Happy new year! 🎉 I hope that you have all had a great start into the new year, and that your January is going well. I’m so excited to announce that I have created a free, on-demand workshop all about goal setting. It’s so important to set goals, both privately and professionally, but I know that it can be hard to stick with them. Maybe you have trouble with this as well? If so, this blog post will be all about how to set achievable goals to ensure that you are working toward your dreams in 2023.
Find your focus
Know that feeling of wanting to dream big, but not sure how to make this a goal? Same! To overcome this, I like to start with the big themes I want for the future, be it for the year ahead or even longer term. It helps to just let your mind flow and write down all of the things that you dream about. This way you’ll be able to define where you want to focus, and you’ll be able to narrow down your goals. What I like to do is vision board and think about what I would like my year ahead to look like. Maybe there are some words or emotions that jump out, and it’ll become clearer what you are thinking of. Definitely write down common themes and what you are thinking. For example, focusing on business, or health, or finances. What exactly is it that you would like to happen within these areas? Write it down! Don’t limit yourself to just dreams for 2023, if they are more long-term, that’s also ok!
Be SMART
Do you know why our goals tend to fail? Because they stay in this vague, dream-state mentioned above. I would urge you to take your goal setting one step further by making them into SMART goals. If you are new to SMART goals, these are goals that are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. By making your goals specific, you are clearly defining what you want to achieve. Ensuring that they are measurable will help you know when you have achieved the goal. If your goal pertains to finance, how much exactly do you want to save/earn/etc before your goal is achieved? While it is good to dream big, it should also be physically/humanly attainable for you, otherwise you’ll get discouraged and give up along the way. Similarly, the goal should be something that you find relevant and exciting, it shouldn’t be a goal because your friends/family/society pressures you. And finally, what is your deadline for accomplishing this goal? By scheduling regular check-ins with yourself, you’ll be sure to keep your goal top-of-mind throughout the year.
If the SMART concept is still a bit hard to grasp, here are a couple of examples to consider.
Instead of “I want to earn more money”
Try: “I will ask for a 5% raise during my end-of-year performance review. I will also spend one day per month brainstorming and trialing ideas for how I can supplement my income through a side hustle”.
Or if you want to make a career change in the new year, instead of “In 2023, I want to figure out what I want to do with my life”
Try: “I will complete one career discovery task every month (such as journaling, attending workshops, reaching out to potential mentors) to align my career with my aspirations for work within the ___ sector”.
Set yourself up for success
Even if you’ve set the most perfect SMART goals, it can still be hard to maintain motivation throughout the year. I would encourage you to schedule regular check-ins with your goals, whether in your planner or your online calendar. How are you progressing? Are there any roadblocks that are hindering you? Maybe you need to re-evaluate or redefine your goal to maintain relevance. In addition to scheduling check-ins, you should also tell your friends about your goals. Not only will they cheer you on, but they can help you stay accountable. Somehow verbalizing what we want to accomplish adds another layer of accountability, turning a dream into something that we can actually achieve.
Ready to tackle your goals for 2023? I have put together a free on-demand workshop to help you focus in on your goals to ensure you keep up your motivation in the new year. Let’s make 2023 the best one yet!
