HAPPY NEW YEAR my lovely peeps!
It is January and it is cold (over here in NY at least)! But how are you guys doing? How do you feel about 2108? Well I for one, am excited! Now I know New Year’s has the stigma of being a day of false promises and the start of failed goals. But I like to see the positive in each situation and view New Year’s as a great time to start new goals! And I am going to share why.
The term “New Year, new me” has been getting laughed at the last few years, and I get it. BUT studies have shown that New Year’s day is in fact a great day for new beginnings. And I want to show you guys why and offer some tips to keep you on the new wagon longer than a week.
Multiple studies have show there is in fact a phenomenon known as the “Fresh Start Effect” that occurs when we start new tasks and goal at the start of a calendar landmark. These fresh start dates are days like New Year’s Day, Mondays, Beginnings of a new season, the day after your birthday or a major holiday, and so on.
According to ScientificAmerica.com:
“Setting virtuous goals at the beginning of the year can be quite effective, recent research tells us, since the first day of the year is a temporal landmark. Temporal landmarks signal the start of a new, distinct time period — making us feel we can start from a clean slate. They highlight a contrast between current and future goals (which are often different!) and can thus be a relatively simple way to motivate yourself to accomplish your virtuous goals.“
Isn’t it lucky for us that this New Year’s day is on a Monday! According to a 2015 study published in Physiological Science, more people experienced self-motivation on specific dates that start during a temporal landmark rather than random days. Now just being motivated on these types of days is clearly not enough to follow thorough. Its great to get motivated and set goals, but lets explore how we can stay on track and smash those same goals.
5 important ways to stay on track with your new goals
Get Specific
We sometimes have a tendency to set “goals” that are somewhat vague, which is detrimental to staying on task. Whether you want to set a goal, change a habit or any other change, it is important to Get Specific. An example of a non-specific goal is: In 2018 I will increase my net worth. Kudos to you for wanting to become more financial stable! But you are doing yourself a disservice by not getting specific. Alternatively, the goal should be: In 2018, I WILL increase my net worth $10,000 by eliminating my credit card debt and taking on dog walking more aggressively as my side income. Now this is just a random numbers scenarios but you get the gist.
Get Realistic
It is not uncommon for people to get excited about the upcoming changes in pursuit of a better version of ourselves, that we set some pretty unrealistic goals. For example: ” I will go vegan in the new year, devote 6 days a week to the gym and volunteer my time with the local animal shelters weekly”. Now these are all great! But sometimes we tend to bite off more than we can chew. I am not saying it is impossible to do all 3, but it is important to be honest with yourself. If you have previously struggled with staying committed, it may not be in your best interest to take on too many new big changes at once.
One tip is to take it slow, ease in to the change. Some can go full blown into the gym after taking a 11 month hiatus, but most cannot. So instead of committing to 6 days a week off the bat, maybe start with 2-3 and become consistent with that. Then increase your attendance as you get better. And when you do fall off the wagon, dust yourself right off and get back on! We are humans, so we are innately imperfect. We WILL fail, but it just a temporary fall, we can still win the end game.
Get a Timeline
In the past, I have set a goal and not had a specific date to accomplish it. Do you know what happens? You either procrastinate or not complete it at all. We don’t want that! One example is saying: “This month I will finally take care of these parking tickets”. That gives you most of the month to keep moving it down your ever-growing to-do list. Instead, you should say: “I will have all outstanding parking tickets paid by March12th”. This gives you more a sense of urgency and a time to have it done by. Turn it up a notch and tell this to your 2 closest friends. Have them hold you accountable and give them permission to tease your mercilessly if you fail to pay by the 12th. Keep it light-hearted. If for some reason you do not have them all paid by then, keep working at it and have it down as close to the date as you possibly can. Arbitrary and undefined deadlines are not your friend!
Get a Partner
As mentioned above, get an accountability partner. It could be your closest friends or it can be your social media following. Personally, I am exponentially more inclined to stick to a task at hand, and on schedule, when I share my desires. Knowing that I put it out there and there is someone checking for me to reach my end goal, helps me push through the hurdles to the end. Its much more embarrassing to renege on a promise, so use that as fuel. I’m not saying to announce every move before you make it, but announce trivial goals for an added push.
Get Back Up
Lastly, and obviously, when we do experience shortcomings (because we will), get back up! Fell off the wagon? Well get back on. The key to success is perseverance. So a failure is not a final failure, its a temporary setback. OR a perfectly-timed lesson, depending on how you view your glass. So learn the lesson, accept the momentary failure and move on! You have way too many big and bad accomplishments to crush to be wallowing in self-pity because of one failure. And above all, have fun!
Now who is excited for 2018! Please leave a comment below with some of your goals for the upcoming year. I would love to hear it!
With Love,
CoCo