How to finally achieve your New Years' goals.
Well, friends, another year has come and gone.
When I reflect on this past year, I feel pretty darn happy and proud of the many goals that I met and am walking confidently into 2020, knowing that I can start fresh and tackle those unfinished ones.
But I am also too well aware that this isn’t the case for many people that I know and love. I understand that not everyone is sliding into this new decade with ease. For some, they are slamming the door on the year before. Eager to move past hurts and disappointments. Others are tiptoeing into the new year, filled with uncertainty and anxiousness. And some people are sidling in with complacency, operating on the idea that no news is good news.
We each have our own story about this past year and our different expectations about the one to come.
But, we all have the same new 365 days to change our narrative, whether from bad to good or okay to better. But that outcome and expectation is 100% yours to decide.
So here’s a little secret about me.
My brain never shuts off.
It’s always thinking of ideas and goals and replaying situations so that I can improve them, even if just in my mind! Also, I am a content addict – I listen to podcasts and read books and watch documentaries constantly. I love to hear other’s perspectives and ideas and compare them with my own.
So when a new year comes, of course, I have a lot of ideas of resolutions or goals.
Resolutions
As my family and I enjoyed dinner on New Year’s Eve, we talked about what our favorite part of 2019 was and what our goals for 2020 were going to be. My kids all added something sweet like “have more fun,” “make more friends,” and my hubby chimed in that he wants to focus on his health in 2020.
When the conversation turned to me, and he asked me what my goals were, I answered with: “I’m not sure yet.” You see, it’s not that I don’t have any new goals, it’s that I have too many of them! I shared with my family that I have new health goals, business goals, financial goals, and parenting goals. I felt like if I listed them all off, I would sound like those UPS store commercials where the employee is listing off all the things they do for hours on end?!
So what do we do when we have LOTS of goals? And what do we do when we aren’t sure if we have any?
We start with one.
One thing I have learned about myself over this past year is that I need to reign in my overactive brain. I want to do everything, and I want to do it at this moment. It’s quite a juxtaposition against my need to slow down and simplify, which is why God probably gave me such a heart for those ideas. He knew I needed it more than most!
So as I walk into 2020, I have to decide WHICH goal matters most. A narrowed focus won’t mean that I don’t tend to the other things on my list too, but it does mean I will need to throttle my expectations.
Maybe you do too?
Maybe in 2020, your goal is to get healthy, or save money and pay off debt. Maybe your goal is to change jobs, start a business, or find more free time to spend with your family. Perhaps like a lot of my clients, you want to free yourself of the physical stuff that is burdening your home and life, or you desire to create white space in your calendar so you can do things you enjoy more.
All of these (and lots more) are fabulous goals, but a goal without a plan never comes to fruition. And a goal with too many ideas, I can safely say, suffers the same fate.
Actions are louder
So when your choosing your goal, it must be accompanied by an action plan. Simple, small steps that you can accomplish that will add up to significant results by December. But, this requires reflection and thoughtfulness that we don’t always allow ourselves the time to take.
So I challenge you to make space this week to get quiet. Grab some coffee and a notebook and write out all those ideas, even the ones you are afraid to say out loud. Especially the ones you are terrified to say out loud!
Then get started with an actionable list of step by step items. And here’s the trick, we don’t know ALL the steps. But we can start somewhere and see where it goes. Then we make stops along the way to pivot, readjust, and add new actions.
So if your New Years’ goal is to get out of debt, you won’t find the finish line if you don’t know where you began.
Maybe step one is a year-end expense report, so you can understand where your family is spending money.
Then it’s building a budget. I love Dave Ramsey’s Every Dollar free budgeting app for this.
Then it’s figuring out how much you need to pay off, how much is that a month, where can you cut expenses or add income to reach this goal?
Finally, it’s intentional spending, tracking, and honest conversations with your spouse/partner or yourself as you go.
Each one of these items is a step to the bigger picture, one that you’ll need to revisit each week, check in on, and pivot as needed.
It doesn’t matter the goal.
The steps should be small, actionable, and progress you forward to the next one. If you get stuck, do something. Often, it changes our mindset enough to make a clearer picture of what should be next.
So this year, I pray that you’ll set a goal – big or small- that will bring more joy and contentment into your life in 2020. A goal that brings you closer to the person you are meant to be and the life you are called to love.
And, one last thing.
Before you hurry out of the last year, take stock of the accomplishments you made. Big and small. There is good everywhere if we look, and recognizing it might help us to move into our next season with positivity and joy.
Happy New Year, Friends. I am excited about what’s in store.
I would love to hear your 2020 goals! Leave a comment below and share what your first step is?
GREAT READS FOR YOUR 2020 GOALS:
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