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| (Image courtesy of Carol VanHook) |
The New Year is just around the corner and now is the perfect time to begin looking back on the previous year and taking stock of all your successes - and failures - of the previous year and decide what you'd like to accomplish in the coming year.
If you're dreading the idea of writing lists and strategizing for the coming year, there's no need to worry. These three strategies from writer, Eleanor Busing, from Apartment Therapy will walk you through setting realistic and achievable goals.
1. Think about what worked this year. That is, what you enjoyed, what enriched your life, what you want more of in 2015. Goal-setting doesn't have to be about creating a New You every 12 months, and in fact it works better when it's cumulative. Take some time to revisit your goals for past years, examine the successful (even semi-successful!) ones and think about how you can continue to build on them. For me, I plan to carry over (ideally improve on) my thrice-weekly yoga practice and my Thursday evening French class, as well as my hard-won savings habits.
2. Limit your goals. I've mentioned my fondness for a "top five" around here before. If you think about it, it's the perfect number for anything: enough so that you're challenging yourself, not so many that you're overwhelmed. You may prefer two goals, or ten, but the important thing is to have a reasonable, achievable number.
Another way to focus your goals is to divide your life into categories, and think of a single intention for each area. For instance, you might consider categories like home (goal: finally find some art for the landing wall), relationships (goal: get off Tinder and practice striking up random conversations, old-school style) and career (goal: try not to write my weekly Apartment Therapy article during my lunch hour moments before it's due). I mean, those are just examples.
3. Ask yourself "Why?" So maybe you want to run a marathon next year. Or buy your first home. Great goals! But why do you want to do those things? What feeling will they help you achieve, or value that you hold dear do they support? Being honest on why we want things helps us clarify if in fact we do want them, or if something else will help us achieve the desired outcome (maybe a half-marathon will give you the same sense of fulfillment, or a lease with a landlord who's okay with some DIY?) It's also good to know that we're focusing on targets that will truly make us happier.
Bonus tip: Practice gratitude. Speaking of happy, it seems easy to avoid these days, especially in the arena of goal-setting. As soon as we've achieved something, we're after bigger and better ambitions. Taking time to appreciate what we do have and have achieved makes future goal-reaching all the sweeter.
2. Limit your goals. I've mentioned my fondness for a "top five" around here before. If you think about it, it's the perfect number for anything: enough so that you're challenging yourself, not so many that you're overwhelmed. You may prefer two goals, or ten, but the important thing is to have a reasonable, achievable number.
Another way to focus your goals is to divide your life into categories, and think of a single intention for each area. For instance, you might consider categories like home (goal: finally find some art for the landing wall), relationships (goal: get off Tinder and practice striking up random conversations, old-school style) and career (goal: try not to write my weekly Apartment Therapy article during my lunch hour moments before it's due). I mean, those are just examples.
3. Ask yourself "Why?" So maybe you want to run a marathon next year. Or buy your first home. Great goals! But why do you want to do those things? What feeling will they help you achieve, or value that you hold dear do they support? Being honest on why we want things helps us clarify if in fact we do want them, or if something else will help us achieve the desired outcome (maybe a half-marathon will give you the same sense of fulfillment, or a lease with a landlord who's okay with some DIY?) It's also good to know that we're focusing on targets that will truly make us happier.
Bonus tip: Practice gratitude. Speaking of happy, it seems easy to avoid these days, especially in the arena of goal-setting. As soon as we've achieved something, we're after bigger and better ambitions. Taking time to appreciate what we do have and have achieved makes future goal-reaching all the sweeter.
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