The new year is almost upon us and it’s that time of year again, when we set resolutions, evaluate the past year and set goals for the new one.

It’s a classic thought that resolutions are almost always broken.

Why is that?

Why can’t we seem to keep our resolutions in order and live by them from Jan to Dec? It’s just 12 months, right?

This might be due to poor planning, goal setting and simply not being realistic about the resolutions and goals we set for ourselves.

Let’s do something about that, shall we? 

Now, this post shouldn’t only be relevant from January 1st but also throughout the whole year.

I don’t know why we always tend to start our healthy habits and work towards our dreams only on the first day of the year.

We should really be doing this all year – and we might as well get started sooner rather than later. But I get it, fresh slate, page – what have you.

I’m also a sucker for a brand new week, year, month, and a tomorrow – any good day for a good day, which is every day.

Here’s to making 2022 the best year yet.

Now let’s get our goals and dreams in order.

 

 

Start With One

Start with one goal. It’s easy to get lost in the procrastinating spiral if you set too many goals and especially if you put too much pressure on yourself to achieve ALL of them. It’s quite typical that you’d want to set some of the following goals for the new year.. 

• Lose weight or work out more
• Eat healthier
• Be a better person
• Learn to say yes more
• Make more money
• Learn to say no more
• Start a business
• Be there for your kids more often
• Start a side hustle

.. and the list goes on and it can be quite overwhelming to set these many goals.

By sticking to one goal you’ll haul in all your focus on that one particular goal and this will make the goal setting and achieving process much easier, especially when it comes to motivation and determination.

This will also hopefully help you to stay clear of any procrastination.

Make sure you have a time-sensitive goal in mind and give yourself a clear deadline for completing it.

Typically and in this case, we are looking at one-year-goal. Don’t be vague but as specific as you possibly can.

We’ll get into this later on when we discuss working backward and breaking down your big goal into mini-goals.

In conclusion, focus on ONE big goal at a time.

 

Examples of one-year goals/resolutions to set for 2022:

• Start a business or a side hustle f.ex a blog
• Lose 20 lbs
• Work out twice a week, every week
• Write a book (or at least start!)
• Make 100.000 dollars

 

 

Just Start

Just get going.

Wake up every morning with your goal on your mind. Don’t wait to feel inspired, creative or until you are “in the zone”.

Because if you do this, you will never achieve anything.

It’s like waking up early, you will not always feel like getting up before the sun, but you do it anyway and push past the struggle – it will be worth it in the end.

Just get started, whether it’s January 1st or April 23rd. Just do it. 

Today is the day to move forward and get started on your dreams.

They will not appear if you don’t take action.

 

 

Be Uncomfortable

Chasing your dreams should make you feel uncomfortable.

You should be feeling uncomfortable and scared (in a good way) every single day of the week, to be frank. 

Following and pursuing dreams is equal to you staying out of your comfort zone.

Your future won’t change if you don’t change.

You need to get in the right mindset. Get in the flow of thinking anything is possible.

Your brain will try and stop you, but do not listen to it. This is normal.

Your brain is always going to want you to stay put in your comfort zone. 

Learn to push past this and don’t ever be your brain’s best friend. She/he will catch on later. I promise you.

 

 

State Your Why

Your why should be 100% obvious to you.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Why have you set these goals?
• Why is *insert dream here* your dream?
• Why is it important to you?

Keep asking why until you get to the bottom of your real why.

For example:

• I want to start a blog
  • Why?
• Because I want to have freedom and be in charge of my income
  • Why?
• Because I want to travel the world and be able to work from anywhere
  • Why?
• Because I want to provide value for my audience and help others
  • Why?
• Because I want the next year to be better than all the years before
  • Why?
• Because I want to be independent and retire early, and provide for my kids. 

.. and so on. This is just one example of how this could work in practice.

Get to the bottom of why you’ve set the specific goals for yourself.

Sometimes your real WHY may not even be uncovered until you ask the right questions.

