First off, I am not a huge fan of calling my new year goals “resolutions.” I like having goals that I am working toward, rather than resolving to change absolutely. If my goals aren’t working, I can tweak them {like creating my own marathon, and thus avoiding paying race entry fees}. Resolutions feel like they are set in stone and changing them feels like failure somehow. That being said, I included it in the title because I am fully aware most people don’t spend precious minutes in their day thinking about these sorts of tiny distinctions. Most people are not neurotic, like me. I accept that.
Whew! Now that we got that out of the way, let’s move on to keeping on track–whether you call them goals or resolutions.
Don’t go nuts.
I am certainly not the best example of this one, but hear me out anyway: keep your list short. Believe it or not, compared to what I want to accomplish each year, I DO keep my list pretty short. I don’t go buck nuts trying to change every little thing that pops into my noggin. I want to. But, I don’t. Keeping the list short and realistic, particularly if your goal is to change a habit…say eat healthy or workout regularly, is a really good way to concentrate on those one or two things. It keeps you accountable for committing to just that. You can always add new goals once you’ve conquered old ones. I mean, life is fluid–you don’t need a new year to make new goals.
Don’t let bumps derail you.
There will be unexpected turns in your race to the goal finish line. Don’t let a bad couple of weeks completely derail you from the ultimate goal. Get back on that pony and ride. {What other metaphors can I use here? :)} Maybe you’ll have to start over quarterly, like an accountant. No biggie. Just make sure you do.
Pick a buddy.
Make yourself accountable by announcing your goals to a buddy. They can be accountable to you for theirs. Meet for coffee, lunch, a stroll through the neighborhood once a month or so and check in. When you have to report your progress, you are more likely to get a move on. That’s why I announce my personal goals to all of you. Each week, I have to admit whether or not I have slacked off, or if I’ve nailed it. I have found that even when I have done nothing to move toward the goal that week, admitting it to all of you at least makes me think about my plan of attack.
Break it down.
If the goal is a monumental game-changer, you may want to break it down into smaller goals. I am going to use the most cliche one: regular exercise. If that’s your goal, rather than saying, “I have to hit the gym 5 days a week no matter what,” break it down into smaller attainable weekly goals. Each week, set your goal based on your schedule, etc. Maybe week one is to walk 3 miles, 3 days that week. The next week is to go to the gym 2 times. See where I am headed here? It’s easy to hit your goal when you know you only have to do it for a week. Then, all you have to do is trick yourself into living a week at a time {I know that sounds funny, but I am really not meaning to be.}.
Mental fortitude, my friends.
Okay, this is the one that kind of stinks to hear: suck it up, buttercup. There will always be excuses for EVERY possible thing, if you let them creep in. Life is messy, and if you can’t prioritize, it will for you. Sure, there are extenuating circumstances. Life happens. If you truly make up your mind to change, though, you will continue right along your goals once life settles down again. It’s about flexing your willpower muscles, and for the record, that can really suck.
Make a failure plan.
Before you start, make a plan for possible pitfalls and put a plan in place to counteract them. Let’s just say you are giving up “hairspray.” What do you plan to do when someone drops by with a bottle of hairspray? What if people are using hairspray at a party? What is your response? How will you avoid hairspray triggers. See where I am going with this? Also, if you are really giving up hairspray, please leave it in the comments below–I NEED to know what brought you to this place.
Write your goals down and post them where you’ll see them everyday.
Jot those goals down on a piece of paper. Laminate that sucker, if you are into that sort of thing. Then, put it on the fridge, tape it to the mirror, heck, have it turned into a billboard–just make sure you see it everyday. It needs to be a constant reminder that YOU are in control of your own habits and goals. Cheesy? Yes. Fact? Also yes.
Do you do the New Year, New Goals thing? If so, how do you stick to ’em?
~Mavis
Delores says
I am totally giving up hairspray. Boom! Done! Love to have one already checked off. 😉 (I have not used hairspray in a few decades.)
Seriously, though…
This year, I am going to resend myself an email every day with my goals in it. I have them written down in my notebook planner, but only at the beginning of it, so I tend to just skip past those pages. But I check email every day (usually multiple times). So I am going to just send myself those goals every day to be sure to read them every day.
I know I will skip it here or there, but the trick will be to not skip too many — to not become ’email blind.’ I think I will keep track and if I read it every day for a month (really read, not just skim), then I will give myself a small candy bar. Or something, anyway.
Diane says
Hi Mavis,
I am inspired by how you set goals that are measurable, and I’m wondering how you keep track of what you did every week to write about them at the end of the week. Do you use a spreadsheet, a list, or just remember…? I’d like to start keeping a log of what I did to reach each goal that week and am wondering if you have ideas on the format. Thank you! Happy New Year! 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
The blog. It’s my note pad. 😉 I’m not a spreadsheet kind of gal so if I didn’t have a blog I’d probably be writing everything down in a journal.
Amy W says
I need to get back into the habit of running, and I’m an all-or-nothing girl. I need to commit to running EVERY day, because if I say 4 days a week…it won’t happen. AND, I need to start small, so I’m setting a very low minimum of a 10-minute run every day.
Something in this post gave me an idea for accountability. My personal spending money is $150/month. If I pull out that cash in $5 bills and put them in a jar, I can “pay myself” $5 per run I take.. (I think I might need to work a month behind, so January’s earnings will be February’s spending money.)
Mavis, thanks for all of your encouragement and for inspiring us in so many ways. I’ve been reading your blog FOREVER, and would have never known that you were as in a funk as you were last year. Thank you for being honest and open with us– I appreciate you so much. Also, you said “No” to yourself so much last year with all of your savings challenges…I’d love you to be extra kind and gentle with yourself for awhile, k? 🙂
Tracy says
I signed myself and my hubby up for something called “run the edge”. This challenge requires you and your partner or up to a team of four people to run or walk 2017 miles in the year 2017. It averages to 5.51 miles per day. So I think I will have the health aspect of next year covered if I can stick to it.
Delores says
What a great idea!
Deborah says
Mavis,
I am working on my “goals” for the new year. I’ve never really set goals for myself or made resolutions. I took early retirement last year and I feel like I need to have goals be a part of my plan.
#1 on my list is to learn to ice skate. I want to skate well enough to be safe on the ice. I’m 62 and wanted to do this for a long time. On Christmas Eve I signed up for lessons. I just did it! I don’t have anyone that can do it with me so this is a big push for me.
# 2 is volunteering at the county food bank. My past career was in food service. So I would like to get involved with making sure that everyone has enough food to eat. Again, it’s a matter of getting myself started. I think about doing this but don’t act on it.
That’s as far as I’ve gotten.
Thank you for the incentive to get moving on this!
Texas Deborah says
I’ve never made a resolution, other than to not make them. Goals? I like that idea. I think I’m going to make some goals for the coming new year. Getting rid of unused things is a big one.
wendy says
Mavis, I just want to say that seeing you blog weekly about your goals and your progress, or lack thereof, this year has been very inspiring. So inspiring in fact, that I’m going to do the same thing myself. I have been putting it off for awhile now, but now is the time. The past three years or so have been pretty difficult and I got massively derailed in nearly every area of my life. Right now the goals are in my head, but I’m going to get them written down today and then plan some sort of accountability method to keep me on track. 🙂 Was going to share this under your mojo post because, yes, I feel that too. 😉 It must be something about the age, lol. I’m 44.
Florence says
Here are my goals for 2019:
Eat good food.
Read good books.
Go to interesting places.
Make nice quilts.
Do good deeds
Nap.
Love family.