In the past, I spent so much time coming up with the right resolutions for a new year I would almost miss when New Year’s arrived and only to forget about them in less than a month. Since then I have enjoyed reflecting on my year sometime in December and setting goals for the new year remembering all aspects of life, not just business. Looking at all areas, (e.g., Health/Wellness, Intellectual, Professional, Family, Social, Hobbies, Spiritual) set me up for a more well-balanced life and gave me a great feeling of contentment.
Another idea in beginning a new year is to select one word or theme to bring focus to your goals throughout the year. When the list of tasks is long, setting priorities helps you succeed in achieving the most important tasks first. The word or theme provides direction in setting priorities and even eliminating tasks from your list when they are not in support of your focus.
Here are my five tips for staying the course:
- Understand your why for setting a goal, why is it important to you and how will you feel when it is achieved?
- Be specific so that you can track your progress
- Schedule time in your calendar to take action
- Review your goals regularly, this may be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, depending on the goal.
- Celebrate your progress and adjust along the way as needed.
There are many great quotes on the benefits of goal-setting. Here are my favorites:
“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” – Earl Nightingale
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” - Bill Copeland apoteksv.se
“Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.” – Jim Rohn
“The thing about goals is that living without them is a lot more fun, in the short run. It seems to me though, that the people who get things done, who lead, who grow and who make an impact…those people have goals.” – Seth Godin
Have you set your goals? And what will inspire you to keep on track with your goals?