As I sat down to create and write my new goals for 2019, I reviewed what I had written last year for 2018. I realized that while I had reached some of my goals, many of them had not been accomplished, nor were they given the effort they deserved. The problem could have been I set too many and there was a sense of overwhelm. There also didn’t seem to be a clear idea of how I planned to go about meeting these goals.
Last January I had started out strong posting in this blog every week, but then I began to lack the follow through. I didn’t set clear expectations or intentions for myself and was mostly just winging it. I didn’t map out topics to cover or even have a list of ideas to write about.
I now realize that in order to meet our goals, we need to create a plan of action steps to follow. These are our intentions. This is what we intend to do on our journey throughout the year. As someone who values structure and is a planner, I’m surprised I didn’t realize this before. Once the idea hit me though, I was able to finish the year strong by creating a plan of posts. I posted every week from September through December using the topic list I created.
I now have a sense of pride, knowing I can accomplish my goals when I set the intentions down. This creates a stronger belief in myself as I walk into the new year. This belief and pride are what catapult us to create our life, make change, grow, learn, be who we are meant to be.
So, here’s how it works: the goal is what you dream about, then the plan is the action steps you will take to get there. First write down your goal and be specific, then list the actions you need to do for this to happen. For instance, if your goal is to exercise 4 times a week, your action step is to join a gym or purchase a workout DVD. See how that works? You then have an actionable item you can cross of your list once it’s done. And who doesn’t like crossing items off their list?!
Be careful however, not to list so many goals you don’t know which ones to go after. When we have too many it’s hard to juggle all the actions we need to take. The goals you create at the beginning of January can be modified and added to as you go along each month or every few months, whichever works best for you.
Now that you’re ready, here are your action steps for the week. Grab a notebook or piece of paper, write down 3-5 goals for the month, next six months or the year, write down one action step next to each goal you will take in the next few weeks, get to work. Feel free to leave a comment about your goals and actions so I can offer support and encouragement on your journey. I wish you an amazing new year ahead!
Wellness Wednesday,
Tash (new year, new handle)
