Did you know that 92% of new year’s resolutions are left unaccomplished? But your goals for the new year don’t have to fail! Here are 8 things that you can do before the New Year to ensure that you will reach your goals!
Resources Mentioned:
Renew180 (formerly 180Confidence)
Weekly Reset Worksheet
1. Let go of perfectionism.
The first thing that we have to do is let go of perfectionism.
I struggled with this for years. I remember very clearly being in college and striving to get perfect grades. After a lot of time and introspection, I have accepted that perfectionism is not achievable.
When we make perfection our goal, it works against us by making us think that any minor setback has completely derailed the progress we have made. Perfection sets us up for failure.
There is never going to be a perfect path from where you are to where you want to be.
If you can let go of perfectionism before the new year, you will see an increase in not only your motivation but also your perseverance. When we let go of perfection, we start seeing our setbacks as learning lessons and stepping stones.
Perfectionism is not helpful. We tell ourselves that perfectionism will push us towards our goals and help us avoid problems and setbacks, but what it really does is rob us of the journey and experience that happens while reaching those goals.
2. Take inventory of the relationships in your life.
This might sound strange, but you need to take inventory of the relationships in your life. It will make a huge difference in the new year.
Make a list of relationships in your life. Do you have a relationship with someone who is always encouraging? Maybe you want to strengthen that relationship. Maybe you have a broken relationship that you want to restore.
During this step, I want you to also see if there are any relationships that you need to let go of. Are any of your relationships toxic? Do you have friends who despise your success? Decide if those are relationships that you want to get rid of.
Ask yourself, “Does this relationship serve me in any way? Is it drawing me closer to the Lord?” If not, consider letting that relationship go.
Oftentimes, we tie ourselves down to relationships that aren’t good for us. We short-change ourselves because we want to reach our goals and grow, but we surround ourselves with people who pull us down.
3. Determine how many books you want to read in the new year.
Usually, people who have achieved success understand the importance of reading. Educating yourself beyond school and formal education can be so important. The next step I want you to take is to determine how many books you want to read next year.
But I also want you to decide what mentors you want to bring into your life. By that I mean, what authors are you going to let speak into your life?
You’ll also have to decide what subjects and topics you want to learn more about. Maybe you are well-versed in financial information, but you want to grow in your relationships. Start taking stock of which books you can read to help you build better relationships.
We don’t want to just read more next year. We want to read with intention.
4. Brainstorm some goals.
Brainstorm a list of goals, and ask yourself, “What would I love?”
Oftentimes, we place limits on our dreams, but there are no limits for our God. Take the limits off and dream.
Would you love to put your kids in a private school? Would you love to increase the prices you charge for your services? Would you love to hire three new employees? Whatever it is, start brainstorming and dreaming.
I believe that God gives us goals that line up not only with who we are now but also who we want to become.
Once you’ve brainstormed, pray about your list. Ask yourself, “Do these things line up with God’s will for my life? Do I have the motivation? Is this the right season for these goals?”
Once you have all these goals, start narrowing them down to what you want to complete next year. Some of them might only take a year to complete while others take three years. Narrow it down to what’s possible for this next year.
IMPORTANT: Make sure that your goals line up with God’s plan. We can make all the plans that we want, but only God can make them happen.
5. Create a vision board.
The purpose of a vision board is to keep your goals in the front of your mind.
Vision boards can be a wide range of things. It could be a board on your wall with pictures and cut-outs. It could be a frame with a corkboard for pinning things up. It could be a digital vision board, or maybe a screensaver that will encourage you whenever you use your phone.
I use the notes app on my phone to list my goals. I can put little check marks next to them as I reach those goals, and as I go, the things still left to be accomplished are pushed to the top. I look at it in the morning and see what I need to work on.
Sometimes my goals change throughout the year. Near the end of the year, I might realize that it isn’t reasonable to finish a certain goal. However, looking at the vision board encourages me to either push on or audit my goals.
