Hi there!
The New Year always brings about a fresh new attitude, lofty goals and an ambitious drive to start the “new year” strong. We always use this time to drop some of our undesired trait or make goals to better ourselves. And I can definitely see why that is! This idea that starting at the beginning of a period or temporal landmark (whether it be beginning of the year, week, semester, etc) gives us more motivation to get that goal done. Researchers call this the “fresh-start effect”. Studies have shown that new beginnings can prompt us to tackle ventures that we have been putting off and give that extra boost in motivation. It makes us want to leave our imperfect selves in the past and move on to what we desire at that mark.
Now as we all know, and have experienced, resolutions are often broken very early into the New Year. Some don’t even last a week! Nowadays a lot of people are saying do not participate in the New Years resolution as its all a hoax. I like the think the opposite. I say harness that energy from the “fresh-start effect” at the top of the year and set bite sized goals that are achievable in a reasonable amount of time. Do not set goals that will likely be unattainable in your timeframe because that is an automatic set-up for failure. Use that landmark to jumpstart a goal and use the whole year (and beyond) to see it through. And if you fall off, which is normal, just dust yourself off and get right back on that goal! It’s not so much that New Year resolutions don’t work, it’s that you didn’t put in the work to win. Once you change your mindset, you can and will crush each and every goal that was meant for you.
And do not stop (or solely start) at New Year! There are many temporal landmarks throughout the year and I think its great to take advantage of each and every one of them. You do not need a new goal during each time, but maybe achieve one aspect of the bigger picture at each point and use that boost in motivation to get it done! We have beginnings of months, quarters and sessions. We have the start of a new job, new home or new relationship. We have holidays, new seasons, birthdays… the list goes on! I plan to harness the energy of the “fresh-start effect” at EVERY starting point and use those little boosts to get me to my ultimate goals stronger.
In the spirit of fresh starts, let me share with you what my 2019 goals are! My ultimate goal is to generate more money from my businesses, live a healthier lifestyle and learning my crafts more! And when I break it down into mini bite sized goals, I have mapped out how I will make a minimum set dollar amount from each aspect of my brand, created Pinterest boards with easy recipes for my upcoming meal preps, scheduled gym dates with accountability partners, found online and in person classes to learn more about photography and jewelry making, and more. These mini goals and plans will help me get to the bigger pictures in stages and easily digestible steps. And if I fall off, which is quite likely, I will automatically jump right back on the wagon and get ish done! 2019 will be all about constancy!
So I ask you now, what are your goals for 2019? Let me know in the comments below, I really am interested! And what bite sized mini goals are you planning to make sure that you accomplish what you want and more?
Until next time my loves!
With love,
CoCo