Knowing your why will help you to stay motivated, focused, clear of indecisiveness and determined, and above all, you will be more CONFIDENT in achieving your goals, even on days where it all seems impossible.

 

 

Be Brave & Think Big

Don’t be afraid to think big and set unthinkable goals.

The goals and resolutions you set should scare you a little.

But keep in mind that you are not, in this case, setting a goal for 2020 and know that it might take you 5-10 years to achieve it, depending on how big your goal is.

Remember, don’t listen to your brain at this point, because it will try and talk you out of it – just begin and don’t look back.  

Use January 1st, 2022 to GET STARTED.

Quick wins are not the way to go.

You should never be in a hurry when you are chasing your dreams. 🙂 Give yourself time to achieve your goals, but don’t waddle.

 

 

Write It Down

There is just something about writing goals and dreams down on a piece of paper. I’m not sure what it is, it just makes it all real.

Doing a thought-download is a great trick and can be very handy when you are going through your goals, decluttering your mind and want to get to the bottom of your WHY and what you really want in life.

It’s also a great way to “get rid of” negative thoughts and beliefs that are in no way useful to you achieving your goals. Write it all down, whether it’s positive or negative. Don’t think, just do and you can sort through your download later.

After you’ve done the thought-download, try and get as specific as you can with your goals.

For example

• I am going to Europe
• I am going to spend two weeks traveling
• I am going to make 100.000 dollars
• I am going to start a blog and will make 5000 dollars my first year blogging

Notice the choice of wording; “I am going to”, which is future positive. Don’t think too much about the “HOW” just yet, because your brain will try and limit your goals and your thoughts about them.

Get the things you dream about out of your mind, onto a piece of paper to make it more real, and VOILA your goal is now no longer just a thought in your mind and a part of your imagination.

It’s real and it is all happening.

 

 

Work Backwards

You should always work backward, break your big goal down into smaller mini-goals and make sure your daily goals align with your lifelong dream. It is that simple! 

For example:

Let’s say you want to start a blog in 2022.

You’ll want to break this big goal into smaller actionable goals, for instance, a goal for every month of the year. You’ve now gone from one big goal to 12 smaller goals.

From there, you’ll want to break the 12 goals into even smaller weekly goals and so on, until you’ve made an action plan for the next HOUR.

Yes, be that specific.

It’s crucial that you plan down to the dot and schedule the results AHEAD OF TIME on your calendar. Don’t just put down “work on blog” from 9 am- 11 am, really get specific. What is that you want to achieve in this amount of time? Is it “write one blog posts about goals”, “create a freebie” or “register for blue host”?

Plotting down the results on your calendar is one of the greatest life hacks I’ve learned.

Try it and don’t be vague, be nitty-gritty specific.

Other resources that I love when it comes to scheduling, prioritizing to-do’s and planning are…

• My all-time favorite Productivity Planner
• ..and my loyal buddy, Google Calendar.

 

 

Keep Going

There will be days when you won’t feel like you’re going anywhere or when you feel that time is standing still and you’re not heading in the direction in which you’ve spent so many days planning for.

Don’t panic. 

I’m going to share some amazing advice from Mel Robbins..

Just do it anyway. Count backward from 5 and do it anyway, because you are most likely not ALWAYS going to feel like being uncomfortable, chasing your dreams and doing the things you know will get you closer to your goals. But..

Do. It. Anyway.

Keep going and keep believing in your goal. Remember, there is a reason you’ve set the goals for yourself, so go back to your why whenever you need to.

Learn to practice a positive mindset when it comes to everything in your life. Having a positive mindset makes all the difference. Because it’s not what happens, it’s how you think about it, and what you do about it.

Know that it may take time to achieve your goal and that you will most likely experience small failures along the way. But this is all part of it, you fail, you learn from it and you KEEP GOING.

Please also note that.. failing = learning.

You will always learn. You try new things and then you learn. Be confident in your dreams and goals. Go for it!

Here’s to an even more amazing year than the last!