The person you are in January won’t be the same person you are in October. It’s okay to audit your goals to fit the person that you have become.
If you haven’t changed in ten months, you need to start looking at your goals more.
Keep your goals at the front of your mind and audit them throughout the year to make sure that they are still goals that you want to accomplish.
6. Get your digital life organized.
Getting your digital life organized will make it easier for you to reach your goals for next year. Here are three simple things you can do to organize your digital life:
- Get to inbox zero. Inboxes can get full quickly, especially if you use your email for work. That’s one reason that I have an entire tutorial in Renew180 (formerly 180Confidence) to show you how to get to inbox zero.
Your inbox was made with an intended purpose. Inboxes are for things you are working on right now. It’s supposed to be something that you sort through each day to see what is important and what needs to happen.
I have clients all the time who come to me with inboxes full of thousands of emails. We work together to get their inbox down to only a few things that need to be worked on at that time.
I have three emails (a business email, one for this website, and a personal one), and altogether there is less than ten emails at any one time. - Remove programs/apps that you no longer use from your devices.
I have a very strong opinion on this. My phone and tablet have very few apps on them. If I only use an app once a year, I’ll remove it and download it when I need it. I don’t like it taking up space on my phone or in my mind.
The visual stimulation of apps and programs causes mental work that I don’t want to deal with. Notifications take up time and energy. If an app or program is bogging down your digital life, remove it. - Clean up your home screen. On my home screen, there are no icons at all. I like it that way because I like to have all of my files organized and minimal.
If I have someting that I am working on, the file is in my computer, but if I’m not working on it, the file is uploaded to the cloud.
This lessons my visual stimulation and allows me to take control over what is being let into my mind.
7. Think about the future you.
Remember how I said that you won’t be the same person in October that you were in January? Things will happen that will shape the person you become.
I want you to think about the person you will become. When doing this, let go of the past and limiting beliefs of what you will become.
Oftentimes, we hold tight to things we don’t even want. Maybe we have a past full of mistakes, and instead of letting go of those mistakes, we end up getting stuck or backtracking. We have to learn from our pasts, but we also have to move forward in the knowledge of who we are in Christ.
Pray for God’s direction in who you will become. As we seek Him, He will show us the things that He wants us to do. He might not show us the entire staircase, but He will show us the first steps.
If we know what kind of women we want to become, we can start taking action and behave like that person. We think of our future selves as people we will only become once we experience the goals and success we want to reach, but that isn’t true.
In reality, we won’t reach those goals until we become that person.
TIP: Allow time for self-reflection. Experience alone isn’t enough to produce change. You have to reflect on your experiences and learn from them.
As you think about the future, reflect on what you have accomplished and the steps that it took to get there. Take those lessons with you into the future.
8. Enjoy the journey.
Please remember to enjoy the journey.
In my six-month mastermind, I talk a lot about enjoying the journey towards becoming who God wants you to be. When we take the time to enjoy the journey, we won’t stay in the same place. We’ll see every day as a step forward.
I was talking to a coach recently who said that people think of change as being a straight line when in reality it is a staircase. There will be times of jumping forward, times of flatlining, and times of inching ahead.
Think about that with your journey. There will be a section of time in which your mind and body are starting to normalize the change. Once they do, you will jump up to the next level and start working towards making that one normal.
As you are experiencing the journey, you’ll find that the joy you get from the process is what motivates you to take the next step.
As you set goals and look forward to the new year, remember that it is all about the person that you become on the way to your goals.
EXAMPLE: If you want to reach a specific income with your business, you have to figure out what resources, education, and skills you need in order to reach that income before you can get to that place. You’ll become that worker first, and then, because you are that type of worker, you will start achieving your goals.
EXAMPLE TWO: If you want to lose weight, think about what your future self would eat. How would you exercise if you had lost weight? Then start doing those things now. When you become that person, the results will naturally follow.
Conclusion
I hope these eight steps will help you as you look forward to the new year. As you change the way you think in order to pursue God’s way, you will see incredible results in your life.
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