ll know that I did this. But what you don’t know is that I would have never set out to do this. The reason this became a goal is because it hit all of the above questions. It was natural! It was fun to accomplish this with loved ones and to share the good foods as an outpouring of love that was healthy AND delicious. But I had to be gracious with myself. I didn’t want it to become a drudgery to be in the kitchen cooking. So, usually I’d plan to cook new recipes with friends or my daughter. And of course, it’s always fun to post on instagram! Check out the authors’ blog: https://runfasteatslow.com, and here is a link to my previous article: How a Cookbook Impacted Me
- Run 1,000 miles in one year. I chose this because I had never tracked my running for a year to see how far I actually do run. 1000 miles ends up being about 20 miles per week. I asked two of my running buddies to join me. I chose to do this after seeing the opportunity through “I love to Run” app online. On their site, you order the medal in January and log your miles throughout the year. Then at the end of the year, they send you the medals. The plan is for us to celebrate with our spouses eating a yummy dinner (probably recipes from Run Fast Eat Slow since I’m kind of obsessed with that). I just want us to thank our husbands for supporting our fitness goals – and those long runs feed our spiritual and emotional wellbeing as much as our physical health, which makes us better wives and mothers. ilovetorun – where running meets humor – Also, if you’d like a beginner running plan, check out my previous blog entry: How a Running Hater Becomes a Running Coach
- Read a book a month with my daughters. Two years ago my daughters wanted to do this. We had so much fun picking out our books. When we did this, it brought us closer together (my dear husband joined us, too – and we loved that). We still talk about the books we read that year. Check out our topic guide. This just helped give us direction and varied our reading:
- A book with one word in the title
- A book with a number in the title
- A book that will be made into a movie
- A classic
- A biography
- Historical Fiction
- A book that will make you cry
- A book on tape
- A book written by a female
- A book by one of your favorite authors
- A book you judged by the cover
- A funny book
Links to the actual books we read will be at the end of the article. But I have to tell you about what we did this year. I’m so excited about this! We had a White Elephant-style book exchange on Christmas Eve, where both friends and family came with a book wrapped like a present. Then each wrapped book was handed out. My daughter read a “Twas the Night Before Christmas” rendition that had the word “right” and “left” put in an insane amount of times. We passed our books left when we heard the word “left” and passed the books right when hearing the word “right”. (Link to game Christmas gift exchange game) Then at the end of the story, we opened our books one by one letting the purchaser share why they picked that book. Through the year, as people read their books, they are to put them back on our shelf for others in the “book club” to read. So, hopefully, we will all have a chance to read all of these books. I have a bookshelf devoted to acting as the library for us to put the books when finished reading the so the next person can read.
Here are the books we read the year of 2016 (I can only remember 9, so I’m not sure)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Bridget Jones’s Diary: A Novel by Helen Fielding
And the Mountains Echoed by Kaled Hosseini, author of Kite Runner
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
So, I must end with a challenge to you. Don’t be afraid to dream big and go after those goals. I would also LOVE to hear some of your goals in the comment section! I’m cheering for you!
It Is Well 